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FINAL SCORE: Vermont 12, Colgate 11 (OT) | Box Score
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Sophomore Alex Bernier tallied the game-winning goal in overtime to power Vermont women's lacrosse to a 12-11 season-opening victory at Colgate on a snowy day Saturday at Tyler's Field.
 
Vermont and Colgate traded a pair of goals early in the overtime stanza, before Bernier notched the eventual game-winner with 2:05 to play in the period.
 
"Today was a great team win, with many players contributing to the victory. There were a lot of mistakes made, but we persevered and found a way to win against a very strong Colgate team," said head coach Jen Johnson.
 
Senior Jessica Roach led the way for Vermont with four tallies, while Vanessa VanderZalm (3 g), Alison Bolt (2 g) and Meredith Moore (2 g) each chipped in with multi-goal efforts. VanderZalm's final goal of the second half was the 100^th point of her career.
 
Kallan Murray paced the Raiders with four points on a goal and three assists, and four other players scored two goals apiece for Colgate.
 
Senior goalie Meg Hopkins registered the victory in the Vermont net after making seven saves in her first action of the season. Jennie Berglin, who also stopped seven shots in the contest, took the loss for the Raiders.
 
Colgate (0-1) jumped out to a 4-1 advantage midway through the first half, before Roach ended the Raiders' run at the 11:55 mark with her second score of the contest for UVM.
 
Vermont (1-0) went on to score the final three goals of the half, as Moore, Bolt and Roach registered a goal each to give the Catamounts their first lead of the contest, 5-4. UVM headed into halftime with the one-goal advantage.
 
The Raiders notched three of the first four goals to open the second half, and jumped back ahead of Vermont, 7-6, with just under 20 minutes remaining in the tilt.
 
Roach and Taylor Fischer exchanged goals in the ensuing seven minutes of play, before VanderZalm tallied two straight scores to give Vermont the 9-8 advantage at the 9:34 mark.
 
With Vermont leading 10-9 following Bolt's second goal of the game, Tyler Sherper knotted the game up at 10-10 with just 3:55 to play in the tilt. Neither team could find the back of the net in the final minutes, and the game headed into overtime.

Moore notched her second goal of the contest early in the overtime period to give Vermont the one-goal advantage, but Taylor Fischer answered back under a minute later to tie things up, 11-11.
 
With just over two minutes remaining in the overtime period, Bernier netted her first score of the season to give Vermont the lead. The Catamount defense shut down Colgate in the last two minutes, and UVM earned the season-opening 12-11 victory.
 
UVM outshot Colgate 26-19 in the contest and also held advantages in ground balls (12-10) and draw controls (14-12). Bolt and VanderZalm combined for seven draw controls, and VanderZalm topped the squad with five ground balls.
 
Vermont returns to Burlington for its home opener at Virtue Field on Saturday (Feb. 21) against sixth-ranked Boston College at 1 p.m. CatamounTV.com will have free live video of the game in HD.
 
NOTES: The game winner for Bernier was the first of her career … Freshmen Courtney Cole and Bailey Saneman made their first collegiate appearances with the Catamounts in the game … VanderZalm reached the 100-point plateau in just her third season … Head Coach Jen Johnson now sits just four wins shy of becoming the program's all-time winningest coach.