NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack women's ice hockey returns to Lawler Rink for a weekend series against the Vermont Catamounts on Friday and Saturday.
The Catamounts come to North Andover off of their first two Hockey East games of the year. The team tied against New Hampshire on Oct. 18 before losing to Boston College, 3-2 on Oct. 20. Last year Merrimack went 2-1-0 against Vermont, earning a 2-1 home victory before splitting the series in Burlington in January.
Five Things to Know:
• Senior
Mikyla Grant-Mentis leads the team in goals and points, with four goals and two helpers through seven games this season.
• In Saturday's game against UConn, Merrimack posted both a power play and shorthanded goal. Grant-Mentis posted the team's third power play goal of the year, with junior
Kate Bukolska scoring her first of the season on a shorthanded breakaway.
• Three Warriors are in the top five in Hockey East for blocked shots this season.
Gabby Jones leads all players in the conference with 20, followed behind
Chloe Cook for third in Hockey East with 17 blocks and
Julia MacLean with 15.
• First year players for Merrimack have jumped in quickly, with freshman
Sam Lessick tallying a goal and two assists, as well as freshman
Katie Kaufman and transfer
Rachel Rockwell earning helpers.
• In all conference games so far, Merrimack opponents have put at least 30 shots on goal. Last weekend, opponents combined for 78 shots on net.
A Look at the Catamounts:
Vermont is coming to Merrimack off of its first pair of conference games. After a three goal first period against UNH on the 20th, Vermont allowed two goals in the third period to end in a tie with the conference's third-best team. The Catamounts then lost to Boston College on Saturday, losing 3-2. Vermont scored the game's first and last goal, but did not have enough to send it to overtime. The team has won two games this season, taking their first regular season game at Rochester Tech 3-1, and defeating St. Lawrence at home on October 11 by a 5-2 final.
Vermont's offense has been led by a trio of sophomores. Corinne McCool has three goals and six points, with defenders Maude Poulin-Labelle with two goals and six points, and Sini Karjalainen with five assists and six points this season. Blanka Skodova continues to be an anchor in goal for the Catamounts, as the sophomore has posted a 2-1-3 record and a 1.94 GAA. She remains winless in conference play, with a 2.90 GAA for Hockey East opponents.
Inside the Matchup
| Merrimack (2-2-0, 0-2-0 HEAW) |
Category |
Vermont (2-1-3, 0-1-1 HEAW) |
| 4-3 OTL (10/18 vs UConn) |
Last Game |
3-2 L (10/20 vs Boston College) |
| 1.57 |
Scoring Offense |
3.17 |
| 2.86 |
Scoring Defense |
2.50 |
| 26.6 |
Shots/Game |
30.7 |
| 31.6 |
Shots Allowed/Game |
22.0 |
| 3-30 |
PPG-Chances |
8-29 |
| 10.0% |
PP% |
27.6% |
| 22-27 |
PK-Chances |
20-25 |
| 81.5% |
PK% |
80.0% |
| 29-72 |
Penalties-PIM |
26-52 |
| 10.3 |
PIM/Game |
8.7 |
Up Next
Merrimack will take to the road for a non-conference weekend at Minnesota State-Mankato on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2, with puck drop for both games at 3 p.m. Eastern.
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