Wildcats Resume Season with Home-And-Home with #2 BC

Friday, January 5

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

Boston College

Carlee Toews (Photo by Amanda Lee)

Photo by: Amy Lee

1/3/2018 3:53:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

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New Hampshire travels to Chestnut Hill, Mass. on Friday evening, hosts the Eagles on Sunday afternoon.

DURHAM, N.H. – After a 3-1-0 month of December, the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team returns to action for a two-game series against #2 Boston College. The Wildcats will travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. on Friday evening for a 6 p.m. puck drop, and then they will host the Eagles on Sunday at 2 P.M.

The Matchup: BC vs. New Hampshire

The Eagles and the Wildcats have met 72 times in their history, including a Hockey East quarterfinal matchup in 2014, as well as the 2006 and 2009 Hockey East Championship games. The Wildcats hold the all-time advantage with a 46-21-5 record against the Eagles, but the Eagles have held the recent advantage, winning the last 10 matchups.

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 20 games this season; they are 8-3-4 in those games.

• The Wildcats are 7-2-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 2-4-5 when scoring less than three goals.

• UNH has 19 power play goals on a 19.6% power play efficiency. They have killed 59 of 73 penalties for a 80.8% penalty kill efficiency.

• The Wildcats average 4.8 power play chances per game and 3.7 penalty kill opportunities per game.

• New Hampshire has outscored opponents by a total of 55-46 this season, including 21-16 in the first period, 16-13 in the third, and 3-0 in overtime; opponents outscore the Wildcats 17-15 in the second period.

• New Hampshire is 8-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only six times this season have opponents scored three or more goals (1-5-0 UNH record in those games.)

Last Time Out

The Wildcats ended the fall semester with two straight victories on the weekend. On Dec. 8, 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.

On Dec. 10, the UNH hosted Yale in a Sunday matinee that needed overtime to decide the victor; Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) had a goal and two assists, scoring the first goal of the game to give the 'Cats a 1-0 lead. After the Bulldogs tied the game up in the second, Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) retook the lead, 2-1. A Yale goal in the third sent the game to overtime where Julia Fedeski (Algonquin Highlands, Ontario)ripped a shot just one minute and 17 seconds into the overtime period to give the 'Cats their second win in a row. Freshman Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) got the victory in net, stopping 22 shots.

Players to Watch

• Senior defensemen Amy Schlagel and Julia Fedeski 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 13 points on the season (6g, 7a). Five of her six goals this season have come on the power play; two of her goals were game winners.

• Schlagel has now tallied eight goals and three assists for 11 points on the season. Schlagel also has five power play goals and two 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 and tallied her seventh assist against UConn.

• Sophomore forward Taylor Wenczkowski 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 has 13 points on the season with six goals and seven assists. Dunbar had the game-winning goal against Holy Cross, and most recently in overtime against Northeastern. She also tallied a goal against Yale.

• Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) has the team lead in assists with 10, adding in 1 goal for 11 points on the season.

Boutilier Gets the Start

Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier has gotten the start in 18 of UNH's 20 games this season; she has a 7-6-5 record in her first 18 career starts, stopping 499 shots and allowing 41 goals. She has a .924 save percentage an a 2.30 GAA in her first career season.

Return of Smith

Junior goaltender Kyra Smith got her first action of the season in December, starting two games with a 2-0-0 record; she made 29 saves in the overtime victory against Northeastern and made 22 saves in a 3-0 shutout victory of UConn. For both performances, Smith was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week for two straight weeks.

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 (0-4-0) against ranked opponents this season; they are 9-2-5 against unranked opponents this season.

Scouting #2 Boston College

The Eagles (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) come into the matchup on a four-game winning streak and a 10-game unbeaten streak, not losing a conference game so far this season. The Eagles have outscored opponetns 89-44 so far this season and are 8-0-1 at home this season.

The Eagles are led by freshman forward Daryl Watts, who leads the team and the country with 52 points on 24 goals and 28 assists. Following close behind is conference player of the month, sophomore forward Caitrin Lonergan with 48 points on 21 goals and 27 assists.

In net, BC has looked to senior goaltender Katie Burt, who as started all 20 games for the Eagles. She has a 16-1-3 overall record, and has made 516 saves and allowed 44 goals for a .921 save% and 2.18 GAA.