Wildcats Host Vermont, #9 Northeastern in Weekend Homestand

Friday, October 19

Durham, N.H.

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

Vermont

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Lauren Martin (Photo by Matthew Troisi)

Photo by: Matthew Troisi

10/18/2018 3:55:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

New Hampshire looks to improve on their early 1-1-0 Hockey East record.

DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team returns home for two games hosting two Hockey East foes. The Wildcats will face off with Vermont on Friday evening (7 P.M.) and #9 Northeastern on Sunday (2 P.M.).

Stick it to Stigma
Sunday's matchup with Northeastern will be the 'Stick it to Stigma' mental health awareness and suicide prevention game. For the second straight season, UNH will be hosting the event at a home game with free tickets provided by the Benny Fund and Connor's Climb, two New Hampshire non-profits driven to promote mental health awareness and prevent suicide. Last season, 581 tickets were distributed as the Wildcats defeated Vermont 6-2. A post-game ceremony was held where UNH players auctioned off the special game-worn jerseys to raise money for the local charities.

The Series: New Hampshire vs. Vermont
New Hampshire and Vermont have been battling in women's hockey since the 70s and 80s, and more frequently in the 2000s after the formation of Hockey East. UNH owns the all-time advantage with a 34-10-4 record against the Catamounts. In the last five meetings, the Wildcats are 2-1-2 against UVM.

The Series: New Hampshire vs. Northeastern
One of the old women's hockey rivalrys of the 80s and 90s, UNH vs. Northeastern has seen a total of 141 meetings, including 17 post-season matchups in the ECAC and Hockey East playoffs. The Wildcats currently have an 81-51-9 when facing the Huskies, with Northeastern holding a recent edge over the Wildcats, with a 4-1-0 record against UNH in their last five meetings, including two-game series at Northeastern last February in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Last Time Out:
   After a 0-1-1 weekend to start the season, the Wildcats won their home and Hockey East opener against UConn by a final score of 5-3. The Wildcats found themselves leading, trailing and tied all in the first period as four goals were scored total; Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) started the scoring off to give the 'Cats a 1-0 lead, but a delayed-penalty goal and the enusing 4-on-4 allowed UConn to take a 2-1 lead. Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) dangled the puck into the offensive zone on a pwoer play and back-handed a highlight reel goal off the crossbar and in to tie the game back up in the end of the period. The Wildcats would go on to take the lead in the second, and extend it in the third, only allowing one more UConn goal with an extra attacker in the third.
   The Wildcats followed that up with a 3-2 loss at Boston University. The 'Cats found themselves down late in the game but a third-period goal by Dunbar cut the lead to one goal and gave UNH another chance, but they were held to just two goals in the contest.

The State Of New Hampshire
- New Hampshire was picked seventh in the Hockey East preseason poll released on September 20th. The Wildcats finished fifth in Hockey East in the 2017-18 regular season.
- From last year's roster, the Wildcats return 20 players with six newcomers. Despite losing five starters, UNH returns their three top scorers from the 2017-18 season. The group of juniors Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.), Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) led the team last season with 20 points each.
- Also among those returning are goaltenders Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) and Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.). Boutilier had a breakout season her freshman year, breaking the UNH record for saves made in a single season (886) and backstopped the 'Cats in 32 of their 36 games played last season. Boutilier finished her freshman season with a 12-13-7 record. Smith saw action in the other four starts last season with a 2-2-0 record, with big wins over Northeastern and UConn in which she made 29 and 27 saves, respectively.

The Captains
Seniors Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) and Kyra Smith will serve as the team's two captains this season. Pelletier leads the team in career assists with 27, while Smith boasts a .900 career save percentage and two shut outs in 41 career games played.

Players to Watch
- Junior Nicole Dunbar leads the team with four points on a team-leading three goals and an assist. One of her goals this season has come on the power play.
- Fellow junior Tori Howran and sophomore Grace Middleton (Midland, Mich.) sit in second in total points with three, both on a goal and two assists. Middleton tallied two assists against UConn for her first career multi-point game.
- Senior Devan Taylor (Billerica, Mass.) and junior Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) both have two points on the season with one goal and one assist each. Taylor tallied UNH's first goal of the season, while Turner's goal ended up being UNH's first game-winner of the season.
- Freshmen Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) and Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) started off their careers strong with their first career multi-point games. Both players had two assists in the 5-3 win over UConn, Rickwood's coming on UNH's third and fourth goals, the fourth being the eventual game winner, and Martin assisted both of Dunbar's goals, including a nice play to set up the empty-netter.

Mind the Net
   Sophomore Ava Boutilier returns for her second season after setting a new record for saves in a single season (886) in her rookie season. Boutilier holds a 1-2-1 record so far in the 2018-19 season, with a .942 save% and a 1.93 GAA. She has made a total of 131 saves in her first four games.

Scouting Vermont
--The Catamounts (Burlington, Vt.) come into the weekend with a record of 0-1-2 overall, 0-1-0 in Hockey East play.
- Their lone conference game was against UConn; the Huskies took down the Catamounts 4-2 in the first weekend of play.
- Six Catamounts have all tallied a goal this season, but Olivia Kilberg leads the team in assists with three and points with four.
- Vermont has looked to Melissa Black in goal, who has allowed4 goals, has a GAA (AVG) of 1.94, and 57 saves for a save percentage of .934. Black has a record of 1-1-0 on the season.

Scouting Northeastern
- The Huskies (Boston, Mass.) come into the weekend with a 2-1-1 record on the season, 1-0-1 in Hockey East play.
- Northeastern is coming off a non-conference split with Colgate, losing game one 3-2 and then bouncing back in game two 5-2, keeping their national ranking at #9.
- The Huskies are led by sophomore Veronika Pettey, who has a team-high seven goals on four goals and three assists. Fellow sophomore Brooke Hobson leads the team with four assists, and a goal for five total points.
- In net, Northeastern has started Brittany Bugalski and Aerin Frankel in two games each. Bugalski holds a 1-0-1 record with a .936 sv% and 2.40 GAA, while Franekl has posted a 1-1-0 record with a sv% of .946 and a 1.51 GAA.