Women’s Hockey: Catamounts Fall to Northeastern in Game 1 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BOSTON, MA. –– The top-seeded Northeastern Huskies (24-5-5, 21-3-3 WHEA) took the lead in the opening minutes and never looked back as they went on to beat the eighth-seeded Vermont Catamounts (10-19-6, 8-15-4 WHEA) 7-2 in Game 1 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals Friday night at Matthews Arena.

COACH’S QUOTE
“This was a disappointing performance in virtually every way,” said head coach Jim Plumer. “I was proud of how we battled back in the first period, but after gaining momentum early in the second, we let them take the game with turnovers and penalties. Northeastern is too talented to play that way and we will have to be at our absolute best tomorrow.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Northeastern’s offense erupted from the get-go as they rattled off three goals in the first 11:20 of the game. Veronika Pettey tallied her 17th goal of the season 5:57 into the opening frame, followed by Kassidy Anderson’s 19th marker minutes later. Skylar Fontaine assisted on Pettey’s tally and added NU’s third goal.
The Catamounts began to battle back when Alyssa Holmes netted her third goal of the season. The sophomore forward buried a rebound from a shot by Alyssa Gorecki to beat Aerin Frankel (20 saves) in net. Sini Karjalainen had the secondary assist on the goal that came with 5:57 left in the first period.
Corinne McCool cut the Huskies’ lead to one heading to the first intermission when she registered her third goal of the season with 1:34 left in the frame. The UVM rookie slipped the puck under the stick of a Northeastern defender and ripped a shot through the pads of Frankel. Ali O’Leary and Anna Erickson assisted on the goal.
NU netted three unanswered goals to stretch the lead in the second period. Brooke Hobson and Codie Cross scored in the first 5:15 of the middle frame and Katie Cipra added her second goal of the season with 4:13 left in the period.
Mia Brown recorded her fourth goal of the season early in the third period to end Northeastern’s scoring.
NOTES
Friday night’s contest was Jim Plumer’s 250th game behind the bench of the Vermont Catamounts.
Blanka Škodová (10 saves) and Melissa Black (19 saves) split time in goal for UVM.

WHAT’S NEXT
Vermont returns to Matthews Arena Saturday (Mar. 2) for a must-win Game 2 of the Hockey East Quarterfinals against the Huskies. Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m.