Field Hockey 11/4/2025 4:01:52 PM

No. 1 Vermont, No. 2 UNH Advance to #AEFH Final for Second Straight Year

BOSTON – In the semifinal round of the #AEFH Championship, No. 1 Vermont played a scoreless 80 minutes with No. 5 Maine, but the Catamounts earned the 3–1 shootout victory to advance, while No. 2 New Hampshire tallied six goals to defeat No. 3 UAlbany 6–4. Both Vermont and New Hampshire advance to the #AEFH Championship game for the second consecutive year.

On Friday, No. 1 Vermont will host No. 2 New Hampshire at 1pm in a rematch of the 2024 #AEFH Championship. The Catamounts captured a 3-2 victory in last year's championship despite falling behind 2-0 at the half.

Quarterfinal Recap

No. 1 Vermont 1, No. 5 Maine 0 (shootout 3-1)

The No. 1 Catamounts nearly broke through in the first period on a penalty stroke, but goalkeeper Rozarie Mrazova made a key save on Alicia Battistelli’s attempt to keep the game level at 0–0.

Early in the second period, the Black Bears’ Eloise Penty had a penalty stroke of her own, but Merle Vaandrager came up with the save for Vermont to keep the scoreboard blank.

Vaandrager and the Catamount defense were forced to make three saves and fend off three consecutive corners late, including a high reverse shot from Emily Chisholm at point-blank range, as the teams ended regulation scoreless

Mrazova recorded a huge stick-save for seven minutes into the first overtime and she opened the second overtime with two key saves, highlighted by a high-glove stop on a corner attempt.

With just over five minutes left in double overtime, Vermont went down a player after a yellow card, but Maine couldn’t take advantage, sending the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, Vermont made each of its first three attempts. Maine connected on its first, but Vaandrager came through with three consecutive stops to lift her team to the shootout victory.

No. 2 New Hampshire 6, No 3 UAlbany 4

New Hampshire struck first, and UAlbany answered back four minutes later before the Wildcats responded with two unanswered goals to close the first period with a 3–1 lead.

Midway through the second period, the Great Danes capitalized on a midfield turnover to cut into the deficit, but the Wildcats answered with two quick goals to head into the half up 5–2.

The Great Dane duo of Jette Kurz and Tessa Overgoor recorded back-to-back goals to make it a one-goal game heading into the fourth quarter.

With under four minutes remaining in regulation, the Great Danes pulled their goalkeeper but committed a foul, giving the Wildcats a penalty stroke. UAlbany's Emma Peeters made the save on the attempt to keep it a one-goal game.

Kathelijne Knuttel sealed the win with an empty-net goal, giving the Wildcats a 6–4 lead, punching their ticket to the final.

The 10 combined goals are the most in a #AEFH tourney game

Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.

Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEFH hashtags to join the conversation.

ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.

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No. 1 Vermont, No. 2 UNH Advance to #AEFH Final for Second Straight Year