Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON — Sara Hjalmarsson tallied a goal and three assists to lead Providence (10-8-2, 7-6-0 HEAW) 3-1 over Vermont (8-9-5, 5-7-3 HEAW) on Sunday at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

COACH’S QUOTE
“I’m really disappointed in our effort and execution in the first two periods,” said head coach Jim Plumer. “We played a strong third, but that wasn’t enough to make up for what happened earlier. We have to play a full 60 minutes.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Friars opened the scoring at the midway point of the first period when Ciara Barone one-timed a faceoff win past Natalie Ferenc (21 saves). Hjalmarsson won the draw to Barone who quickly released a shot from the inner hashmarks.
Hjalmarsson doubled the Providence lead 1:18 into the middle frame with her 10th goal of the season. The game-winner came when her centering pass took a weird bounce in front and ricocheted over Ferenc.
Vermont began to claw back in the third period and found the back of the net with 2:52 left in regulation. Kristina Shanahan jammed home a backdoor pass from Sini Karjalainen past Sandra Abstreiter (26 saves). Theresa Schafzahl also assisted on Shanahan’s second marker of the weekend.
The Friars answered with a goal 37 seconds later to bring their lead back to two. Hjalmarsson dished a pass to Meaghan Rickard on the rush who tallied her fifth goal of the season.

NOTES
Karjalainen’s assist was her 16th of the season, which ties her for the most by a UVM blueliner in program history. Peggy Wakeham ’11 recorded 16 helpers in the 2008-09 season.

UP NEXT
Vermont returns to action for one game next weekend against Merrimack (4-16-2, 1-12-2 HEAW). The Catamounts host the Warriors on Saturday (Jan. 11) at 4 p.m. Tickets for the Hockey East contest are available for purchase at UVMAthletics.com/Tickets or at the Gutterson Fieldhouse box office on gameday.