Weekend Split At UMass Lowell (Oct. 7), Home vs. Maine (Oct. 9)

UNH (3-7, 1-1 America East) at UMass Lowell (4-6, 0-1 America East)
Friday, Oct. 7 • 7 pm • Cushing Field
Video • Live Stats

Maine (8-4, 1-1) at UNH (3-7, 1-1 America East)
Sunday, Oct. 9 • 1 pm • Moulton Winder Field
Video • Live Stats

UNH vs. UMass Lowell: New Hampshire has a 4-0 lifetime record against UMass Lowell. These teams first met in the 2013 season, when the River Hawks became members of the America East conference, and UNH prevailed 5-0 at home. In 2014, the Wildcats were 6-0 road victors. Last year, under the new America East format, the teams played twice during the regular season and both games were decided by one goal – the 'Cats won 2-1 in Durham and 4-3 in overtime in Lowell.

UNH vs. Maine: New Hampshire has a 27-13 lifetime record against Maine. UNH won seven consecutive matchups, including two in the postseason, spanning the 2010-14 seasons. The Black Bears ended that streak by sweeping last year's regular-season series with a 4-1 home win and 3-2 win at UNH's Memorial Field. Four of the last six meetings have been decided by one goal, including two in overtime. These programs first met back in 1982 and the 'Cats won the first 13 games in the series.

State of New Hampshire: UNH, led by 26^th-year head coach Robin Balducci, has a 3-7 overall record that includes 1-4 on the road, 2-3 at home and 1-1 in America East; in conference play, the Wildcats are 1-0 on the road and 0-1 at home. Last weekend, the 'Cats were upended 4-0 at home by Albany and then triumphed 3-1 at Vermont; that win ended a stretch of five consecutive losses as well as four straight road losses. UNH is averaging 1.80 goals and 16.8 shots per game while surrendering 3.10 goals and 13.2 shots per game.

Highs and Lows: UNH recorded a season-high 28 shots at UVM last Sunday and limited the Catamounts to five shots, which is the lowest total by a New Hampshire opponent this season.

Welcome Back: Junior midfielder Aggie Sutherland (Dauphin, Pa.), sidelined two games by injury, returned to the starting lineup Oct. 2 at Vermont and scored her first collegiate goal to give UNH a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute. She entered the game with 10 career points, all on assists.

Career First: Freshman midfielder Kayla Sliz (Ajax, Ontario) scored her first collegiate goal last Sunday at Vermont when she broke a 1-1 tie with what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 45^th minute.

Gimme Three: Senior captain and forward Lindsey Nerbonne (Bow, N.H.) recorded her first assist of the season when she set up Sliz's game-winning goal at UVM. She then scored a goal in the 58^th minute to give New Hampshire a 3-1 lead and finish the game with three points.

The Big Three: Junior back Ashley Mendonca (Brampton, Ontario), junior midfielder Gianna Bensaia (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Nerbonne account for 14 of the team's 18 goals and eight of the team's 16 assists, as well as 90 of the 168 shots. Nerbonne and Mendonca are tied for the lead in goals (seven); Nerbonne has a team-high 15 points and 47 shots; Bensaia is the top 'Cat with seven assists.

Stop the Ball: Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Rudert (North Grafton, Mass.) recorded a career-high eight saves last Friday against Albany. She had made seven saves each of the previous two games (at Northeastern; at James Madison), which tied her mark established in the season opener vs. UMass.

It Doesn't Add Up: New Hampshire has recorded the advantage in both shots (71-61) and penalty corners (28-25) in the first half, but the Wildcats have been outscored 15-5 before halftime.

Scouting the River Hawks: UMass Lowell enters Friday's game with a 4-6 overall record that includes 0-1 in America East and 1-4 at home (0-1 in conference home games). The River Hawks are coming off a dominant 5-0 road victory against Sacred Heart in which junior forward Christa Doiron led the team with two goals. The River Hawks piled on four second-half goals in the match. Two days earlier, UML was upended at home by Maine, 4-2; the teams combined for five goals the opening 16 minutes and the Black Bears scored the only second-half goal on a penalty stroke.
Doiron and sophomore forward Torrie Hulk lead UMass Lowell in goals with seven each, while freshmen forward Anouk Lalande leads the team in points with 17 (6 goals, 5 assists). UML is averaging 3.30 goals and 14.2 shots per game while allowing 3.40 goals and 17.7 shots per game.

Scouting the Black Bears: Maine (Orono, Maine) enters Sunday's game with an 8-4 overall record that includes 1-1 in America East and 4-1 at home. Since starting the season with four consecutive wins, the Black Bears are 4-4 the past eight games and have alternated wins and losses the past six. Sunday will mark the last of five consecutive road games for Maine.
The Black Bears are coming off last Sunday's 3-1 loss at Albany. Freshman Brianna Ricker scored Maine's only goal. Redshirt junior goalkeepers Emma Cochran and Emily Corbett both recorded two saves on the day.
Junior Madison Cummings currently leads the Black Bears in goals (11) and total points (23). Casey Crowley (6-7-19) and Samantha Wagg (7-4-18) are close behind. Wagg has a team-high 43 shots, followed by Cummings and Libby Riedl at 27. Cochran has seven starts in 12 games played with a 1.72 GAA, .625 save percentage and 5-2 record. Corbett is 3-2 with a 2.00 GAA and .333 save percentage in 10 games (five starts). Maine is averaging 3.67 goals and 18.3 shots per game while yielding 1.83 goals and 8.3 shots per game.

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