BURLINGTON, VT. --- After allowing a goal exactly one minute into the first period Friday night at the Gutterson Fieldhouse, the Sioux scored four unanswered goals including a hat trick by Monique Lamoureux-Kolls to open 2011 action with a 4-1 win over Vermont.
Lamoureux-Kolls third goal at 4:54 of the third period lifted her into the century club with her 100th career point and fourth of the game. She played both as a defender and a forward tonight for the Sioux.
"Having some extra zone time we moved her back because she is such a threat from the blue line to shoot and score," head coach Brian Idalski said." "If you are going to collapse you have to account for her and she was able to do a nice job coming out of the zone, breaking the puck out and definitely gave us a big shot from the blue line which Vermont had to account for. I also think it makes it a little tougher to match up against a defenseman then it does against two forwards on a line together. It worked out well."
Lamoureux-Kolls played the first period at forward but after the first intermission tied 1-1 she was moved back to defenseman for the remainder of the game. After entering 2011 scoring only one goal in her last five games, the sophomore Grand Forks, N.D., native, got off the skid sealing the game in the third period with both UND goals.
Celeste Doucet put the Sioux in an early hole scoring on UVM's first shot of the game on a 3-on-2 rush that she was able tip in past Sioux netminder Stephanie Ney (100 Mile House, British Columbia).
The goal was all the Sioux would surrender though as Ney would finish the game stopping 11-of-12 shots faced. The Sioux would go on to outshoot the Catamounts 41-12 in the game.
Lamoureux-Kolls picked up her first of the night at 8:10 of the first period to send the game into the first intermission tied 1-1. Sophomore Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) and junior Jordan Slavin (Erie, Colo.) picked up the assists.
"I didn't think that we came out very good," Idalski said. "I thought Vermont came out with a lot of energy and kept us on our heels for the first five to eight minutes. I thought after that and the final two periods we were good. We were starting to move the puck a little better and starting to move our legs, especially the third period when we got out of the penalty box."
It was the team's goal-scoring leader though in Lamoureux that scored the game-winner, coming at 3:14 of the second period for her 17th goal of the season which is tied for fourth in the nation. Lamoureux-Kolls and Holly Perkins (Sodoltna, Alaska) had the assists. It was Perkins first point since returning to the Sioux at the break.
After Lamoureux's goal, much of the remainder of the second period was played on special teams as eight penalties were called, five going way of the Sioux.
All of the games scoring came at even-strength though as both teams combined to go 0-for-11 on the power play.
In what was a bit of a nail bitter entering the final stanza, Lamoureux Kolls would seal the deal with goals at 2:42 and 4:54. Margot Miller (West Bloomfield, Mich.) would pick up an assist on the first with the second coming unassisted.
Opening the second half the Sioux have returned from Christmas break healthy and dressed 18 skater for the first time this season with the last time coming on Feb. 5, 2010.
"Having a full bench was actually a little bit awkward," Idalski said. "It has been a long time since we have had that and trying to work kids in and out and get some kids some shifts while still keeping our top kids on the ice had a lot different feel for the game."
In the win the Sioux improved to 10-7-2 and although dominating in shots showed tonight they are still learning how to be one of the elite teams in the nation. The Sioux have reached 10 wins for only the second time since joining the WCHA in 2004-05 and coming only one game into the second half of the season.
"It is different for us being favored in games now and not something that a big core of our group has had to deal with those expectations," Idalski said. "With that being said we did some good things, we moved the puck well and they are a solid club defensively - I don't know if anybody has put up more than four goals on them all year long. We knew that coming in and they have so many ties because of the way they play defensively. We got what we expected and we got to be ready to go from the hop tomorrow."
The Sioux will look for their third sweep of the season tomorrow afternoon starting at 3 p.m. central time.
