Box Score
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Junior Sarah Lefort tallied two unassisted goals to help lead the fifth-ranked Boston University women's ice hockey team to a 4-1 victory at Vermont on Saturday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
BU (11-3-2, 7-2-0 WHEA) dominated Vermont (8-9-1, 1-7-0 WHEA) to the tune of a 38-15 advantage in shots on goal and never trailed in the team's final road contest of the first semester. The Catamounts came as close as 2-1 in the second period before BU pulled away with a last-second goal to end the middle frame.
Sophomore Samantha Sutherland and freshman Rebecca Leslie also lit the lamp for BU, while senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin, sophomore Sarah Steele and juniors Lillian Ribeirinha-Braga and Alexis Woloschuk each added an assist. Victoria Hanson made 14 saves and improved to 8-1-1 with the win.
It was a terrific opening 20 minutes for the Terriers, as they outshot Vermont, 11-4. Lefort had the game's first good chance as the Terriers were in the midst of killing their first penalty. She stole the puck at the blue line and race in alone on Madison Litchfield, but Litchfield blocked aside Lefort's short-side bid to keep the game scoreless. BU was terrific on the penalty kill all game, holding Vermont's power play 0-for-6.
Lefort opened the scoring with 3:14 remaining in the first period when she capitalized on a Catamount turnover. A UVM defender won a battle at her blue line, but when she tried to free the puck from a puck-pursuant Poulin, she passed it right to Lefort at the top of the zone. Lefort skated into the slot and ripped a wrist shot past Litchfield.
Leslie lifted BU to a 2-0 lead just 1:04 into the second stanza. Steele got the puck in front of the BU bench and sent it back to Ribeirinha-Braga in the Terrier half of the ice. She waited out a defender and banked a pass off the wall to Leslie, who beat a defender up the left wing, charged to the net and slyly slipped the puck five-hole for her fifth marker of the season.
Vermont made it 2-1 just over three minutes later when Victoria Andreakos screened Hanson and tipped a Mackenzie MacNeil shot into the back of the net. That was the final blemish on Hanson's record, as she was superb when called upon over the final 35 minutes of the contest.
It was a wild finish to the second period as Sutherland scored with just 0.6 seconds on the clock. Woloschuk fired a shot from the left point that Poulin redirected on goal. The rebound bounced to Sutherland at the edge of the crease, and she knocked home the puck as the buzzer sounded. The referees reviewed the play and determined Sutherland's second strike of the season stood.
The score became 4-1 just 2:55 into the final frame when Lefort scored her first shorthanded goal of the campaign. Senior Shannon Doyle attempted to clear the zone but the play was momentarily kept alive by a Vermont defender. Lefort won the puck from her, however, and raced into the offensive zone before firing a low shot past Litchfield.
UVM had its best chance to get back into the game halfway through the third period when the Terriers took two penalties within a 30-second span. The Catamounts elected to pull their goaltender to earn a 6-on-3 advantage, but the Terrier penalty killers were outstanding in keeping Vermont off the board. Hanson highlighted the successful kill with an outstanding left-pad save on Brittany Zuback, as the sophomore goaltender kept UVM's leading goal scorer off the score sheet.
The Terriers will host their final home game of the first semester on Monday night when they welcome Providence to Walter Brown Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
