Wildcats Return to Action, Host #10 BC (Saturday, 2 P.M.)

Saturday, January 5

Durham, N.H.

2 PM

University of New Hampshire

Boston College

Buy Tickets

Tori Palumbo (Photo by Helene Bartsch)

1/3/2019 2:43:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

The Wildcats kickoff the second half of the season at home this Saturday

DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team returns to action in 2019 with their first game of the calendar year this Saturday, January 5. The Wildcat host the #10 Boston College Eagles at the Whittemore Center at 2 P.M.

UNH, riding a seven-game unbeaten streak, continues its Hockey East schedule after a two-game stretch against ECAC foes Dartmouth and Harvard. The Wildcats play seven of their eight January games against Hockey East opponents.

For tickets to Saturday's home game, and all UNH home games, visit UNHWildcats.com or call 603-862-4000.

The Series: New Hampshire vs. Boston College
The Wildcats hold the all-time advantage, 47-23-5 when playing BC, with 21 straight wins between 1977 and 2002. The Eagles held a streak of their own in the recent years, winning 13 straight from 2014-2018, with the Wildcats snapping that streak in their most recent meeting, beating the #3-ranked Eagles 2-1 at Conte Forum.

Last Time Out:
   The Wildcats haven't played since December 8, 2018 when they closed out the Fall semester with a 2-2 tie with Harvard. The Wildcats found themselves down early, with Harvard taking a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the Wildcats got two goals from junior Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.), both of which tied the game, to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games. McManus extended her current point streak to four points in three games with her second multi-goal game of the season.

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 seven game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) with wins over conference foes Merrimack, and ECAC foes Dartmouth and Rensselaer.

Players to Watch
- Juniors Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) now lead the team in points with 11. Wenczkowski has a team-high seven goals, while Dunbar has six assists, the second-highest tally on the team. Both had goals in UNH's most previous game at Dartmouth. Wenczkowski holds the longest point streak of the season for UNH, seven points in four games.
- Fellow junior Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is now at 10 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.
- Junior Meghara McManus is now tied for the team lead in goals with seven, throwing in two assists for nine points on the year. McManus has tallied two goals in two games this season, and four games in her career.
- Junior Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) is also at nine points, with two goals and leads the team in assists with seven. Howran has scored one power play goal this season.
- Howran's defensive partner, Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brusnwick) is a +3 on the year, which leads the team, and has eight points with two goals and six assists. One of her goals was the game-winner against RPI.
- Freshman Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) is also at eight points on the year. Martin tallied her first two career goals two games in a row, adding in six assists.
- Senior Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) has seven points on the year. Taylor tallied the first game-winner against Merrimack in the two-game weekend sweep, and has three goals, four assists on the year. Two of her goals came on the power play.

Mind the Net
   Senior captain Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) has been the go-to starter in net in the last nine games for UNH and has a 5-2-2 record in those games. Overall this season she has a .939 save% and a 1.80 GAA for a 5-4-2 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 season. Boutilier holds a 1-5-2 record so far in the 2018-19 season, with a .924 save% and a 2.23 GAA.

Scouting Boston College
-The Eagles (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) have an overall record of 13-7-0, and a 10-5-0 record in Hockey East play.
-BC has a 4-6-0 record when playing away from Conte Forum; their home record is 9-1-0.
-Boston College averages 3 goals per contest, letting up an average of 1.75 per game.
-The Eagles ended their 2018 schedule with a 1-0 loss at Merrimack; the two teams were scoreless through the first period with the game-winner coming 14:39 into the second for the Warriors.
-Daryl Watts leads the team with 11 goals. Makenna Newkirk leads the Eagles in assists with 14 while Megan Keller leads all point-scorers with 22.
-In net, the Eagles have looked to freshman Maddy McArthur, who is 12-6-0 in 18 starts. She has a 1.78 GAA and a .919 save percentage.

-- unh --