Middleton Propels ‘Cats Past Friars in Game One

Thursday, February 27

Providence, R.I.

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

17-14-4 (12-12-3HE)

Providence

18-13-4 (15-10-2HE)

New Hampshire

Providence

(Photo by David Silverman)

Photo by: David Silverman

2/27/2020 8:20:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Box Score Highlights

Middleton tallies two goals, UNH gets its first playoff win since 2017.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – University of New Hampshire junior forward Grace Middleton (Midland, Mich.) posted her first career multi-goal game, tallying the game-winning goal in a 4-2 quarterfinal victory over the Providence College Friars on Thursday night in Schneider Arena.

Middleton tallied two straight goals in the second period, one on the power play and one seven minutes later at even strength, to give UNH a 4-0 lead. The Friars answered back with one in the second, one in the third, but the Wildcats held on for their first playoff victory since the 2017 quarterfinal series with Boston University.

UNH also saw goals from Taylor Wenczkowski (Rochester, N.H.) to open up the game and Emily Rickwood (Branftord, Ontario) to open up the second period.

Redshirt-sophomore netminder Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) stopped 23 of PC's 25 shots on net, and tallied a secondary assist in her 12^th win of the season and her first career playoff win. Her record on the season is now 12-9-2, UNH's overall is now at 17-14-4.

UP NEXT: Game two of this quarterfinal series takes place Friday, February 27, at 6 P.M. The game will once again be streamed on CBS CollegeSportsLive.

GAME INFORMATION:
Date: Feb. 27, 2020 – 6 P.M.
Location: Schneider Arena – Providence, R.I.
Attendance: 145
Score: UNH 4 (17-14-4), PC 2 (18-13-4)

Goals:
UNH (4) – Taylor Wenczowski, Emily Rickwood, Grace Middleton (2) (PP) (GW)
PC (2) – Whitney Dove, Meaghan Rickard (PP)

Assists:
UNH (7) – Annie Berry, Talli Warren, Meghara McManus, Tori Howran, Ava Boutilier, Emily Rickwood, Nicole Dunbar
PC (3) – Meaghan Rickard, Lauren DeBlois, Bailey Burton

Goaltenders:
UNH – Ava Boutilier – 7-10-6 – 23 (2 GA) {60:00} (W)
PC – Sandra Abstreiter – 8-2-x – 10 (3 GA) {23:29} (L)
Clare Minnerath – x-4-5 – 9 (1 GA) {33:41}

GAME RECAP

Both sides started out even with good scoring chances in the first, but halfway through the period the game remained a scoreless tie.
New Hampshire struck first, off an offensive-zone faceoff from the near-side dot 12:14 into the first. Freshman Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) won the draw straight back to Taylor Wenczkowski who fired a shot to the stick side of Abstreiter and into the net.
After killing off a penalty to start the second period the Wildcats struck again just 1:04 into the frame. Emily Rickwood skated into the zone and tapped in a shot from the nearside faceoff circle that went through the five-hole for the 2-0 lead.
UNH went up 3-0 on a power play 3:29 into the period; Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) skated the puck all the way up ice from behind her own net to behind the Friars' net. Awaiting right in front of the crease was Grace Middleton who redirected the puck in for her first of the evening.
Middleton would strike again 11:56 into the period on a slapshot by Rickwood that was deflected out in front, giving UNH a 4-0 lead.
The Friars answered back just under 60 seconds later with a slapshot goal of their own by Whitney Dove, cutting the lead to 4-1.
On a power play 6:36 into the period, the Friars tallied their second goal of the game off the stick of Meaghan Rickard. The power play took only 14 seconds off the clock.
New Hampshire's defense held on for the win, with Providence outshooting the Wildcats 7-5 in the final frame and allowing just the power play goal. The Wildcat blueliners blocked eight shots in the final period.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

Ava Boutilier now moves up to fourth all-time in career saves by a Wildcat, with 1,766 saves. She just passed her former teammate Kyra Smith '19, who had 1,759. Now ahead of her is Melissa Bourdon '07 at 2,060.
- With her assist, Boutilier also becomes the first UNH goaltender in at least two decades to tally multiple assists in a season.
Taylor Wenczkowski and Emily Rickwood each tallied their seventh goal of the season in the contest. Grace Middleton tallied her third and fourth.
New Hampshire is 15-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game, and 13-1-3 when scoring at least one power play goal in a game.
UNH is also unbeaten when tallying three or more goals in a game this season (13-0-2).
This was UNH's second Thursday game of the season (1-1-0 record).
The Wildcats' last playoff win prior to Thursday's win came February 24, 2017 at Boston University. The sixth-seeded Wildcats took down BU by a score of 4-2 in game one of their best of three series.

PENALTIES
UNH: 3-6 PC: 3-6

POWER PLAYS
UNH: 1-3 PC: 1-3

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS:
Points (2): Grace Middleton, Emily Rickwood
Goals (2): Grace Middleton
Assists (1): Seven players
Shots (4): Grace Middleton, Taylor Wenczkowski
Blocked Shots (5): Emily Rickwood
Faceoffs (11): Lauren Martin

PROVIDENCE LEADERS:
Points (2): Meaghan Rickard
Goals (1): Meaghan Rickard
Assists (1): Three players
Shots (5): Hayley Lunny
Blocked Shots (2): Avery Fransoo
Faceoffs (12): Neve Van Pelt, Sara Hjalmarsson

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