UNH Wraps up Regular Season Hosting #7 BC (Saturday, 2 P.M.)

DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team plays its final regular season game of the 2018-19 season, facing the #7 ranked Boston College Eagles for the second time in three weeks.

The final weekend of the Hockey East regular season, results will determine where each team finishes in the final standings and which teams will be facing off in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.

The Wildcats can finish either sixth or seventh in the Hockey East standings, depending on the results of the weekend. They will face either the two or three seed, which at this time could be #7 Boston College or #8 Boston University.

UNH is coming off a tough one-point weekend against Boston University, ranked #7 last weekend, with a 3-3 tie on Saturday at Agganis Arena and a 2-1 loss on Sunday at the Whittemore Center.

The Series: New Hampshire vs. Boston College
     The Wildcats snapped a 14-game winless streak against BC last February in Conte Forum, upsetting the Eagles by a score of 2-1, handing the Eagles just their second Hockey East loss of the 2017-18 season. Earlier this year, the Wildcats hosted the #10 Eagles at the Whittemore Center and tallied two third period goals to secure a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. In their most recent matchup, two weekend ago at Conte Forum, the Eagles controlled the game and defeated the Wildcats 7-1. UNH has a 24-11-2 when facing BC in the Whittemore Center.

Last Time Out:
     The Wildcats got a heroic first career hat trick from junior forward Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.), the third goal tying the game with less than 30 seconds to play, forcing a 3-3 tie with #7 Boston University.
     The Wildcats could not battle back in the Saturday contest, facing a 2-0 deficit entering the third period. A mid-third period goal from Meghara McManus (Milton, Mass.) cut the BU deficit to one goal but the Terriers held the line and prevented the second-straight equalizer.

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 with a weekend sweep.
- After dropping the first game of the Providence series by a score of 4-0, the 'Cats bounced back and snapped their losing streak with a 5-0 victory over the #9-ranked Friars. Riding that performance, the 'Cats swept Holy Cross and Maine in consecutive weekends to secure the team's first five-game win streak since 2010 and move up two spots in the conference standings.
- UNH had its winning streak snapped at #7 BC, and fell to Merrimack the following afternoon at home. The Wildcats fell back down two conference spots to a tie with UConn.
- The Wildcats come into the final three games of the regular season needing a point or some help to clinch a playoff berth. They got both, in a BC win over Maine, which was good enough to clinch a playoff spot, and a tie against BU on Saturday, which would've secured the spot without help.
- New Hampshire will be facing a recent opponent in the first round of the playoffs, with the potential opponents for the quarterfinal round narrowed down to either BU or BC.

Players to Watch
- Junior forward Taylor Wenczkowski now leads the team in points and goals, with 19 goals and 25 points. Wenczkowski has tallied four power play goals, five game-winning goals, and a short-handed goal. Wenczkowski's longest point streak of the year (four games) is tied for the team high; she tallied seven points in those four games. She notted her first career hat trick at #7 BU.
- Fellow junior Meghara McManus is now second on the team in points with 19 after tallying her fifth multi-point game of the season against Maine. She has a team-second-best 11 goals, along with eight assists.
- Senior Devan Taylor (North Billerica, Mass.) is now tied for third on the team in points with 16 after a two-goal, one assist performance against Maine. Taylor has three power play goals on the year, with two game-winners, and nine assists.
- Tied with Taylor is freshman Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario). Martin now leads the team with 13 assists, and leads all UNH freshmen with 16 points. In Hockey East, Martin is tied for the eighth-highest scoring freshman.
- Juniors Carlee Turner (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Nicole Dunbar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and senior captain Marie-Jo Pelletier (Dalhousie, New Brunswick) round out the top scorers at 14 points each. Turner has seven goals and assists each on the year, while Dunbar has six goals, and eight assists, including three power play goals. Pelletier is second on the team with 11 assists, along with three goals on the year.

Mind the Net
     Senior captain Kyra Smith (Littleton, Colo.) has been the go-to starter in net for UNH and has a 12-8-3 record since taking the starting job. Overall this season she has a .929 save% and a 2.08 GAA for a 12-10-3 record. Her save% is good for 15th-best in the nation, fourth-best in the conference.
     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.

Lucky Number 7
     New Hampshire is playing the number 7 team in the nation for the third weekend in a row; on February 8th they faced #7 Boston College in Conte Forum, and fell by a score of 7-1. The following weekend, February 16th and 17th, they faced the new #7, Boston University, taking a 3-3 tie on the road and a 2-1 loss at home. Now the Eagles are back tp #7 in the nation for this Saturday, February 23rd matchup.

Super Juniors
     Redshirt junior Taylor Wenczkowski, and true juniors Meghara McManus, Nicole Dunbar, and Carlee Turner, have tallied a total of 43 of UNH's 72 goals (59% of team total), and 72 of the teams 184 points (39% of team total).

     The entire junior class has tallied 49 goals (65%) and 87 points (47%).

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 on January 5, and her four-point weekend against Maine, Taylor Wenczkowski was named the Hockey East Player of the Week on two occasions this season (January 7th | February 4). The accolades are the first two weekly awards for Wenczkowski in her career.

Smith Stops Them All
     For her 41-save shutout over #9 Providence, along with her 22-save performance in Friday's loss, Kyra Smith was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, January 21. It was Smith's fifth career weekly accolade from the Hockey East conference, and UNH's second of the year. Smith has tallied two shut outs on the season, four in her career.

Down (A Player) But Not Out
     When playing on the penalty kill this season, the Wildcats have stopped 87.6% of opponent's power play attempts, which ranks eighth-best in the nation. The Wildcats have allowed just 13 power play goals this season, on 105 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 (Bancroft, Ontario) 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 #7 BC
-The Eagles (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) have an overall record of 23-10-0, and a 19-7-0 record in Hockey East play.
-BC has a 7-9-0 record when playing away from Conte Forum; their home record is 15-1-0.
-Boston College averages 3.4 goals per contest, letting up an average of 1.9 per game.
-The Eagles are currently on a four-game winning streak, starting with a 7-1 win against the Wildcats of February 8.
-Daryl Watts leads the team with 19 goals. Makenna Newkirk and Megan Keller are tied for team leading assists with 23.
-In net, the Eagles have looked to freshman Maddy McArthur, who is 20-9-0 in 29 starts. She has a 1.78 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

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