UNH hosts #8 Providence For Weekend Series

Friday, January 19

Durham, N.H.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

Providence College

Buy Tickets

Ava Boutilier (center) and Maddie Truax (right) (Photo by Greg Greene)

Photo by: Greg Greene

1/18/2018 11:47:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

Watch Live Stats - Friday Live Stats - Saturday Tickets

The two teams will ‘Relive the Rivalry’ in games Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team, now tied for fourth place in Hockey East, continues its four-game homestand as the Wildcats welcome the #8 Providence College Friars to the Whittemore Center for a two-game series. Puck drop is at 7 P.M. on Friday, Jan. 19 and at 4 P.M. on Saturday, Jan. 20.

The Matchup: Providence vs. New Hampshire
The storied history of Providence vs. New Hampshire dates back to the programs' starts in the 70s, with UNH women's hockey in its 40th anniversary season, and Providence women's hockey just a few years older than that. The rivalry between the two teams spanned through multiple ECAC title games and eventually spilled over into the formation of the women's Hockey East conference. Friday's match will be the 150th meeting of the two teams, with UNH holding a slight series advantage, 80-55-14. Neither team has won twice in a row in the last seven meetings, the most recent winning streak was by Providence in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, winning three straight. Providence also won the most recent meeting, 3-0 at home in November.

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 16 of 25 games this season; they are 9-3-4 in those games.
• New Hampshire has nine skaters who have tallied at least 11 points on the season so far.
• The Wildcats are 8-2-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 2-8-5 when scoring less than three goals.
• UNH has 22 power play goals on an 18.2% power play efficiency. They have killed 82 of 100 penalties for an 82% penalty kill efficiency.
• The Wildcats average 4.8 power play chances per game and 4.0 penalty kill opportunities per game.
• New Hampshire has outshot opponents by 38 shots in the third period (263-225), but trail in third period goals at 17 scored and 18 allowed.
• New Hampshire is 8-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only 10 times this season have opponents scored three or more goals (1-9-0 record in those games.)

Last Time Out
The Wildcats were riding a rare three-game skid as they welcomed the UConn Huskies to the Whittemore Center for a two-game series. In game one, the Huskies took advantage of the Wildcats' slow play and held them scoreless for two and a half periods. Two late goals in each of the opening periods put UConn up 2-0 early, and with a late power play goal, the Wildcats spoiled the shutout, but lost 3-1. The following afternoon the Wildcats came out firing. Though no goals were scored in the first period, both teams had their chances with two power play opportunities each. The Wildcats blew it open in the second period with three goals, from Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.), Abby Chapman (Beverly Hills, Mich.) and Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.). A late power play, extra strength goal for UConn was the only blemish on freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier's (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) 39-save effort, tying a career-high, as the Wildcats snapped a four game losing streak with a 3-1 victory.

Players to Watch
• Senior defensemen Amy Schlagel (Blaine, Minn.) 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 third 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 Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) is now up to 17 points on the season, after tallying three points against UConn this past weekend. She leads the team in points and is second in the team in assists with 10. Four of her seven goals were power play goals. Wenczkowski also leads the team in conference points with 13.
• Sophomore forward Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) is tied for the team lead in goals with nine, and is second on the team in points with 16. She had her second mutli-goal game of her career against Northeastern.
• Sophomore forward Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) has 15 points on the season with seven goals and eight 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 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. Turner is second on the team in points tallied in conference games with 11.
• 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.

Boutilier Gets the Start
Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) has gotten the start in 21 of UNH's 25 games this season; she has a 8-8-5 record in her first 21 career starts, stopping 584 shots and allowing 50 goals. She has a .921 save percentage and a 2.40 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 2-2-0 on the season with 104 saves and nine goals allowed for a .920 save percentage and 2.48 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 10-4-5 against unranked opponents this season.

Scouting #8 Providence
The Friars (Providence, R.I.) come into the weekend with a 14-6-5 overall record, 10-2-3 in conference as they hold down the #2 spot in Hockey East. Most recently, the Friars split with Boston University last weekend, losing game one at BU 5-1 on Friday, and bouncing back to a 6-3 home victory on Saturday. Providence has played eight away games this season and are 3-2-3 in those games.
The Friars are led by senior forward Brooke Bequest, who leads the team with 23 points on 13 goals and 10 assists. She is one of 11 Friars who have scored 10 points or more, and one of three that have scored 20 or more this season. Freshman forward Maureen Murphy leads the team in goals with 17, also tallying four assists for 21 total points. Junior forward Cassidy MacPherson rounds out the top three with a team-high 16 assists and four goals for 20 total points.
In net, the Friars have looked to junior Madison Myers for 23 of their 25 starts. Myers has a .922 save percentage, a 2.06 GAA and a 13-5-5 record with two shut outs on the season. The other two starts went to sophomore Clare Minnerath, who has a .911 save percentage, a 2.55 GAA, and a 1-1-0 record.