WOMEN'S HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The 11th ranked Vermont Catamounts return to Gutterson Fieldhouse this weekend for two huge Hockey East contests. It is Alumnae Weekend for Vermont and Friday is the Catamounts annual Pack the Gut Challenge presented by the Windjammer. At 6 p.m. on Friday UVM hosts Holy Cross and admission is only $2, free for kids 12 and younger and free for UVM students. Help us break the women's Hockey East regular season attendance record which was set in 2017 with a total of 2,136 fans in attendance.
 
On Saturday afternoon UVM hosts #7 Northeastern at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan on the call. The games will also be available on a pay-per-view basis outside of North America at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hockeyeast. Subscriptions to the service are available for $9.99 USD per month or $4.99 USD for individual games.
 
RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV Weekly Press Conference: Coach Plumer | Parento
Buy Tickets
Friday: Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday: Live Stats | ESPN+
International Streaming ($)
 
50/50 TO BENEFIT SASA LEAFS SPECIAL HOCKEY THROUGH KAYLA'S DIRECTORY
At Friday night's Pack the Gut Challenge presented by the Windjammer the evening's 50/50 raffle will benefit the SASA Leafs Special Hockey team through Kayla's Directory. The Leafs Special Hockey team is the only team in the state that offers children with disabilities the opportunity to play hockey. For more information on Kayla's Directory please visit kaylasdirectory.org.
 
PACK THE GUT HISTORY
2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the first Pack the Gut Challenge, which was created in 2013 by Danielle Rancourt '14. Friday night will be the ninth edition, UVM holds a 3-4-1 record in the contests. Friday will be the first time UVM is ranked heading into the matchup. Holy Cross will be participating in their first Pack the Gut, they will be the sixth Hockey East school to do so.
 
Over the nine previous editions 13,392 fans have attended, an average of 1,674 per game. The Hockey East regular season attendance record (at a home site) remains the 2017 contest where UVM and UNH skated to a 3-3 tie in front of a crowd of 2,136.
 
ACCOLADES COMING IN FOR McPHERSON
With three straight wins over Providence Jessie McPherson is now the program's all-time leader in wins with 34. McPherson is tied for fourth in the NCAA this season with 15 wins. She has maintained a 1.86 goals-against average which is 15th in the NCAA.  Last week she was one of 27 goaltenders named to the Women's Hockey Commissioners Association "Watch List" for the 2023 National Women's Goalie of the Year award.
 
TANSKI FINDS THE SCORESHEET WITH SHORTY
Sophomore forward Alaina Tanski scored her first career goal Saturday afternoon at UConn. She skated in alone on a breakaway to net UVM's third shorthanded goal of the campaign. Theresa Schafzahl and Natálie Mlýnková have the other two this season for Vermont.
 
LONG CHANGE, LONG PERIOD
The Catamounts have been most effective this season during the second period, when both teams have the long change. UVM has outscored its opponents 26-12 in the second and outshot teams 253-159.
 
OFFENSE AND DEFENSE AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
With 3.1 goals-per game the Catamounts offense ranks 13th in the NCAA. Vermont has scored five or more goals six times in 25 games this season. Vermont is giving up just 1.8 goals per game which is 12th best in the NCAA.
 
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES UPDATE
Tynka Pátková (Czechia) and Ellie Simmons (USA) have been away from the team competing at the FISU World University Winter Games in New York state. In five games Pátková one goal and four assists for five points. Pátková's goal came shorthanded. Simmons started two games for the United States, posting a 1-1-0 record, .941 save percentage and 2.01 goals-against average.
 
Czechia advanced to the semifinals of the competition which will take place at the historic Olympic Center in Lake Placid. Czechia will face Japan at 8:05 p.m. on Friday night, while Canada and Slovakia will meet in the other semifinal.
 
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross enters Friday's contest at 4-19-1 this season although the Crusaders have won two of their last three games. On January 6, the Crusaders topped Boston University 3-2 at Fenway Park as a part of Frozen Fenway. Then a week later Holy Cross did it again with a 2-1 OT win in Worcester. Senior forward Mary Edmonds had the game-winner for the Crusaders. Last Saturday Holy Cross fell 3-0 to Boston College at home.
 
Edmonds is the teams' leading scorer, she holds the team lead with seven goals and four assists for 11 points. She scored the opening goal against the Catamounts on October 8. Junior defenseman Vaia Graves has ties to the area, she is originally from Plattsburgh, N.Y. and played at NAHA.

SERIES HISTORY
The Catamounts lead the all-time series with the Crusaders 10-3-1. Holy Cross handed UVM its first loss of the season on October 8 in a 2-1 decision. The Crusaders scored two early goals and held on for their first win over Vermont in five tries. UVM won the second game of the weekend series 3-0. Jessie McPherson posted a 13-save shutout and Theresa Schafzahl became the program's all-time leader in points. UVM won the first official meeting 2-0 in 2001 as D-III programs.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
The seventh ranked Huskies enter the weekend having won nine straight contests. They currently sit in first place in Hockey East with 52 points. In league, they are 17-2-1, having dropped contests on the road to Providence and Maine. On Friday afternoon, they will face Merrimack at 2 p.m. before heading up to Burlington.
 
On their current nine-game winning streak the Huskies are outscoring their opponents 36-7. Their win streak includes four wins against ranked opponents, including two against Vermont. Northeastern's last three wins have all been shutouts. Senior goaltender Gwyneth Philips has stopped the last 68 shots she's faced in those three shutouts. She has eight shutouts on the year. Graduate forward Alina Mueller leads the Huskies and Hockey East in scoring with 38 points this season. She has 16 goals and 22 assists. She had five assists in Northeastern's weekend sweep of Vermont in December.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the 60th all-time meeting between the Huskies and Catamounts. Vermont is 8-46-4 all-time against Northeastern. NU swept a weekend series at Matthews Arena in December against the Catamounts with 3-1 and 5-1 wins.
 
CZECH-MATES EARN BRONZE
Vermont forwards Tynka Pátková & Natálie Mlýnková earned bronze medals at the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championships in Denmark in September. Czechia defeated Switzerland 4-2 in the bronze medal game behind two goals from Mlýnková. It was Czechia's first-ever medal on the women's side. Former Catamount Blanka Škodová 
was also a member of the team.
 
There were three other current Catamounts in the tournament patrolling the blueline. First year Krista Parkkonen (Finland) made her World Championships debut while Sofie Skott (Denmark) and Sini Karjalainen (Finland) competed in their second World Championship at the senior level.
 
The Windjammer Inn and Conference Center is the presenting sponsor of the UVM women's hockey program