'Cats Open Season Nov. 20 at Home vs. BC (TV: NESN)

WATCH THE 'CATS ONLINE
Every game of the men's and women's 2020-21 season will be streamed live online for free on one of several ViacomCBS Digital properties. All games will be made available across the U.S. and internationally on SportsLive.
All games televised on NESN and NESN+ and other select matchups will also be made available on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app outside of New England while NESN's authenticated streaming service will provide coverage across the region.

To watch games on SportsLive, visit CollegeSportsLive.com and select Hockey East from the All Partners drop down menu.

'CATS CUTOUTS
You can be at the Whitt for the 2020-21 hockey season! The new 'Cats Cutout option enables fans to virtually place themselves in the seats at the Whittemore Center in cardboard-cutout form for UNH men's and women's hockey games. CLICK HERE for more information.

THE SERIES: UNH vs. BC
    New Hampshire has a 43-24-6 lifetime record against Boston College. The Wildcats won the last two matchups of the 2019-20 season, including 5-2 in the Senior Day regular-season finale (Feb. 22), to claim the season series, 2-1-0. UNH had not won a season series vs. BC since 2009-10 (also 2-1-0); the teams split the 2018-19 series, 1-1-1.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire is led by seventh-year head coach Hilary Witt, who has had the program on an upward trend during her tenure.
   Last year, the team's 18 wins marked the highest total since the 2009-10 season (19), and the team also advanced out of the Hockey East best-of-three quarterfinal series for the first time since the league adopted that format in the 2014-15 season.
   The Wildcats have 16 letterwinners and eight newcomers -- all freshmen -- on this year's roster. The breakdown is: eight returning forwards with five newcomers; five returning defenseman with three newcomers; and three returning goaltenders.
   Last year, the Wildcats averaged 2.24 goals on 29.7 shots per game. In comparison, the opponents scored 2.00 goals per game on 28.9 shots.
   UNH had the special teams advantage last season. The Wildcats' power play had a 15.4% efficiency (26-169) and the penalty kill was successful 89.0% of the time (129-145). Opponents had a .110 power play and .846 penalty kill.

THE CAPTAINS
   Redshirt junior Ava Boutilier is captain of the 2020-21 Wildcats. She ranked No. 6 in the nation in both save percentage (.940) and shutouts (six), as well as No.9 in GAA (1.80), last season, when she was named to the Hockey East All-Star Third Team. The .940 save percentage ranks third on UNH's list of single-season superlatives, and the 717 saves ranks fifth. Boutilier played 27 of 37 games with 26 starts and compiled a 13-10-2 record. In 20 Hockey East league games, she was 9-8-1 with a 1.72 GAA, .942 save percentage and four shutouts. Boutilier received national and league monthly awards for February, when she went 4-2-1 with a 0.99 GAA, .960 save percentage and two shutouts.
   Senior defenseman Maddie Truax is an assistant captain. She skated in all 37 games in the 2019-20 season. She ranked second on the team in blocks with 61 and tied for third in plus/ minus (+5). On offense, Maddie contributed a goal and eight assists for a total of nine points. Her goal was the game-winning tally in a 1-0 overtime win at UConn, and she assisted on two other game-winning goals.
   Junior forward Lauren Martin is also an assistant captain. She skated in all 37 games a year ago, and she recorded 17 points on six goals and 11 assists. She ranked second on the squad in both faceoff wins (311) and total faceoffs (622) for a .500 win percentage. Martin also ranked second in plus/minus (+7) and led all UNH forwards – fifth on the team – with 31 blocked shots. Her other stats included two game-winning goals and two power-play goals.

WHAT WE LOST
UNH lost its top three point producers -- and four of the 20+ point scorers -- to graduation. Three of the top five goal scorers also graduated, as did three of the top five skaters in assists.

TOP RETURNING POINT PRODUCERS
   Sophomore forward Tamara Thiérus tied for fourth on the team and is the top returning Wildcat in points with 20. Junior forward and assistant captain Lauren Martin (17 points) and junior defenseman Emily Rickwood (14) are two of the five other double-digit point producers returning.
   Eight 'Cats netted 5+ goals last season; those returning are sophomore forward Jada Christian (whose nine goals ranked second to Meghara McManus' 17), Rickwood (7), Thiérus (six) and Martin (six).
   On the assist leaderboard, Thiérus tied for second on the squad with 14. Martin (11) and Annie Berry (10) are the other two 'Cats who reached double digits in assists.

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Annie Berry

Ava Boutilier

Jada Christian

Lauren Martin

Meghara McManus

Emily Rickwood

Tamara Thierus

Maddie Truax

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