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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Friday, January 18
Providence, R.I.
6 PM
University of New Hampshire
at
Providence
Carlee Turner (Photo by Audrey Powell)
UNH Faces #9 Providence for Relive the Rivalry Weekend
1/17/2019 1:55:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
The 153rd and 154th meetings of the Wildcats and the Friars takes place January 18 and 19.
DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team enters the final stretch of the regular season in the hunt for a playoff birth, as they face off with #9 Providence College in a two game series this Friday and Saturday, January 18 and 19.
The Wildcats, who had their historic unbeaten streak snapped by UConn last weekend, look to bounce back against the Friars in the two game road series. The series will wrap up the second-straight Relive the Rivalry alumni fundraising challenge, which ran from Monday, January 14 to Thursday night at midnight. The Friars won the challenge in the inaugural season.
The Wildcats next home game is the start of a home-and-home series with Holy Cross on Saturday, January 26. The 2 P.M. puck drop will be the Hockey Fights Cancer game, joining the hockey community in supporting those battling all forms of cancer.
The Series: New Hampshire vs. Providence
The storied Friars vs. Wildcats women's hockey rivalry has seen 152 meetings since 1977, with 13 postseason meetings, including the longest collegiate women's hockey game in history (a 3-2 victory for UNH.) Earlier this season, the Friars took the first meeting of the two teams in the 2018-19 season, defeating the Wildcats in Durham, 1-0 on October 28.
Last Time Out:
New Hampshire was set to extend its historic nine-game unbeaten streak last weekend at the University of Connecticut, but fell short when they dropped the first game, 2-0 on Friday evening, January 11. The Wildcats were shutout despite outshooting the Huskies in the first and third periods, tallying a total of 32 shots on net.
UNH bounced back Saturday afternoon and scored in the opening three minutes, with a power play goal from Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario). The Wildcats, who were 5-0-2 when scoring the first goal, kept the pressure on with the conference points in their sights, but a Husky equalizer in the second and a three-goal surge in the third was too much to come back from, despite a 40-26 shot advantage for the Wildcats.
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.
- The 'Cats started off the season with an even 1-1-1 record after their home opener, losing and tying to #10 St. Lawrence to open the season, then beating UConn 5-3 to open up Hockey East play 1-0 for the first time since 2010-11.
- The Wildcats then faced a nine-game winless streak, facing ranked foe Northeastern in their three-game season series, and going 0-2-1 against Vermont.
- UNH snapped their winless drought with a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross just before Thanksgiving break.
- From that Holy Cross victory, the Wildcats then went on a nine game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) with wins over conference foes Merrimack and Boston College, and ECAC foes Dartmouth, Rensselaer and Yale.
- The unbeaten streak included two straight come-from-behind third period rallies, trailing 2-1 against Boston College (won 3-2) and trailing 3-2 at Yale (won 4-3).
- The Wildcats had their unbeaten streak snapped in mid-January by the UConn Huskies, who took the season series 2-1-0.
Players to Watch
- Junior forward Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) now leads the team in points after scoring three goals in the last two games. Wenczkowski has a team-high 10 goals, along with four assists for a team-high 14 points. Wenczkowski holds the longest point streak of the season for UNH, seven points in four games, and leads the team in game-winning goals with three.
- Fellow junior Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.)has 12 points for the Wildcats, with seven assists, the third-highest tally on the team, and five goals.
- Junior Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is now at 11 points on the year. Turner tallied UNH's first game-winning goal of the year, and tallied the game-winning assist at Dartmouth off a faceoff win. She has five goals and six assists on the year.
- Freshman Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) has leapfrogged up to a tie with Turner with 11 points, the third-highest total on the team. Martin has two goals and a team-high nine assists on the season. Martin has scored multiple assists in two games this season, a team-high.
- A trio of upperclassmen are tied with 10 points on the year. Junior Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) has a second-best seven goals, along with three assists; senior Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) has three goals along with seven assists, and a team-high +5 on the year. Her defensive partner, junior Tori Howran has two goals and a second-best eight assists ont he year. She is +4 on the season.
- Senior Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) rounds out the top scoreres with nine points on four goals, five assists. She has two power play goals and one game-winning goal on the year; she tallied the opening goal of the game against Yale.
Mind the Net
Senior captain Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) has been the go-to starter in net for UNH and has a 7-4-2 record since taking the starting job. Overall this season she has a .933 save% and a 1.93 GAA for a 7-6-2 record.
Sophomore Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) returned for her second season after setting a new record for saves in a single season (886) in her rookie year. Boutilier held a 1-5-2 record this season, with a .924 save% and a 2.23 GAA, before her season was cut short due to injury.
Super Juniors
The three top scorers for the Wildcats are redshirt junior Taylor Wenczkowski, and true juniors Nicole Dunbar and Carlee Turner. This season they have tallied 20 of UNH's 45 goals and 37 of UNH's 116 points.
The top-five scoring juniors also adds in Meghara McManus and Tori Howran. Those five juniors have tallied 30 goals (65% of team total) and 58 points (49% of team total.)
Rheault Goes to the Pride
Senior defender Jenna Rheault (Deering, N.H.) was selected 25th overall by the Boston Pride in the 2018 NWHL draft on Thursday, December 20, 2018. She becomes the third active Wildcat to be drafted to an NWHL team.
For the 2017-18 season, Rheault was awarded the team's Sue Merz 7th Player award for her clutch defensive play in key situations and on the penalty kill. Rheault was a crucial member of the Wildcats' penalty kill that only allowed 23 power-play goals in the 2017-18 season.
"I am very proud of Jenna," says head coach Hilary Witt. "She is a great person, teammate and hockey player. Her work ethic and commitment to excellence on the ice, in the weight room and in the classroom has propelled her to this achievement."
Wenczkowski Wins Weekly Honors
For her two-goal performance against #10 Boston College, Taylor Wenczkowski was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Monday, January 7th. The honor is UNH's first weekly award all season, and the first weekly award for Wenczkowski in her career.
Down (A Player) But Not Out
When playing on the penalty kill this season, the Wildcats have stopped 90.3% of opponent's power play attempts, tied for second-best in the nation. The Wildcats have allowed just seven power play goals this season, on 72 attempts.
Goalies Are Skaters, Too
Kyra Smith is the first UNH goaltender to record a point since Lindsey Minton in the 2010-11 season. Smith assisted on the game-winning goal at Yale, as she sent her save to Taylor Wenczkowski, who passed up-ice to Lauren Martin, who then sent a drop-pass back to Wenczkowski for the goal.
Lindsey Minton's assist came in a 4-1 victory over Union on October 16, 2010. She was the lone assist on an empty-net goal.
Historic Streak
The Wildcats were unbeaten through a nine game stretch, having not lost from November 10, 2018 at #6 Northeastern up until January 11th at UConn. They had a 7-0-2 record in that stretch, which was the longest unbeaten streak for the team since the 2007-08 season, when they went unbeaten through 19 games on their way to the women's Frozen Four.
In the streak, the Wildcats outscored opponents 27-15, led by Taylor Wenczkowski who had seven goals and four assists in the streak. Meghara McManus had five goals, two assists in the streak, and was one of four Wildcats with seven points in the streak. Tori Howran had a team-high six assists during the run.
In net, Kyra Smith made 220 saves and allowed just 15 goals, for a .936 save% and 1.64 GAA.
Scouting Providence
- The Friars (Providence, R.I.) come into the weekend ranked ninth in the nation and tied for third in Hockey East with an overall record of 16-6-0, and a conference record of 10-5-0 with 20 conference points.
- Providence is coming in on a two game skid, losing to Boston University 5-3 at home on Friday, and 4-2 in Boston on Saturday.
- The Friars had a nine-game winning streak earlier this season, starting with the 1-0 victory at the Whittemore Center. The streak included seven conference wins to secure their spot in the top of the standings. That winning streak was snapped by UConn on December 1, with a 2-1 victory at Schneider Arena.
- Providence is led by sophomore Maureen Murphy, with a team-high 34 points; she has a team-best 20 goals and 14 assists.
- The Friars also have seven other skaters with at least 10 points on the season.
- In net, Providence has relied on senior Madison Myers in 20 of 22 starts. She holds a 15-5-0 record, with a .929 save% and 1.61 GAA.
- In the other two starts, freshman Sandra Abstreiter was between the pipes; she holds a 1-1-0 record on the year, with a .841 save% and 3.54 GAA.
-- unh --
The Wildcats, who had their historic unbeaten streak snapped by UConn last weekend, look to bounce back against the Friars in the two game road series. The series will wrap up the second-straight Relive the Rivalry alumni fundraising challenge, which ran from Monday, January 14 to Thursday night at midnight. The Friars won the challenge in the inaugural season.
The Wildcats next home game is the start of a home-and-home series with Holy Cross on Saturday, January 26. The 2 P.M. puck drop will be the Hockey Fights Cancer game, joining the hockey community in supporting those battling all forms of cancer.
The Series: New Hampshire vs. Providence
The storied Friars vs. Wildcats women's hockey rivalry has seen 152 meetings since 1977, with 13 postseason meetings, including the longest collegiate women's hockey game in history (a 3-2 victory for UNH.) Earlier this season, the Friars took the first meeting of the two teams in the 2018-19 season, defeating the Wildcats in Durham, 1-0 on October 28.
Last Time Out:
New Hampshire was set to extend its historic nine-game unbeaten streak last weekend at the University of Connecticut, but fell short when they dropped the first game, 2-0 on Friday evening, January 11. The Wildcats were shutout despite outshooting the Huskies in the first and third periods, tallying a total of 32 shots on net.
UNH bounced back Saturday afternoon and scored in the opening three minutes, with a power play goal from Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario). The Wildcats, who were 5-0-2 when scoring the first goal, kept the pressure on with the conference points in their sights, but a Husky equalizer in the second and a three-goal surge in the third was too much to come back from, despite a 40-26 shot advantage for the Wildcats.
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.
- The 'Cats started off the season with an even 1-1-1 record after their home opener, losing and tying to #10 St. Lawrence to open the season, then beating UConn 5-3 to open up Hockey East play 1-0 for the first time since 2010-11.
- The Wildcats then faced a nine-game winless streak, facing ranked foe Northeastern in their three-game season series, and going 0-2-1 against Vermont.
- UNH snapped their winless drought with a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross just before Thanksgiving break.
- From that Holy Cross victory, the Wildcats then went on a nine game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) with wins over conference foes Merrimack and Boston College, and ECAC foes Dartmouth, Rensselaer and Yale.
- The unbeaten streak included two straight come-from-behind third period rallies, trailing 2-1 against Boston College (won 3-2) and trailing 3-2 at Yale (won 4-3).
- The Wildcats had their unbeaten streak snapped in mid-January by the UConn Huskies, who took the season series 2-1-0.
Players to Watch
- Junior forward Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) now leads the team in points after scoring three goals in the last two games. Wenczkowski has a team-high 10 goals, along with four assists for a team-high 14 points. Wenczkowski holds the longest point streak of the season for UNH, seven points in four games, and leads the team in game-winning goals with three.
- Fellow junior Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.)has 12 points for the Wildcats, with seven assists, the third-highest tally on the team, and five goals.
- Junior Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is now at 11 points on the year. Turner tallied UNH's first game-winning goal of the year, and tallied the game-winning assist at Dartmouth off a faceoff win. She has five goals and six assists on the year.
- Freshman Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) has leapfrogged up to a tie with Turner with 11 points, the third-highest total on the team. Martin has two goals and a team-high nine assists on the season. Martin has scored multiple assists in two games this season, a team-high.
- A trio of upperclassmen are tied with 10 points on the year. Junior Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) has a second-best seven goals, along with three assists; senior Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) has three goals along with seven assists, and a team-high +5 on the year. Her defensive partner, junior Tori Howran has two goals and a second-best eight assists ont he year. She is +4 on the season.
- Senior Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) rounds out the top scoreres with nine points on four goals, five assists. She has two power play goals and one game-winning goal on the year; she tallied the opening goal of the game against Yale.
Mind the Net
Senior captain Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) has been the go-to starter in net for UNH and has a 7-4-2 record since taking the starting job. Overall this season she has a .933 save% and a 1.93 GAA for a 7-6-2 record.
Sophomore Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) returned for her second season after setting a new record for saves in a single season (886) in her rookie year. Boutilier held a 1-5-2 record this season, with a .924 save% and a 2.23 GAA, before her season was cut short due to injury.
Super Juniors
The three top scorers for the Wildcats are redshirt junior Taylor Wenczkowski, and true juniors Nicole Dunbar and Carlee Turner. This season they have tallied 20 of UNH's 45 goals and 37 of UNH's 116 points.
The top-five scoring juniors also adds in Meghara McManus and Tori Howran. Those five juniors have tallied 30 goals (65% of team total) and 58 points (49% of team total.)
Rheault Goes to the Pride
Senior defender Jenna Rheault (Deering, N.H.) was selected 25th overall by the Boston Pride in the 2018 NWHL draft on Thursday, December 20, 2018. She becomes the third active Wildcat to be drafted to an NWHL team.
For the 2017-18 season, Rheault was awarded the team's Sue Merz 7th Player award for her clutch defensive play in key situations and on the penalty kill. Rheault was a crucial member of the Wildcats' penalty kill that only allowed 23 power-play goals in the 2017-18 season.
"I am very proud of Jenna," says head coach Hilary Witt. "She is a great person, teammate and hockey player. Her work ethic and commitment to excellence on the ice, in the weight room and in the classroom has propelled her to this achievement."
Wenczkowski Wins Weekly Honors
For her two-goal performance against #10 Boston College, Taylor Wenczkowski was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on Monday, January 7th. The honor is UNH's first weekly award all season, and the first weekly award for Wenczkowski in her career.
Down (A Player) But Not Out
When playing on the penalty kill this season, the Wildcats have stopped 90.3% of opponent's power play attempts, tied for second-best in the nation. The Wildcats have allowed just seven power play goals this season, on 72 attempts.
Goalies Are Skaters, Too
Kyra Smith is the first UNH goaltender to record a point since Lindsey Minton in the 2010-11 season. Smith assisted on the game-winning goal at Yale, as she sent her save to Taylor Wenczkowski, who passed up-ice to Lauren Martin, who then sent a drop-pass back to Wenczkowski for the goal.
Lindsey Minton's assist came in a 4-1 victory over Union on October 16, 2010. She was the lone assist on an empty-net goal.
Historic Streak
The Wildcats were unbeaten through a nine game stretch, having not lost from November 10, 2018 at #6 Northeastern up until January 11th at UConn. They had a 7-0-2 record in that stretch, which was the longest unbeaten streak for the team since the 2007-08 season, when they went unbeaten through 19 games on their way to the women's Frozen Four.
In the streak, the Wildcats outscored opponents 27-15, led by Taylor Wenczkowski who had seven goals and four assists in the streak. Meghara McManus had five goals, two assists in the streak, and was one of four Wildcats with seven points in the streak. Tori Howran had a team-high six assists during the run.
In net, Kyra Smith made 220 saves and allowed just 15 goals, for a .936 save% and 1.64 GAA.
Scouting Providence
- The Friars (Providence, R.I.) come into the weekend ranked ninth in the nation and tied for third in Hockey East with an overall record of 16-6-0, and a conference record of 10-5-0 with 20 conference points.
- Providence is coming in on a two game skid, losing to Boston University 5-3 at home on Friday, and 4-2 in Boston on Saturday.
- The Friars had a nine-game winning streak earlier this season, starting with the 1-0 victory at the Whittemore Center. The streak included seven conference wins to secure their spot in the top of the standings. That winning streak was snapped by UConn on December 1, with a 2-1 victory at Schneider Arena.
- Providence is led by sophomore Maureen Murphy, with a team-high 34 points; she has a team-best 20 goals and 14 assists.
- The Friars also have seven other skaters with at least 10 points on the season.
- In net, Providence has relied on senior Madison Myers in 20 of 22 starts. She holds a 15-5-0 record, with a .929 save% and 1.61 GAA.
- In the other two starts, freshman Sandra Abstreiter was between the pipes; she holds a 1-1-0 record on the year, with a .841 save% and 3.54 GAA.
-- unh --
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