UNH Wins Third Straight Game, Defeating Holy Cross Sunday

Sunday, January 27

Worcester, Mass.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

11-12-4, 8-11-1

Holy Cross

1-23-3, 1-19-1

New Hampshire

Holy Cross

Carlee Turner (left) and Meghara McManus (right) (Photo by Joey Walker)

1/27/2019 4:37:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Box Score

The Wildcats look ahead to a two-game home series with Maine.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team won its third straight game, defeating the College of the Holy Cross by a score of 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.

While in game one of this weekend series, most of UNH's goals came in the third period, the Wildcats got off to an earlier start on Sunday with two goals in the first and one in the second. The 'Cats were led by junior Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) with a team-high two points, tallying the second goal of the contest, which ended up as the game-winner, and assisting on the third goal.

Senior captain Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) stopped 22 of 23 shots in the victory, as she now sits at a 10-7-2 record on the season with a .939 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average.

UP NEXT:
The Wildcats host the Maine Black Bears in a pair of home games this coming weekend with conference playoff positioning on the line for both teams, sitting in eighth and seventh place respectively. Game one will take place Saturday, February 2, followed by game two on Sunday February 3. Both games have a 2 P.M. puck drop.

For tickets to both games, visit UNHWildcats.com or call (603) 862-4000.

GAME INFORMATION:
Date: Jan. 27, 2019
Location: Hart Center – Worcester, Mass.
Attendance: 317
Score: UNH 3 (11-12-4, 8-11-1 Hockey East), HC 1 (1-23-3, 1-19-1 Hockey East)

Goals:
UNH (3) – Paige Rynne, Meghara McManus (GW), Carlee Turner
HC (1) – Allison Attea (PP)

Assists:
UNH (4) – Lauren Martin, Emily Rickwood (GW), Devan Taylor, Meghara McManus
HC (1) – Rachel Moore (PP)

Goaltenders:
UNH – Kyra Smith – 5-7-10 – 22 (1 GA) {59:51} (W)
HC – Jada Brennon – 13-15-7 – 35 (3 GA) {58:44} (L)

GAME RECAP

Both teams battled for possession and shot selection in the first minutes of the game but only two total shots were taken in the first six minutes of play.
The Wildcats opened up the scoring 11:15 into the game when Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone after a bad Holy Cross pass. She skated into the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Paige Rynne. Martin fired a shot and it rebounded directly to the stick of Rynne who easily knocked it in for the first goal.
At 15:01 in the period, another near turnover was saved by Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario), as she picked the puck off the blue line and skated back into position for a hard shot that found Meghara McManus on the rebound. McManus had all the space in the world and back-handed the puck into the net.
In the second period, the Wildcats extended their lead to three when Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) controlled the puck on the left side boards, keeping it out of reach of several Holy Cross defenders. Taylor managed to turn around and send the puck towards the net, where it ricocheted and found Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) who collected the puck and lifted it over a diving Brennon.
In the third the Crusaders came out firing and outshot the Wildcats 11-7 in the final frame.
Holy Cross capitalized on a UNH interference call 4:21 into the third period. They needed just eight seconds for Allison Attea to fire one through traffic, and it found the back of the net as Smith was screened in front.
The Wildcats were able to hold off the extra attacker and seal the 3-1 victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

The Wildcats last won three games in a row during their nine game unbeaten streak earlier this season. That streak went to four games as the Wildcats ended the first semester on a seven game unbeaten run.
Meghara McManus tallies two points in a game for the fourth time this season and the 11^th time in her career.
With the win, New Hampshire is now 4-4-1 in the second game of a back-to-back weekend series.
The win was just the second time this season the Wildcats have won a game without scoring a power play goal.

PENALTIES
UNH: 2-4 HC: 2-4

POWER PLAYS
UNH: 0-2 HC: 1-2

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS:
Points (2): Meghara McManus
Goals (1): Three players
Assists (1): Four players
Shots (5): Taylor Wenczkowski
Blocked Shots (2): Jenna Rheault
Faceoffs (12): Carlee Turner

HOLY CROSS LEADERS:
Points (1): Allison Attea, Rachel More
Goals (1): Allison Attea
Assists (1): Rachel Moore
Shots (5): Katie MacCuaig
Blocked Shots (3): Victoria Young
Faceoffs (7): Julie Matthias
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