FINAL SCORE: Vermont 4, No. 5 Minnesota 2
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Freshman Alyssa Holmes scored two goals and added an assist as the Vermont Catamount offense surged to a 4-2 victory over the fifth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday night.

Head Coach Jim Plumer notched his 71^st win at the helm of the UVM women's hockey program, passing Dennis Miller to become the program's winningest coach.

Vermont improves to 6-13-3 and remains 3-9-3 in Hockey East play while Minnesota falls to 16-6-2 and remains 10-4-2 in WCHA play. It is just the 12^th home loss for the Gophers since the start of the 2011-12 season.

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"It certainly is a big thrill to win a game like this at Minnesota," Plumer said. "Our ability to play at this level was not a surprise to me as we've done this before this season and have been playing excellent hockey since the break. I'm thrilled for our seniors who have big wins at North Dakota and now Minnesota on their resumes. Scobee was stellar, Holmes broke out in a big way, and our entire group contributed."

After nearly 15 minutes of back and forth hockey, Minnesota native Taylor Flaherty picked up a pass from Holmes and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Gopher goaltender Sidney Peters. The goal came during 4-on-4 play following matching minor penalties.

With just under a minute left in the opening period, Ève-Audrey Picard netted her team-leading sixth goal of the season to double the Catamount lead. Amanda Drobot took a shot from the point that bounced to Picard's stick, who buried the goal.

Sydney Scobee stopped all four shots faced in the opening period, while Peters finished the period with two saves.

Holmes gave the Cats a three-goal lead six minutes into the middle frame. She came down the right boards and fired a shot on net from just under the face-off circle that found its way to the back of the net. It was the first collegiate goal for Holmes with Kristina Shanahan picking up the assist.

Holmes put home her second of the game four minutes later. Following a successful penalty kill, she drove to the Gopher goal with just a single defender in her way. She took a quick shot on goal that bounced off of goalie Alex Gulstene and into the net.

Minnesota got shots on Scobee early in the third but with 11:35 remaining Minnesota's Lindsay Agnew was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding on Taylor Willard. The Catamounts did not score on the advantage but kept the Gophers off the board.

Nicole Schammel put the Gophers on the board with 5:48 remaining in the third. She picked up the puck behind the net and scored on a wraparound to Scobee's left.

The Gophers pulled Gulstene for the extra attacker with three minutes remaining in an effort to climb back into the game. UM scored with 1:13 remaining on a goal from Sydney Baldwin and called a timeout in an effort to net two more goals.

The Catamounts kept the Gophers off the board for the rest of the game, and took the first ever game against the Gophers 4-2. Scobee, a Minnesota native, made 24 saves in the win for the Catamounts.

With the win, Vermont has now defeated a pair of top-five teams this season, taking down then third-ranked Clarkson, the defending national champion, and Minnesota, the defending national runner-up.

Vermont and Minnesota take the ice at Ridder Arena tomorrow evening with a 5:07 p.m. (ET) start. It is Vermont's final non-conference game of the season.

"We are excited to keep the momentum going tomorrow," Plumer concluded.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 women's hockey season