FINAL SCORE (OT): No. 3 Northeastern 2, Vermont 1
BOSTON – Skylar Fontaine's goal with three minutes left sent the game to overtime where the third-ranked Northeastern Huskies (18-3-3, 16-2-2 WHEA) defeated the Vermont Catamounts (7-15-4, 5-12-2 WHEA) in a come-from-behind victory Friday night at Matthews Arena.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score

COACH'S QUOTE
"Obviously it's very disappointing to waste that opportunity to win the game," said head coach Jim Plumer. "Melissa Black was outstanding and we withstood a strong push by Northeastern for most of the third period. We will regroup tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Melissa Black (35 saves) was the story throughout the game, including a 10-save first period to keep things scoreless through the opening 20 minutes. She made several key saves including a flurry of shots stopped in the final few minutes. Northeastern's offense applied pressure and nearly snuck a shot through, but Black reached back and swiped the puck out of the crease to preserve the tie.
• Vermont took the lead on Val Caldwell's second goal of the season at 2:11 in the second period. The sophomore forward received a pass from Allie Granato and neared the Huskies' net before extending around a stretched out Aerin Frankel (15 saves) for the tally. Sini Karjalainen was credited with the secondary assist.
• Northeastern responded with several chances on a pair of 4-on-4 opportunities by Alina Mueller. The nation's top rookie scorer fired two shots off the posts in a span of five minutes to nearly tie the game in the middle frame.
• In the third period, Caldwell almost had her second of the night when Alyssa Holmes rushed into the zone and set up the winger for a one-timer that Frankel was barely able to get a pad on.
• Black stopped 16 shots in the third period including a key save when she robbed Codie Cross' one-timer from the low slot to maintain the Vermont lead.
• The Catamounts killed off their sixth penalty of the night with 3:35 left in regulation, but Fontaine netted the equalizer with 3:00 remaining on the clock. The Northeastern defenseman rushed up the ice before lifting the puck over Black to force overtime.
• In overtime, Tori Sullivan sent a pass to Brooke Hobson at the top of the UVM zone where she fired a shot past a screened Black to clinch the game.  

NOTES

• After killing off all six penalties tonight, the Catamounts improve to 91.1% on the season for the best penalty kill in the country.
• Black's 35 saves was her most this season as well as the most by a Vermont goaltender in the 2018-19 campaign.
• Caldwell's second goal of the season was also her second goal against Northeastern this year.

WHAT'S NEXT
Vermont returns to action Saturday (Jan. 26) for the second game of the Hockey East series against Northeastern at Matthews Arena. Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m.   
 
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 women's hockey season