FINAL SCORE: Vermont 11, Sacred Heart 6
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – UVM used a pair of hat tricks from midfielders Bailey Saneman and Elise Koehl as Vermont held off Sacred Heart for an 11-6 victory on Thursday afternoon. The Catamounts improve to 4-5 on the year while the Pioneers are left searching for their first win of the season at 0-8.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
 
Saneman logged her second straight hat trick on five shots and Koehl also reached her hat trick on five shot attempts. Alex Bernier led the way offensively for the Cats with five points. The senior scored a goal and handed out four assists, moving her into fourth place on the program's all-time list with 51 career assists. Alex Vignona was the fourth UVM player with at least three points on the afternoon with two goals and one assist. In goal, Maddy Kuras stopped 13 shot attempts and picked up her fourth victory of the season.
 
Sacred Heart's Averi Farhat recorded a hat trick of her own on eight shots. The Pioneers had three other players net a goal – Cassie Cesario, Carrie Speicher, and Olivia Millard. Goalie Paige Hammick suffered the loss after surrendering seven first-half goals. Amy Cadle made seven saves in a second-half relief appearance.
 
The first half belonged to the Catamounts as the Green and Gold outscored the Pioneers 7-0. Koehl got the early scoring spree started with her first goal less than a minute and a half into the contest and Bernier doubled the lead 41 seconds later.
 
The 2-0 advantage stood until the 10:55 mark when Saneman and Koehl combined to score UVM's next four goals. With two minutes left in the period, Courtney Cole provided the final goal of the first half as the Cats went into the break with a 7-0 cushion.
 
The Pioneers came out on the attack to begin the second half. Cesario spoiled the shutout opportunity 46 seconds into final period. Millard tacked on SHU's second goal at the 27:43 mark and Speicher provided the Pioneers' third unanswered goal two minutes later.
 
Koehl completed her hat trick at the 23:43 mark, but Farhat trimmed the gap to 8-4 five minutes later. Vignona helped push the lead back to 9-4 a minute later but Farhart responded with two more scores and kept SHU in the game at 9-6.
 
The Catamounts managed to stop Farhart and the Pioneers from gaining any more traction as Jenna Janes scored a goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Vignona found the back of the net with 45 ticks left on the clock for the final margin of victory.

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 112 wins and $11,200.
 
Vermont will open America East play against Binghamton on Saturday (March 24). The opening draw is set for 3 p.m. Single game tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. Free live video will be available in HD at AmericaEast.TV. 
 
45TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
The women's lacrosse team will host a celebration of its 45th anniversary of being a varsity team on Saturday as it participates in a lacrosse doubleheader hosting Binghamton University at Virtue Field. Alumnae are invited back to campus to celebrate the history of the program. Alumnae are asked to register at go.uvm.edu/wlax45. Please contact our Victory Club office at Victory.Club@uvm.edu or 802-656-0956 with questions or to update your contact information.