It was a homecoming to remember for Minnesota native and Vermont goaltender Sydney Scobee, who picked up the win against the Gophers. Scobbe held a shutout for 55 minutes of the game.
The Gophers (16-6-2) lost 4-2 to Vermont (6-13-4). The Gophers outshot the Catamounts 25-11, but that did not matter as they were forced to switch goaltenders after Sidney Peters stopped three shots on six attempts. Alex Gulstene replaced Peters and found more difficulties stopping the Catamounts. Scobee, a high school teammate of Grace Zumwinkle, stopped all but two of the 25 shots the Gophers threw at her. She didn’t give up a goal until there was 5:48 left in the third period when Nicole Schammel notched her 12th goal of the year with a wrap-around shot. Sydney Baldwin scored the Gophers second goal after the Gophers pulled their goalie.
Each team got off to a slow start, only producing four shots on goal each. However, Vermont’s Taylor Flaherty found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season midway through the period. The second goal for Vermont came during 4 on 4 play after Gophers’ Lindsey Agnew and Vermont’s Kourtney Menches were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. During the 4 on 4 play, Eve-Audrey Picard received a centering pass and flicked the puck past Peters with just under a minute to play in the first period.
In the second period the Gophers had to make a switch at goaltender after Vermont’s Alyssa Holmes scored six minutes into the second period through the five hole of Sidney Peters. Gulstene replaced her. Holmes scored her second goal of the game immediately after the Catamounts killed the Gopher’s first power play. The story of the period was the inability of the Gophers to capitalize on special teams. With 4:09 remaining in the period, the Gophers went on a 5-on-3 advantage and could not put the puck in the net. Caitlin Reilly had a breakaway attempt denied.
Scobee held the shutout for 15 minutes facing a barrage of shots from the Gopher before giving up the goal to Schammel. Quickly after Baldwin scored her fifth goal of the year, but it was not enough.
