GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Vermont goaltender Madison Litchfield made her presence known Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena, as the University of North Dakota team could only get one puck past the sophomore goalie in a 3-1 loss to the Catamounts.

“No excuses, absolutely; we had a chance to get it done and we didn't, but I thought it was a positive start,” head coach Brian Idalski said after the game. “I thought the two breakdowns defensively cost us goals and we have to be sharper with that. I think that that's something we can easily address, and definitely work on some of the poise as well with possessing the puck, but the effort was there and I think it's a little bit different playing your first game and being all jazzed up, and then playing your second on your second night.”

After an uneventful first period, a pair of goals highlighted the start of the second period. Vermont's Cassidy Campeau got the Catamounts on the board first just under three minutes into the second frame. However, UND responded just 17 seconds later to tie the game back up.

Becca Kohler moved the puck up to Meghan Dufault who took a shot while driving to the net. Litchfield made the first stop, but Josefine Jakobsen crashed the net and buried the rebound for her second goal of the season. The assists to Dufault and Kohler were their fifth and fourth points on the weekend, respectively.

After the quick two goals the two teams played the rest of the second period without any more scoring. Both sides recorded 10 shots on goal in the second period.

The Catamounts came out in the third period with more poise and it paid off as Campeau netted her second goal of the game to put Vermont up 2-1 just over three minutes into the start of the third. With less than three minutes left in the period, UVM's Dayna Colang got the puck off a turnover in the UND zone to put her team up by two.

North Dakota pushed hard in the final minutes to get its second goal of the game and to try to rally from the two-goal deficit, but it was not in the cards for UND. A combination of solid goaltending by Litchfield and bad puck luck kept UND off the score sheet in the final minutes and gave the Catamounts their first win of the season.

After a penalty ridden game the night before against RPI, UND held its penalties to just two in the contest; killing off both Vermont power plays. North Dakota only had one power play in the game, which came in the first period.

Lexie Shaw was in net for UND, making 19 saves in her season debut.

North Dakota returns to the ice next weekend, Oct. 10-11, taking on WCHA foe Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn.