Wildcats Visit #10 Providence Wednesday (7 p.m.)

Wednesday, November 22

Providence, R.I.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

Providence College

Devan Taylor (Photo by Joey Walker)

Photo by: Joey Walker

11/21/2017 3:46:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Game Notes Live Stats Watch

The Wildcats will play their third ranked opponent of the season.

DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team returns to Hockey East action as they face the #10 Providence College Friars in a mid-week matchup. The two teams will face off for the 149th time on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.

The Matchup: Providence vs. UNH
The Wildcats and the Friars first met in 1977 and have played 147 games since that point. The UNH/Providence series has seen three Hockey East Championship games and one Hockey East Semifinal game. The Wildcats took four of six points from the Friars last season, winning the first and third games of their season series. In away games in this series, the Wildcats are 27-26-6. New Hampshire has won two of the last five games at Schneider Arena.

The State of New Hampshire
• The Wildcats finished the month of October with a 5-1-2 record through eight games; it's their best start through eight games since 2010-11, when the Wildcats were 6-2-0.
• The Wildcats have three losses on the season, all three of which coming against opponents ranked in the top 10. They are so far 1-2-3 in the month of November.
• UNH has scored the first goal in 11 of 14 games this season; they are 5-2-4 in those games.
• The Wildcats are 5-0-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 1-3-5 when scoring less than three goals. They are 6-2-3 when scoring at least once on the power play, 0-1-2 when scoring zero.
• New Hampshire is 5-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only three times this season have opponents scored more than three goals (1-2-0 UNH record in those games.)

'Cats in the Polls
For the sixth straight week, the Wildcats are receiving votes in the USCHO women's hockey poll. On Nov. 4, they received their highest amount of votes with 13, and for the third week in a row, they find themselves just outside the poll looking in, this week receiving one vote.
The Wildcats are 0-3-0 so far this season against ranked opponents (6-0-5 against non-ranked opponents), losing to #7 Northeastern on Oct. 25 and to #4 Colgate last weekend. Colgate moved up to #3 after the two-game series.

Last Time Out
The Wildcats are coming off a 0-0-2 weekend in Troy, N.Y. where they tied the Rensselaer Engineers twice, both games ended with a 1-1 score. It was the first time the Wildcats had back-to-back ties since 2008 (12/5 vs. Harvard, 1-1 - 12/7 @ BU, 3-3). In both contests, the Wildcats led by one goal with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Six Wildcats left a tally on the score sheet; in game one Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) was assisted by Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) and in game two Amy Schlagel (Blaine, Minn.) got a feed from Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) and Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.). Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) saved 65 shots for a .970 save% in the two ties.

Players to Watch
• Senior defensemen Amy Schlagel and Julia Fedeski (Algonquin Highlands, Ontario) were both drafted to NWHL teams this offseason, Schlagel going 18th overall to the Buffalo Beauts, and Fedeski going 20th overall to the Boston Pride.
• Fedeski is one of four Wildcats with 11 points on the season (5g, 6a). All five of her goals have come on the power play. Most recently, Fedeski assisted on Sasaki's first career goal against Vermont.
• Schlagel has now tallied at least one point in four of the last seven games. She now has eight points on the season on five goals, three assists.
• Sophomore forward Megara McManus (Milton, Mass.) is another Wildcat with 11 points on five goals, six assists; she had her first career five-point game against Dartmouth with one goal and four assists.
• Carlee Turner is at 11 points after tallying an assist at RPI; She has five goals, tied for the team lead, and six assists. She scored her first power play goal of the season against Vermont.
• Sophomore forward Taylor Wenczkowski also has 11 points, adding a goal at RPI to put her total to four, with seven assists.
• Sophomore Nicole Dunbar is now up to nine points on the season with four goals and five assists after her two-point weekend against Colgate and an assist at RPI.
• Sophomore Tori Howran also has nine points and leads the team in assists with eight. She scored her first career goal against Holy Cross.
• Senior captain Carlee Toews (Grand Prairie, Alberta) has tallied eight points on two goals, six assists this season. She had the game-winning goal against Dartmouth on Oct. 22.

Boutilier Gets the Start
Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier has gotten the start in every UNH game so far this season; she has a 6-3-5 record in her first 12 career starts, stopping 381 shots and allowing 27 goals. She has a .934 save percentage an a 1.94 GAA in her first career season.

Scouting #10 Providence
The Friars (Providence, R.I.) come into the matchup in second place in Hockey East behind only the #3 Boston College Eagles. Providence touts a +1.21 goal differential, scoring 3.36 goals per game while allowing 2.14. The Friars are coming off a weekend conference sweep of Merrimack last Friday and Saturday, winning the away game of a home-and-home 4-1, and winning the home game 5-0. Providence is 4-0-0 at Schneider Arena this season.
Providence is led by junior forward Christina Putigna who has the team-lead in points with 15 on six goals and nine assists. Fellow junior forward Cassidy MacPherson holds the team lead in assists with 10, adding in four goals for 14 points. Junior defender Maureen Murphy leads the team with eight goals, adding one assist for nine total points.
The Friars have relied on junior Madison Myers in net, starting 13 of their 14 games with a 7-3-3 record and one shut out on the season. She is averaging a .918 save% and 2.12 GAA. Sophomore Clare Minnerath has the other start with a 1-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA and .958 save% with her win against Merrimack in game one of the series.