Boutilier Backstops ‘Cats to First Semifinal Appearance in a Decade

Friday, February 28

Providence, R.I.

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

18-14-4 (12-12-3HE)

Providence

18-14-4 (15-10-2HE)

New Hampshire

Providence

Ava Boutilier (Photo by David Silverman)

Photo by: David Silverman

Boutilier Backstops ‘Cats to First Semifinal Appearance in a Decade

2/28/2020 8:35:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

Box Score Highlights

Wildcats defeat Providence 1-0 in game two, winning first ever quarterfinal series.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Redshirt sophomore goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) turned aside all 35 shots attempted by the Providence College Friars as the University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team took down PC in game two of the Hockey East quarterfinal series, 1-0.

The game winner was tallied by senior captain Tori Howran (Bancroft, Ontario) in the final 10 minutes of play, her second career game-winning goal, and it was enough to lift New Hampshire to its first semifinal appearance since 2010.

Boutilier gave UNH its first playoff shutout since the 2008 Hockey East Championship, a 1-0 victory over Providence. Boutilier had her best playoff performance since her rookie season when she turned aside 35 in the quarterfinal round at Northeastern. Her record on the season now stands at 13-9-2. It was Boutilier's sixth shut out of the season.

New Hampshire has not advanced to the semis since the best-of-three format was implemented into the Hockey East quarterfinals in 2015, making this UNH's first ever quarterfinal series win.

UP NEXT: The 'Cats are the first team to advance to the semifinals in North Andover, Mass. New Hampshire's next contest will be at Lawler Rink on Saturday, March 7. After the conclusion of the quarterfinal round, the teams will be re-seeded before facing off in the semifinals, with the matchups being #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3.

GAME INFORMATION:
Date: Feb. 28, 2020 – 6 P.M
Location: Schneider Arena – Providence, R.I.
Attendance: 182
Score: UNH 1 (18-14-4) PC 0 (18-14-4)

Goals:
UNH (1) – Tori Howran
PC (0) –

Assists:
UNH (1) – Lauren Martin
PC (0) –

Goaltenders:
UNH – Ava Boutilier – 13-14-8 – 35 (0 GA) {60:00} (W)
PC – Sandra Abstreiter – 4-5-5 – 14 (1 GA) {57:27} (L)

GAME RECAP

Providence came out pressuring early and led the shot total 13-4 in the first period; New Hampshire blocked eight shots in the opening period to help more pucks from getting on net.
New Hampshire got the first power play of the game 18:03 into the period, but it was cut short due to an interference call just five seconds later.
New Hampshire went to its first full penalty kill 1:17 into the second period. The Friars tallied four shots but they resulted in three UNH saves and a block.
Providence once again kept the pressure up in the second, leading the shot total 14-5.
New Hampshire brought the pressure in the final frame, keeping Providence out of the defensive zone and creating more chances in the Providence offensive zone.
One such chance led to the game-winning goal, 12:01 into the final frame. A shot on net by Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) bounced off of Abstreiter and found Tori Howran crashing the net and it bounced in for the 1-0 lead.
Providence pulled its goaltender with 2:33 to go in regulation. The Wildcats kept the Friars at bay, and with one final series defensive stops in the final ten seconds, the Wildcats clinched their series win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

Tori Howran's first two game-winning goals of her career came this season; she tallied her first game-winning goal at Penn State in a 2-1 victory back in January.
- Howran is now on a three-game point streak, with one goal and four assists for five points in that streak.
New Hampshire notched just its third and fourth ever victories when playing a quarterfinal game on the road.
UNH's last back-to-back playoff wins came in the 2009 playoffs, with a win over Providence in the semis and Boston College in the final.
The last postseason shut out from a UNH goaltender came on March 9, 2008, in the Hockey East Championship game. Kayley Herman '11 stopped all 17 shots on net in the shutout victory over Providence. It was the second of two back to back shutout victories, as the Wildcats advanced to that championship game off an 8-0 defeat of BU.
New Hampshire is currently on its second three-game winning streak of the season.
UNH ties up the all-time postseason series against Providence, 8-8.

PENALTIES
UNH: 2-4 PC: 3-9

POWER PLAYS
UNH: 0-2 PC: 0-2

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS:
Points (1): Tori Howran, Lauren Martin
Goals (1): Tori Howran
Assists (1): Lauren Martin
Shots (3): Tori Howran, Carlee Turner
Blocked Shots (6): Maddie Truax
Faceoffs (8): Annie Berry

PROVIDENCE LEADERS:
Points (0):
Goals (0):
Assists (0):
Shots (10): Hayley Lunny
Blocked Shots (3): Whitney Dove
Faceoffs (11): Sara Hjalmarsson
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