Catamount fans braved subzero temperatures to cheer on Vermont women’s ice hockey in their Pack The Gut game on Feb. 7.
Pack the Gut is an annual tradition that aims to fill as many seats as possible in the Gutterson Fieldhouse for a women’s matchup.
Danielle Rancourt ‘14 began the tradition during her final season with the Cats in 2013. At the time, men’s hockey accumulated waitlists for season tickets and regularly sold out games, but attendance at women’s games stayed low.
Rancourt set out to pack the stands.
Pack The Gut began in partnership with Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit that delivers food to seniors, encouraging fans to make donations while rallying around women’s ice hockey.
Rancourt spread word about the game among local youth hockey teams and proposed that professors offer their students extra credit for filing into Gutterson.
Her campaigning paid off: the inaugural Pack the Gut game set a Hockey East conference record with 2,028 fans in the stands.
At this year’s Pack The Gut game against Northeastern University, a blanket drive for Spectrum Youth and Family Services rallied students and Vermonters around women’s hockey, with a charitable twist.
While the game did not break the all-time record of 2,705 fans set in 2023, it still drew 1,710 supporters to the rink.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Cats were sixth in the Hockey East Conference while the Huskies comfortably held first place.
Northeastern led 1-0 after the first period, before a goal from redshirt sophomore defender Josie Hemp revived Vermont in the second.
After a third-period goal from the Huskies, time was ticking for the Cats to pull out a win. With just 27 seconds remaining, junior forward Rose-Marie Brochu forced the game into overtime.
Despite the occasion at Gutterson, the Cats could not complete the comeback, losing 3-2 to Northeastern.
“I was really proud of how we played,” Head Coach Jim Plumer said after the game. “Super pleased about the turnout that we had. There was a lot of energy in the building.”
The game marks the thirteenth anniversary of Pack The Gut and the highest attendance at a women’s ice hockey matchup this season.
“To get 1,700 people out here and support us, and to see the level of play and the passion we play with — it’s really cool to keep this tradition going,” Plumer said.
The Cats have one more regular season home game against Merrimack College on Feb. 15, before the postseason conference tournament begins.
