VERMONT WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont women's hockey team (6-2-1, 1-0-0 HEA) starts a season long six-game road trip as they continue league play at New Hampshire (2-8-1, 0-4-0 HEA) and No. 1 Boston College (7-0-1, 3-0-0 HEA) this weekend. The Catamounts face the Wildcats at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the Eagles at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
 
BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Vermont is now 6-2-1 this season it is the best ever start for the Catamounts through nine games. The Catamounts five non-conference wins have already matched the previous program record as well. Dating back to last season Vermont has won 14 of its last 18 regular season games, including seven straight Hockey East games.
 
CATAMOUNTS RECEIVING VOTES IN BOTH POLLS
Coming off three straight wins Vermont is receiving votes in the USCHO.com Division I and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for the first time in program history. Based on the votes received Vermont would be the 13^th ranked team in the country.
 
TEAM DEFENSE AND GOALTENDING LEADING CATAMOUNTS
With three straight shutouts against Union College and Connecticut Vermont has established yet another program mark. The Catamounts have not conceded a goal in 196 minutes and 44 seconds of game action. With the tandem of Madison Litchfield and Molly Depew Vermont is one of three teams in the country with two goalies who have posted a shutout.
 
Vermont has given up just 1.33 goals-a-game this season, which ranks seventh overall in the NCAA.
 
COLANG FEATURED IN UVM'S MOE'S MOEMENT OF THE WEEK
Dayna Colang's second period goal against Connecticut last weekend was chosen as UVM's top play of the week, the Moe's Moe-ment of the Week. It is the second time this season a Colang goal has been chosen. Click here to watch the video.
 
TRIO OF FORWARDS LEADING THE CATAMOUNTS OFFENSIVELY
Dayna Colang, Amanda Pelkey, and Brittany Zuback were the Catamounts top-three offensive players last season and they have picked up right where they left off. Colang leads all Vermont skaters with nine points (4 G, 5 A). Zuback leads all Catamounts with five goals on the season. Pelkey and Colang are both averaging a point a game.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS HELPING THE CATAMOUNTS STRONG START
Vermont's power play and penalty kill are both ranked in the top 15 in the NCAA. The penalty kill has successfully killed off 26 straight power play opportunities for Vermont's opponents. Overall they are 27-for-28 on the kill good for 96.4%, which is fourth in the NCAA.
 
The power play is clicking at 18.2% (6/33) which is second best in Hockey East and 13th best in the NCAA.
 
CATAMOUNTS CLOSING STRONG
Vermont has outscored its opponents 17-3 in the third period of games this season. It continues a trend as last season the third period was their best. The Catamounts outscored its opponents by 11 over the course of the season and by 15 in league play.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
New Hampshire: The Wildcats are 2-8-1 and have lost five games in a row entering Saturday's tilt, although three of those games have been against ranked opponents. UNH's two wins this season came against Rensselaer and RIT, Vermont is 2-1-1 in four games against those two.
 
Senior forward Kayla Mork leads the Wildcats in scoring with five points this season. The Wildcats have struggled to score this season, managing 14 goals thus far in 11 games. In their four Hockey East games UNH has been shutout twice and managed three goals.
 
Vermont has flipped what was once a once-sided affair between the Wildcats and Catamounts. UNH won the first 21 meetings between the teams, but Vermont is 8-6-1 in the 15 meetings since 2010. The Catamounts are 4-1-1 against UNH under Coach Plumer, including a 3-0-0 mark at the Whittemore Center.
 
No. 1 Boston College: The Eagles are the top ranked team in the country for the first time in program history. At 7-0-1 they are also one of the only four Division I teams that remain undefeated.
 
The Eagles will travel to face Northeastern on Saturday afternoon before hosting Vermont.
 
Junior defenseman Lexi Bender is the Eagles top scorer not participating at the Four Nations Cup. Bender has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in eight games this season.
 
The Eagles have been led in net this season by freshman goaltender Katie Burt. Burt is 7-0-1 this season having started every game. She has a 1.30 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.
 
The Catamounts last met BC in the Hockey East Semifinals last March. Kate Leary scored her first career hat trick as the Eagles defeated Vermont 3-1. Dayna Colang had the Catamounts lone tally.

Vermont is 0-6-1 against the Eagles under Coach Plumer, it is the only Hockey East opponent he has not beaten.
 
VERMONT AGAINST THE TOP RANKED TEAM
Sunday will be just the third time Vermont has matched up against the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Catamounts are 0-2-0 against the No. 1 team in program history having lost to New Hampshire on February 25/26, 2006 when the Wildcats were the top ranked team.
 
FOUR NATIONS CUP CHANGES WEEKEND DYNAMICS
The Catamounts are playing this weekend without senior co-captain Amanda Pelkey as she plays for the U.S. National Team at the 2014 Four Nations Cup. But New Hampshire and Boston College are also missing players. UNH's starting goaltender Vilma Vaattovaara is representing Finland at the tournament. While Boston College has Alex Carpenter, Megan Keller, Emily Pfalzer, Haley Skarupa, and Dana Trivigno playing with Pelkey on the U.S. team.
 
PELKEY AND AMERICANS LOOK TO REBOUND FRIDAY
Amanda Pelkey and the U.S. National Team are 1-1-0 at the Four Nations Cup after defeating Finland 5-0 on Tuesday and falling 3-2 to Canada last night. The Americans can guarantee a gold medal rematch with the Canadians on Saturday with a win or tie against Sweden tomorrow afternoon. The game starts a 4 p.m. ET and can be seen live for free at FastHockey.com.