‘Cats Face Warriors for the Third Time Wednesday (7 P.M.)

Wednesday, January 10

North Andover, Mass.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

Merrimack College

Grace Middleton (Photo by Vincent Dejana)

Photo by: Vincent Dejana

1/9/2018 12:15:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Wildcats have taken three conference points from Merrimack this season.

2017-2018 New Hampshire Women's Ice Hockey
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
New Hampshire (9-8-5, 6-5-3 Hockey East) vs.
Merrimack (7-13-3, 2-9-2, 2-9-2 Hockey East); 7:00 p.m.
Lawler Rink - North Andover, Mass.
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team, currently in fourth place in Hockey East, gets ready for a three-game week starting with a match up at Merrimack College Wednesday, Jan. 10. The Wildcats and the Warriors will face off at 7 P.M. in North Andover, Mass. They will then face UConn in a two-game home series Saturday, Jan. 13 and Sunday, Jan. 14.

The Matchup: Merrimack vs. New Hampshire
The Warrior-Wildcat matchup is in its early stages, with Merrimack making the jump to D1 women's hockey at the start of the 2015-16 season. The Warriors took the first ever matchup in a 2-1 victory, but the Wildcats are 6-1-1 against the Warriors all-time. The two teams faced off earlier this season, with UNH taking three conference points from Merrimack in a season-opening 1-1 tie in Durham and a 3-1 victory the following night in North Andover.

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 22 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 2-6-5 when scoring less than three goals.
• UNH has 20 power play goals on an 18.3% power play efficiency. They have killed 70 of 87 penalties for 80.5% penalty kill efficiency.
• The Wildcats average 5 power play chances per game and 5 penalty kill opportunities per game.
• New Hampshire has outscored opponents 22-19 in first periods this season, and outshot them 235-204 (+31) in third periods this season.
• New Hampshire is 8-1-5 when holding opponents to less than three goals; only eight times this season have opponents scored three or more goals (1-7-0 record in those games.)

Last Time Out
Last weekend the Wildcats played a home and home series with the #2 ranked Boston College Eagles, with the Eagles taking game one at home 6-0 on Saturday, and 5-1 in Durham on Sunday. Game two was tied 1-1 after one period thanks to a power play goal from Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) with a nice goal from the right faceoff circle after the puck was passed around the perimeter from Julia Fedeski (Algonquin Highlands, Ontario) and Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.). However, the Eagles went on to score three goals in the second and one in the third to put the game out of reach.

Players to Watch
• Senior defensemen Amy Schlagel (Blaine, Minn.) 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 has the second highest point total on the team, 14 points on six goals and eight 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 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. 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 Nicole Dunbar 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 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 Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is 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.
• Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) has the team lead in assists with 10, adding in 1 goal for 11 points on the season. She is one of three Wildcats with 11 points. (Schlagel, Howran, Carlee Toews (Grand Prairie, Alberta) (2g, 9a))

Boutilier Gets the Start
Freshman goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) has gotten the start in 19 of UNH's 22 games this season; she has a 7-7-5 record in her first 19 career starts, stopping 529 shots and allowing 46 goals. She has a .920 save percentage and a 2.44 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 9-2-5 against unranked opponents this season.

Scouting Merrimack
The Warriors (North Andover, Mass.) come into the matchup with a 7-13-3 overall record, 2-9-2 in conference play. Merrimack is also coming off a series against Boston College, with two losses in December (4-1, 4-2) and one loss in January (7-3). The Warriors broke their three game losing skid when they defeated the UConn Huskies 2-1 last Friday.
Junior forward Katelyn Rae leads the team with 10 goals and 14 points, with three power play goals, one short-handed goal and one game-winning goal. Rae scored the game-tying goal against UNH in the Wildcats' first game of the season. Sophomore forward Mikayla Grant-Mentis follows close behind with eight goals, four assists for 12 points, including one game-winning goal. Junior defenseman Filial Manu leads the team with seven assists.
The Warriors have seen split time between goaltenders Samantha Ridgewell and Léa-Kristine Demers. Ridgewell, a junior, as started 13 of Merrimack's 23 games with a 4-8-1 record, .933 save percentage and a 2.09 GAA and two shut outs. Demers, a sophomore, has started the other 10 games with a 3-5-2 record, a .915 save percentage and 2.68 GAA. Both goalies saw time against UNH earlier this season (Ridgewell in the 3-1 loss, Demers in the 1-1 tie).