The women’s ice hockey team has started off the 2012-2013 season 2-8. The Catamounts said they hope to perform better than last year when the team finished 4-22-6.

This season is head coach Jim Plumer’s first as a coach at UVM. This is also his first year coaching at the Division I level.  

Prior to coaching at UVM, Plumer had a nine-year tenure at Amherst College in Massachusetts. 

As a coach at Amherst, he set the record for wins in the school’s history with over 20 back-to-back win seasons.  Plumer coached Amherst to two NCAA Championship titles in 2009 and 2010, which gave the women’s ice hockey program the honor of being the first program in school history to capture multiple national championships.  

When asked about the status of the current season, Plumer said, “The season has been challenging, but we are making progress. The players and staff are still getting settled, and while there is certainly room for improvement, we have done a good job of overcoming some of the early challenges we’ve faced.” 

The Catamounts’ first win of the season came against Penn State at home Oct. 7 in a 3-1 contest. The game-winning goal came from junior Danielle Rancourt.  

Vermont’s second win of the season was in Durham, N.H. against the UNH Wildcats Oct. 16.  In that game, sophomore Klara Myren scored two goals and had two assists to lead the Catamounts to a 4-3 victory.

“While we might not have as many wins as we would like, the season has been going extremely well,” assistant captain, senior forward Emily Walsh said. “We are constantly getting better and we are excited to get some more wins under our belts.” 

The women’s ice hockey team most recently lost 3-2 in overtime to the Robert Morris Colonials Sunday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse. 

The Catamounts scored in the second period on a power play, with sophomore Amanda Pelkey scoring off a scramble in front of Robert Morris goaltender Kristen DiCiocco. 

Later on, sophomore Brittany Zuback scored from behind the net. Despite the loss, Junior goalie Roxanne Douville had 24 saves.

After the loss, Plumer remained optimistic.

 “We took a step forward today despite not getting the result that we wanted,” Plumer said. “I’m proud of the way we responded to yesterday’s game.”

Senior Emily Walsh believes that consistency will be key in future success for the Cats.

“As a team, we can improve on our consistency,” she said. “While we have been playing well, we want to be able to play three strong periods of hockey, playing our absolute best for the entire game, every game.”

Vermont returns to action next weekend in Boston as they face No. 7 Northeastern in a two-game Hockey East series. The Catamounts will face the Huskies at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.