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University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
17-6-5, 11-5-2-0HE
Vermont
10-19-1, 5-12-1-0HE
MINTON'S 24 SAVES BACKBONES #6 WOMEN'S HOCKEY TO 4-0 VICTORY VS. VERMONT
2/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
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| LINDSEY MINTON |
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| BRITTANY SKUDDER |
DURHAM, N.H.
– Lindsey Minton (Richardson, Texas) stopped
all 24 shots she faced and Brittany Skudder
(Plainview, N.Y.) tallied three points to lead the sixth-ranked
University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team to Sunday
afternoon's 4-0 victory against the University of Vermont in
Hockey East action at the Whittemore Center.
UNH won its third consecutive game to improve to 18-6-5 overall.
The Wildcats climbed into a three-way tie for first place in the
Hockey East standings by improving to 12-5-2-0 in the league; the
'Cats, UConn and Providence College all have 26 points with
two games remaining.
Vermont is now 10-20-1, 5-13-1-0. UVM goaltender. Kristen Olychuck
was credited with 20 saves, half of which came in the first
period.
It was the second shutout of the season and third career shutout
for Minton, who recorded 10 saves in the first period and 11 in the
second. Skudder matched her career highs in both assists (two) and
points (three) to lead the offense.
Minton was tested in the eighth minute of the game. In a faceoff to
her left, UVM's Erin Barley-Maloney won the puck towards the
net and fired a close-range shot that Minton enveloped.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 10:17 of the opening frame. Skudder
won control of the puck in the left corner and skated along the end
line. Before skating behind the net, Skudder threw the puck to the
left doorstep and Julie Allen (Brampton, Ontario)
fired a shot into the cage.
UVM went on a power play late in the first period and Kailey
Nash's shot from the slot was slowed by Minton but the puck
continued to trickled towards the goal line. Kelly
Cahill (Farmington Hills, Mich.) was in position to sweep
the puck out of the crease and into the neutral zone to preserve
the 1-0 lead.
UNH generated a 2-on-1 rush in the closing minute of the opening
stanza. Kristine Horn (Utica, Mich.) chipped the
puck up the boards and charged down the right wing. Horn's
centering pass found Kristina Lavoie (Fonthill,
Ontario) cutting down the slot, but Olychuck denied Lavoie as well
as Skudder off the rebound.
Vermont had an early power-play opportunity in the second period.
As UNH returned to full strength, Cahill intercepted a pass at the
attacking blue line and skated in alone on Olychuck. Cahill snapped
a wrister from the slot that Olychuck knocked down and covered
up.
In the sixth minute, UVM's Teddy Fortin had a breakaway
opportunity along the right wing and her shot from the faceoff dot
was snared by Minton's glove.
Less than two minutes later, Kailey Chappell
(Pickering, Ontario) and Micaela Long (South
Boston, Mass.) helped spring Kelly Paton
(Woodstock, Ontario) on a breakaway. At the attacking blue line,
Paton corralled Long's outlet pass, skated down the slot and
wristed a shot wide left of the net.
The Wildcats scored goals 42 seconds apart late in the second
period – at 18:47 and 19:29 – to quickly extend the
advantage to 3-0. Skudder gave the 'Cats a 2-0 lead when she
maneuvered across the slot and backhanded a shot past Olychuck.
Molly Morrison (South Burlington, Vt.), a transfer
from UVM, set up the tally.
UNH went on the power play at 19:01 and capitalized on that extra
skater to build a three-goal lead. Raylen
Dziegelewski (Southwick, Mass.) moved the puck from the
right point to Long in the circle and the puck ricocheted to Paton
in the slot. Paton's shot was stopped by Olychuck, but Long
collected the rebound inside the right circle and fired a shot
inside the near post.
In the opening minute of the third period, UVM's Melanie
Greene blasted a slap shot from the right point that was redirected
on goal by Erin Wente, but Minton shifted to the top of the crease
to make the save.
New Hampshire netted its second power-play goal of the game at 9:09
to take a 4-0 lead. Courtney Sheary (Melrose,
Mass.) moved the puck from the right point to Horn in the high
slot. Horn sent a return pass and Sheary's shot sailed into
the upper-right corner of the net. Skudder was also credited with
an assist.
UVM's Hannah Westbrook nearly foiled Minton's shutout
bid in the 14th minute, when she led a rush down the slot and
lifted a shot that caromed off the left post.
New Hampshire concludes the regular season next weekend with a
home-and-home series against Boston College. UNH's Senior Day
at the Whittemore Center is Feb. 20 (2 p.m.) and the regular season
finale is Feb. 21 (7 p.m.).
