The women’s ice hockey team traveled to North Andover, Massachusetts to take on Merrimack College in a two-game set this weekend.
Sophomore defenseman Krista Parkkonen opened the scoring for the Catamounts nine minutes and 52 seconds into the first period of play. After senior forward Natalie Mlýnková set her up with a point-to-point pass, Parkkonen executed a slapshot to give Vermont the edge.
In the second period, Vermont added to their lead when junior forward Evelyne Blais-Savoie delivered a wrist shot from the left side that promptly deflected off of the goal post and into the net to double the Catamount’s lead.
Merrimack responded later in the second period with senior defenseman Natalie Nemes putting them on the scoreboard. Vermont’s lead was erased in a flash as Merrimack’s grad student forward Allison Reeb delivered the game-tying goal to put both teams at two goals apiece.
The Catamounts responded quickly, though, as grad student forward Sara Levesque came through with her first goal of the season to deliver the lead. Blais-Savoie delivered the final nail in Merrimack’s coffin just 36 seconds before the end of regulation to complete the victory.
In the second game of the weekend, UVM found itself playing from behind after Merrimack put two pucks in the net in the first seven minutes of the second frame.
Despite the early goal, Vermont responded just a few minutes later to cut the Merrimack lead in half after first-year forward Rose-Marie Brochu pounced on a rebound in the low slot, before decisively shooting the puck into the top left corner of the net.
Vermont evened the score in the third period when grad student Lily Humphrey came through with her third goal of the season—a well-placed wrist shot that gave Vermont momentum.
Less than a minute later, the Catamounts completed the comeback on a backhand shot from Mlýnková that gave UVM a 3-2 advantage. With momentum in their favor, Vermont added to the lead with a goal from first-year forward Kaylee Lewis—the first of Lewis’s collegiate career.
The Catamounts will return home to take on the University of New Hampshire in Gutterson Fieldhouse on Oct. 27 and 28.
Vermont will have the chance to jump UNH in the Hockey East standings, as they currently trail their conference foe by just three points and one victory of divisional play. They now sit fourth in the Hockey East division standings with a 2-0 record and six points.
