The Yale women’s hockey team split its first two games of 2010, dropping Friday’s contest against Northeastern but rallying to beat Vermont on Saturday.

The Huskies (11–4–2, 6–3–2 Hockey East) notched a 3–0 win over Yale in the first of the weekend’s two games at Ingalls Rink.

The Elis (4–9–2, 2–7–1 ECAC) opened the first period with nearly 17 minutes of scoreless play, but Northeastern forward Kristi Kehoe found her way past goaltender Jackee Snikeris ’11 at 16:56. Although the Bulldogs held the gap to one point in the second period, the Huskies put the puck in the net twice more in the third period to tally the final score of 3–0. Snikeris finished the day with 22 saves.

But it didn’t take long for the Elis to rebound from their Jan. 1 loss.

The Catamounts (5-12-1, 1-7-1 Hockey East) took an early lead in the Yale–Vermont game when forward Chelsea Furlani scored at 7:32. But the Bulldogs equalized before the first period was up as defenseman Emily DesMeules ’13 netted a shot — and her first career goal — at 19:28.

The Bulldogs then pulled ahead in the second period. Forward Aleca Hughes ’12 scored at 12:35 to put her team up 2–1. The goal was Hughes’ sixth of the season — making her and forward Bray Ketchum ’11 tied as the team leaders in goals scored, with six apiece.

An unassisted goal by forward Berit Johnson ’10 just three minutes into the third period gave the Elis some cushioning for the rest of the game. Goaltender Genny Ladiges ’12 totaled 19 saves against Vermont.

The Northeastern and Vermont contests kicked off a series of four games against Hockey East opponents. The Bulldogs will face the second pair of competitors next weekend, when they travel to Boston to take on Boston University and Boston College.