FINAL SCORE: Vermont 4, Northeastern 3
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Ève-Audrey Picard picked up where she left off last night, netting a hat trick and game-winning goal with 11 seconds left in Vermont's thrilling 4-3 win over Northeastern on Saturday. She finishes the weekend series with five goals and an assist.
 
With the weekend sweep, Vermont improves to 8-16-4 and 5-11-3 in Hockey East play while Northeastern falls to 13-12-3 and 9-9-2 in conference play.
 
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"This was a great weekend for our team," Head Coach Jim Plumer said. "We had outstanding performances up and down the lineup. Picard and Scobee were especially strong and we are excited to keep our good play going next weekend."
 
Northeastern controlled the first 10 minutes of play but could not find a way past Sydney Scobee and the Catamount defense. Scobee made a great save on Kasidy Anderson on a Huskies odd-man rush early in the period to keep the game scoreless.
 
Picard and Brooke Hobson picked up matching penalties for embellishment and roughing, respectively, that shifted the game to 4-on-4 with 3:51 remaining. A checking penalty against Ali O'Leary gave the Huskies more than a minute of 4-on-3 time, but the Catamount defense stood tall.
 
As the matching penalties ended, Picard jumped onto the ice and picked up the puck in the Northeastern zone. In a flurry of action, Picard took a shot on Frankel, picked up the rebound, attempted a wraparound, and finally put the puck past Frankel on the third effort. It was the ninth goal of the season for Picard and just the second shorthanded goal for Vermont on the season.
 
O'Leary got behind the Northeastern defense for a breakaway with 50 seconds left. She moved quickly on Frankel and deked to her left, but Frankel made the save and kept the Cats off the board.
 
Vermont took a 1-0 lead with an 11-7 advantage in shots into the first intermission, with Scobee stopping all seven shots faced.
 
With 5:56 remaining in the period, the Huskies tied the game near the end of a power play following a holding call against Amanda Drobot. Lauren Kelly picked up the puck behind the UVM net and fired the puck towards Scobee. The puck then deflected off the sophomore goalie and into the net.
 
Andrea Renner gave the Huskies their first lead of the weekend 1:57 into the final period. She came down to the left of Scobee with speed and rocketed a shot top shelf.
 
Picard answered less than 20 seconds later with a fantastic individual effort to tie the game at 2-2. She brought the puck into the Northeastern zone to the right of Frankel before cutting to her left towards the slot, she deked a shot and split a defenseman and Frankel before depositing the puck into the empty net. It marked the fourth goal of the weekend and 10^th of the season for the sophomore.
 
Alyssa Gorecki gave Vermont a 3-2 lead on the power play with 5:12 remaining in regulation. About halfway through the power play, Saana Valkama brought the puck into the zone and moved it to Gorecki in the slot, who fired a one-time shot over Frankel's shoulder.
 
Codie Cross tied the game with 2:04 remaining after possession and puck movement from the Huskies in the Catamount zone. Denisa Krížová whipped the puck across the slot to Cross, who managed to get enough of her stick on the puck to get it past Scobee.
 
After withstanding a strong Northeastern attack in the waning moments of the game, Picard completed the hat trick and scored the deciding goal with 11 seconds left. Kourtney Menches fired a shot on Frankel along the boards and the rebound came to Valkama, who moved the puck to Picard in the slot for the game winner. 
 
Vermont held on for the remaining seconds and took a 4-3 win and weekend sweep over Northeastern. The Huskies held a 32-27 advantage in shots, but could not get enough by Scobee, who made 29 saves. Frankel made 23 saves in the loss for the Huskies.

With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year's total to 82 wins and $8,200.
 
The Catamounts head to Boston, Massachusetts to take on Boston University next Friday, Feb. 2 at Agganis Arena. UVM then returns home to host the Warriors of Merrimack University on Sunday, Feb. 4.
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 women's hockey season