Wildcats Finish Up Fall Semester Hosting Yale Sunday (12 P.M.)

Sunday, December 10

Durham, N.H.

12 PM

University of New Hampshire

Yale University

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Greg Greene

Wildcats Finish Up Fall Semester Hosting Yale Sunday (12 P.M.)

12/9/2017 6:35:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

New Hampshire looks to remain unbeaten against Yale

DURHAM, N.H. – After a 1-0-1 weekend with conference foe Northeastern, the Univeristy of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team traveled to Storrs, Conn. and took two conference points from the Connecticut Huskies in a 3-0 victory; now the Wildcats return home for one final game before winter break, hosting the Yale Bulldogs Sunday afternoon.

The Matchup: Yale vs. New Hampshire
The Wildcats and the Bulldogs have faced off 21 times since the 1990s, with the Wildcats holding the advantage in the all-time series with a 20-0-1 record. The two teams last met on December 10, 2016; the Wildcats took the away game by a score of 5-3. The Bulldogs come into the matchup with a 2-2-2 away record; the Wildcats are 5-2-3 at the Whittemore Center this season.

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 month of November saw a tougher schedule with three ranked opponents, with the Wildcats only tallying one win on the month with a 1-4-3 overall record.
•   The Wildcats are off to a quick 2-1-0 record in the month of December, splitting a series with Northeastern and taking down UConn.
•   UNH has scored the first goal in 14 of 19 games this season; they are 7-3-4 in those games.
•   The Wildcats are 6-2-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 2-4-5 when scoring less than three goals.
•   UNH has 18 power play goals on a 20% power play efficiency. They have killed 57 of 70 penalties for a 81.4% penalty kill efficiency.
•   New Hampshire is 7-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only five times this season have opponents scored three or more goals (1-5-0 UNH record in those games.)

Last Time Out
     On Friday, the Wildcats defeated the UConn Huskies 3-0 in the team's first shut out of the season. Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) made 27 saves in the shut out victory, her first since her freshman season, and goals came from Amy Schlagel (Blaine, Minn.) with a power play goal to open things up, Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) with a top-shelf shot in the third, and Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) put in the empty-netter to seal the victory for the 'Cats, who are now 6-3-3 in Hockey East play.

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 two 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 eight goals and three assists for 11 points on the season. Five of her goals have come on the power play and two have been game-winners.
•   Sophomore forward Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) now has the team lead in goals with nine and points with 16. She had her second mutli-goal game of her career against Northeastern last weekend and is on the longest active point streak of any Wildcat (4 games, 4-1-5).
•   Sophomore forward Taylor Wenczkowski now has 13 points on the season; she has tallied eight assists, and three of her five goals on the season have come on the power play.
•   Sophomore Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is also at 13 points after tallying an assist in wins over Northeastern and UConn; She has five goals and eight assists. She scored her first power play goal of the season against Vermont.
•   Sophomore Nicole Dunbar is now up to 12 points on the season with five goals and seven assists. Dunbar had the game-winning goal against Holy Cross, and most recently in overtime against Northeastern.
•   Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) has the team lead in assists with 10, adding in 1 goal for 11 points on the seaosn.

Boutilier Gets the Start
Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) has gotten the start in 17 of UNH's 19 games this season; she has a 6-6-5 record in her first 17 career starts, stopping 477 shots and allowing 39 goals. She has a .924 save percentage an a 2.32 GAA in her first career season.

Return of Smith
Junior goaltender Kyra Smith has started two of the last three games for the Wildcats; Smith had a 29 save victory against Northeastern last weekend, and most recently shut out UConn with a 27 save effort. Her record so far on the season is 2-0-0 with a .982 save% and a 0.48 GAA. For her efforts last weekend against Northeastern in the overtime victory, Smith was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the week.

Take It To Overtime
The Wildcats have played seven overtime games this season; so far, they are undefeated in games that require an extra period, with a 2-0-5 record. They are outshooting opponents 22-15 in overtime.

Ranked Woes
UNH has a losing record (0-4-0) against ranked opponents this season; they are 8-2-5 against unranked opponents this season.

Scouting Yale
     The Bulldogs (New Haven, Conn.) have a 3-8-4 overall record and are 2-6-2 in ECAC/Ivy League play. Yale is coming off a 1-1-0 weekend in ECAC play, beating Union 5-4 in overtime, then losing to Rensselaer 3-1. Yale started off this week of play with a loss at Boston University, 5-2.
     Freshman forward Greta Skarzynski leads Yale in both goals with seven, and points with 14. Three of her goals have come on the power play and one was a game-winner. Senior defenseman Mallory Souloitis leads the team in assists with nine; she has also added one goal on the season for 10 points total.
                  In net, the Bulldogs have seen split time between three netminders. Sophomore Tera Hofmann leads the team with eight starts; she has a 2-4-3 record, .909 save% and a 2.56 GAA. Freshman Gianna Meloni has started four games for the Bulldogs with a 0-2-1 record, .906 save%, and a team-best 2.46 GAA. Kyra O'Brien has started three games for Yale, she has a 1-2-0 record with a team-best .913 save% and a 3.00 GAA.