BURLINGTON, Vt. - 11 skaters registered a point or more for Vermont in their 6-3 victory over Holy Cross, launching the Catamounts back into the win column to start February play. Kaylee Lewis and Natalie Mlynkova each scored a pair of goals to propel Vermont pass the Crusaders Friday night. With the win, Vermont improves to 10-15-2 (8-11-1 HEA) on the campaign while Holy Cross drops to 7-17-2 (4-14-2 HEA)
COACH'S QUOTE
"This was a good team win and it feels good to finally get back in the win column," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "Our defense was outstanding tonight and that led to some great opportunities that we were able to finish. I am proud of our resilience, coming back from being down three times during the game. I'm sure we will get a great effort from Holy Cross tomorrow."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Crusaders struck first, 18:14 into the opening period on their first power play of the game. Millie Sirum and Emilie Fortunato started working the puck up top, resulting in Sirum getting set for a one timer at the blue line where the puck never left the ice but managed to find the bottom right corner of Vermont's net. The Catamounts went into the first intermission down by one goal.
- Vermont entered the second frame on the power play where they capitalized, knotting the score at 1-1. Krista Parkkonen carried the puck into Holy Cross's zone, dumping it off to Lily Humphrey who was streaking behind. Humphrey found Mlynkova curling to the middle where she ripped the puck under the goalie's blocker, earning her 13th goal of the season.
- Holy Cross responded 5:37 into the second period when Charlotte Sonntag corralled her initial shot that was blocked, but recovered soundly and buried the puck glove side high giving the Crusaders a 2-1 lead.
- Lewis answered for Vermont, scoring UVM's second goal at the 9:25 mark of the period to tie the score 2-2, her seventh goal of the season. Evelyne Blais-Savoie passed the puck behind the net to Anna Podein who set up Lewis perfectly in the middle of the ice for a breakaway opportunity. Lewis who was all alone, snapped the puck bar down over the goalie's glove giving Vermont the equalizing goal.
- Sirum found the back of the net on the power play 2:35 into the third period after sniping her shot blocker side high from the high slot, giving Holy Cross a 3-2 lead.
- The Catamounts countered 3:56 into the period when Julia Mesplede circled up from the goal line and whipped a pass across the crease, finding Hailey Burns wide open back door, smashing home her second goal of the season and bringing Vermont back even, 3-3. Podein was awarded the secondary assist.
- Vermont gained its first lead of the game after Lewis scored her second goal of the contest on a two-on-one rush where she elected to rip a shot under the goalie's blocker to give the Catamounts a 4-3 lead 5:15 into the final period. Lara Beecher and Blais-Savoie registered assists on the goal.
- Parkkonen lifted the Catamounts' lead to 5-3 after displaying nifty stick handling skills at the blue line, pulling away from a Holy Cross defender and unleashing a rocket under the goalie's blocker giving Vermont the two-goal cushion. Bella Parento and Burns each tallied assists on the play.
- Mlynkova added an empty net goal with 32 seconds remaining to give Vermont a 6-3 advantage.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mlynkova earned her second multi-goal game of the season, earning two goals for Vermont. With the two scores, Mlynkova now sits solo, fourth all time in goals scored in Vermont Women's Hockey history with 45.
- Mlynkova now ranks fourth all time in goals scored in Vermont Women's Hockey History after scoring her 45th career goal.
- Lewis also earned her second multi-goal game of her career after scoring two goals for Vermont.
- Jessie McPherson stopped 19 out of the 22 shots she faced against the Crusaders.
- Vermont skaters finished with a +/- rating of +20, their highest rating since January 2.
- With today's 6-3 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $450 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
- With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.
UP NEXT
Vermont continues conference play tomorrow as they engage in their second game of a two-game series with Holy Cross. Saturday's game is set for a 6 p.m. start at Gutterson Fieldhouse and will be live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call.
Saturday is the Catamounts Rally Against Cancer game presented by Mascoma Bank. The team will be wearing special edition Rally Against Cancer jerseys that will be auctioned off online starting at puck drop at https://www.32auctions.com/uvmwihcancer. The auction will end on Saturday, February 10 at 7 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the UVM Cancer Center. Fans are encouraged to wear lavender, the universal cancer awareness color to this game in support of the team's cancer awareness initiatives.
