Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
BOSTON, MA. – Victoria Andreakos lit the lamp with under a minute to play in regulation and Alyssa Gorecki followed up at the 1:11 mark of overtime as the Vermont women’s hockey team upset No. 10 Northeastern 2-1 at Matthews Arena on Saturday.
UVM’s second ranked win of the season puts the Catamounts at 5-6-4 (3-2-3 WHEA), while Northeastern drops to 11-5-3 (7-3-2 WHEA). It is also Vermont’s first victory against the Huskies since Nov. 23, 2013.
“This is a great team win and indicative of the character of this group,” said head coach Jim Plumer. “We got stronger as the game went on and I’m proud of their attitude and resolve. It was great to see our team rewarded for that kind of effort and resilience.”
Northeastern snagged a 1-0 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the opening period. Matti Hartman sent a feed to Paige Savage in the low slot, where the latter dished to Heather Mottau for the sharp angle tally.
After a scoreless second period, UVM had chances to even things up in the middle stages of the third. With under eight minutes on the clock, Ève-Audrey Picard forced a turnover in the offensive zone and drove to goal while shorthanded. Picard was turned aside by goaltender Brittany Bugalski and was denied again after corralling the rebound.
The Catamounts finally found the equalizer at 19:07. With Melissa Black pulled for an extra skater, Andreakos directed the puck back to the blue line and Taylor Willard. Willard passed to Daria O’Neill on the right point, where the latter fired wide. Andreakos played the carom and lifted the puck, ultimately striking the left post as well as Bugalski before sailing into the back of the net.
Gorecki’s winner came soon thereafter. Northeastern’s Lauren Kelly attempted a pass in her own zone, but Ali O’Leary‘s skate caused a redirection that sent the puck to Gorecki at the left circle. The sophomore then rang the crossbar with her shot before it went off of Kelly’s skate and past the left pad of Bugalski. The helper given to O’Leary on the play was her first collegiate point.
Black tallied 28 saves on the day en route to her second win as a Catamount, while Bugalski made 33 stops for NU.
Both teams meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m. to conclude the weekend series at Matthews Arena.