Wildcats Look for Season Sweep of UConn In Weekend Series

Saturday, January 13

Durham, N.H.

2 PM

University of New Hampshire

University of Connecticut

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Julia Scammel (Photo by Greg Greene)

Photo by: Greg Greene

1/12/2018 2:12:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

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UNH is 1-0-0 against UConn this season.

2017-2018 New Hampshire Women's Ice Hockey
Saturday, January 13 / Sunday, January 14, 2018 (2:00 p.m)
New Hampshire (9-9-5, 6-6-3 Hockey East) vs.
Connecticut (6-9-7, 0-8-4 Hockey East)
Whittemore Center Arena - Durham, N.H.
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DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team, now tied for fourth place in Hockey East, welcomes the University of Connecticut Huskies to the Whittemore Center for a two-game series. The Wildcats come into the matchup on a three-game losing skid for the first time all season, while the Huskies are still looking for their first Hockey East win of the 2017-18 season.

The Matchup: Connecticut vs. New Hampshire
The Wildcats and the Huskies have already met once this year in a 3-0 shut out victory for UNH back in December. It was UNH's 44th victory in the series, which they lead 44-11-5. The Wildcats have won the last three meetings between the two teams, after the Huskies had won two straight overtime victories, including a three-OT Hockey East Quarterfinal victory over the 'Cats in the 2015-16 playoffs.

The State of New Hampshire
• The Wildcats finished the first half of the season with a 9-6-5 overall record through 20 games; it's the teams' first winning record through 20 games since 2009-10, when the Wildcats had a .750 winning percentage, going 13-3-4.
• UNH has scored the first goal in 15 of 23 games this season; they are 8-3-4 in those games.
• New Hampshire has nine skaters who have tallied at least 10 points on the season so far.
• The Wildcats are 7-2-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 2-7-5 when scoring less than three goals.
• UNH has 21 power play goals on an 18.8% power play efficiency. They have killed 73 of 90 penalties for an 81.1% penalty kill efficiency.
• The Wildcats average 4.9 power play chances per game and 3.9 penalty kill opportunities per game.
• New Hampshire has outshot opponents by 33 shots in the third period (241-208), but is even in third period goals at 16 scored and 16 allowed.
• New Hampshire is 8-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only nine times this season have opponents scored three or more goals (1-8-0 record in those games.)

Last Time Out
The Wildcats had a midweek matchup with the Merrimack College Warriors, and found themselves down by two goals twice in the game, with Amy Schlagel (Blaine, Minn.) and Abby Chapman (Beverly Hills, Mich.) each cutting the lead to one goal in the second period, but unfortunately the Wildcats could not find the game-tying goal and fell to the Warriors 4-2.
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 has the second highest point total on the team, 15 points on six goals and nine assists. Five of her six goals this season have come on the power play; two of her goals were game winners.
• Schlagel has now tallied nine goals and three assists for 12 points on the season. Schlagel has six power play goals and two game winners.
• Sophomore forward Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) is tied for the team lead in goals with nine, and leads the team in points with 16. She had her second mutli-goal game of her career against Northeastern and tallied her seventh assist against UConn.
• Sophomore forward Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) has 14 points on the season with seven goals and seven assists. Dunbar had the game-winning goal against Holy Cross, and most recently in overtime against Northeastern. She also tallied goals against Yale and Boston College.
• Sophomore forward Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) has 14 points on the season; she has tallied nine assists, and three of her five goals on the season have come on the power play.
• Sophomore forward Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is at 14 points after her assist against Merrimack; She has five goals and nine assists. She scored her first power play goal of the season against Vermont.
• Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) has the team lead in assists with 11, adding in 1 goal for 12 points on the season. Howran scored her first career goal this season in a 9-1 victory over Holy Cross.

Outlier Gets the Start
Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) has gotten the start in 20 of UNH's 23 games this season; she has a 7-8-5 record in her first 20 career starts, stopping 545 shots and allowing 49 goals. She has a .918 save percentage and a 2.47 GAA in her first career season.

Return of Smith
Junior goaltender Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) got her first action of the season in December, starting two games with a 2-0-0 record and earning two straight Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week awards. Smith is 2-1-0 on the season with 78 saves and six goals allowed for a .929 save percentage and 2.25 GAA.

Take It To Overtime
The Wildcats have played eight overtime games this season; so far, they are undefeated in games that require an extra period, with a 3-0-5 record. They are outshooting opponents 25-15 in overtime.

Ranked Woes
UNH has a losing record (0-6-0) against ranked opponents this season; they are 9-3-5 against unranked opponents this season.

Scouting UConn
The Huskies (Storrs, Conn.) come into the weekend off a 4-2 mid week loss to Northeastern. This comes after a home win against Brown, 5-1 at home. UConn this season is 2-7-1 in away games and 0-8-4 in Hockey East play. They have won two of their last five games.
Connecticut is led by freshman forward Natalie Snodgrass, who has a team-high 12 goals and 21 points with nine assists. Snodgrass has two power play goals and two game-winning goals. The next two highest point-getters on the team are tied for the team lead in assists, sophomore forward Briana Colangelo has seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points, while senior forward Leah Lum has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points.
In net, the Huskies have seen a 60/30 split between goaltenders; senior Annie Belanger has started 15 games for UConn this season and has a 4-7-4 record. She has made 416 saves this season and allowed 35 goals for a .922 save percentage and a 2.29 GAA. Belanger has one shut out on the season. Sophomore Morgan Fisher has started the other seven games for UConn, making 179 saves for a .942 save percentage, and allowing 11 goals for a 1.53 GAA. She has a 2-2-3 record and two shutouts on the season.