UVM WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
Off to a 2-0-0 start, the Vermont women's hockey team treks to The Keystone State for a pair of games at Robert Morris University on Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15. Puck drop in Friday's contest is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and Saturday's tilt begins at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be played at 84 Lumber Arena.
Fans can follow along with live stats in both contests, with live video also available through Stretch.
RELATED LINKS
Live Stats
Live Video ($): Friday | Saturday
Tickets: Friday | Saturday
CATAMOUNTS RECAP
Vermont picked up wins last week against Union (5-1) and then-No. 9/10 Boston University (3-2), propelled in part by four-point weeks by
Ève-Audrey Picard and
Saana Valkama.
Madison Litchfield and
Melissa Black each earned a victory between the pipes, totaling 59 saves throughout the two-game sequence.
Sunday's thriller against BU culminated with
Alyssa Gorecki's game-winning goal at the 15:01 mark of the third period. The tally capped a back-and-forth matchup in which Vermont never trailed.
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris received votes in this week's USA Today poll after a win and tie against RPI last Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Colonials enter the weekend with a 3-0-1 overall record and, as a team, rank just ahead of Vermont in the national power play rankings. RMU clocks in at fourth nationally (24.1%), one position above the Catamounts (21.4%).
Freshman Jaycee Gebhard (3-3-6) and sophomore Amber Rennie (2-4-6) lead the RMU offense at this early juncture of the season, complimented at the other end of the ice by the tandem of Jessica Dodds and Lauren Bailey. The duo have compiled a goals against average of 1.96. Gebhard has lit the lamp twice on the power play, while five other players have pocketed one power play goal.
The 2016-17 campaign is the sixth at Robert Morris for head coach Paul Colontino, who earned USCHO and CHA Coach of the Year recognition in 2012. Colontino also boasts previous stops at Mercyhurst and North Dakota.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Catamounts' history with Robert Morris dates back to November of 2005 when the teams split a weekend series at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Kristi Anderson chipped in a goal and assist as the Catamounts earned a 3-1 win in the series finale on Nov. 6.
Friday's game marks the first meeting between the teams since October of 2013, when the Colonials edged UVM in a pair of matchups in Pittsburgh.
PICARD PICKS UP WEEKLY AWARDS
Following her performances last week,
Ève-Audrey Picard was honored as the TD Bank Student-Athlete of the Week as well as Hockey East Warrior Co-Player of the Week. The engineering major and Longueuil, Quebec native leads all rookies nationwide with two points per game and ranks second among all players with an average of 1.5 goals per game.
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS
Vermont's win over Union on Oct. 4 saw
Mackenzie MacNeil and Picard each notch their first two goals of the season. The last time a Catamount scored twice in a season opener was in a 3-1 win over North Dakota on Oct. 4, 2014 when
Cassidy Campeau marked the scoresheet in the second and third periods.
Victoria Andreakos was the most recent player to tally a goal on her first night donning the Green and Gold, doing so in a 3-3 tie against Penn State on Oct. 4, 2013. Picard is the first to score twice in her collegiate debut in the Catamounts' Hockey East era; Liz Reed and Kate McBride both accomplished the feat on Nov. 18, 2000 in an 8-0 win over Amherst College, while UVM played at the ECAC Division I level.
PLUMER ANNOUNCES TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors
Rachael Ade and
Sarah Kelly as well as junior
Taylor Willard will captain the Catamounts for the 2016-17 season. Kelly, who also served as a captain last season, notched five points on the campaign, while Willard and Ade recorded 19 and six points, respectively.
CATAMOUNTS PREVIEW SEASON AT MEDIA DAY
UVM welcomed members of the local media to campus on Sept. 28 to preview the 2016-17 season at Hockey Media Day.
Click here to hear head coach
Jim Plumer's remarks. Senior captain
Sarah Kelly also took time to give an outlook of the season;
click here to listen.
HOCKEY EAST ANNOUNCES PRESEASON POLL
Vermont was picked to finish tied for fifth in the annual Women's Hockey East preseason poll, announced by the conference office on Sept. 20. The Catamounts shared the spot with New Hampshire, while Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern claimed the top three positions, respectively. Connecticut was projected to finish fourth and Providence, Maine and Merrimack were slotted seventh through ninth.
CATAMOUNTS ADD FIVE TO ROSTER
Vermont welcomed five newcomers to the roster over the summer. Forwards
Allie Granato (Plainfield, Illinois),
Ali O'Leary (Reading, Massachusetts) and Eve-Audrey Picard (Longueuil, Quebec), goaltender
Sydney Scobee (Minnetrista, Minnesota) as well as sophomore transfer goalie
Melissa Black (Newmarket, Ontario) have joined the team for 2016-17.
NEXT UP
Vermont wraps up its three-game road swing with a Friday, Oct. 21 matchup at No. 9 St. Lawrence (7 p.m.), then concludes the home-and-home series on Saturday, Oct. 22, hosting the Saints at 4 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 women's hockey season
