University of New Hampshire Athletics
Sophomore goaltender Ava Boutilier leads the 'Cats into the Hockey East semifinals Saturday. (Meghan Murphy photo)
Insider Report: On to The Semis
3/6/2020 12:20:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
Boutilier, 'Cats Face UConn, Aim to Keep Rolling
DURHAM, N.H. – Sophomore goalie Ava Boutilier and her University of New Hampshire women's hockey teammates had quite a start to the Hockey East playoffs.
They'll look to keep the magic going when they take on Connecticut in a semifinal matchup in the league tournament Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Lawler Rink on the campus of Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. No. 1 seed Northeastern and No. 7 Maine meet in the first semifinal at noon Saturday.
The semifinal winners play Sunday at 2 p.m. at Merrimack with a title and automatic spot in the NCAA tournament on the line. Tickets for all the games at Merrimack are available at www.merrimackathletics.com or by calling 978-837-5324.
The Wildcats, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, earned their first trip to Hockey East's championship round in a decade with a Boutilier-backed, two-game sweep at No. 3 Providence College last Thursday and Friday.
Junior forward Grace Middleton scored two goals (Boutilier had her second assist of the season on the first, the game-winner) in UNH's 4-2 win Thursday night.
Boutilier took charge Friday. She had 35 saves in the team's 1-0 triumph.
"The only reason we won that game was because of Ava," said UNH coach Hilary Witt. "They completely outplayed us. What I give our players credit for is to find a way to get that one goal. Ava kept us in it and there have been games this year she has done that and we just don't find a way to score."
Enter senior defenseman and captain Tori Howran. Off an assist from sophomore forward Lauren Martin, Howran scored the only goal Boutilier and the Wildcats needed with 7:59 left in the third period.
"Tori Howran was also awesome and she put the team on her back and willed that puck into the net," Witt said. "She really stepped up and led us. Give her and Ava a lot of credit for that. They were great. The team played hard. It wasn't that. We had a hard time putting everything together in that game."
They put enough together, thanks in large part to Boutilier.
"Ava had all kinds of saves," Witt said. "Everything. She was just unbelievable in that game. It was pretty cool."
Not a bad moment for a goalie who once struggled to shut down opponents completely.
"That was definitely a game where I felt really, really good," Boutilier said after practice on Wednesday. "Really comfortable. I always joked growing up that I had a shutout curse. I probably had a total of three shutouts before I came to UNH."
Friday's was her sixth shutout of the season.
It set off a celebration on the ice and the Wildcats were still savoring their series sweep this week – and Boutilier was collecting awards – as they prepared for UConn.
Boutilier was named a third-team Hockey East All Star on Thursday and on Wednesday was named the national goaltender of the month after being named Hockey East goaltender of the month.
The native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island received more impressive news Wednesday: She found out she was accepted into UNH's masters program in biochemistry.
"It was exciting," Boutilier said. "I thought I had a good chance, but there's always that possibility, 'What if I don't get in?' It was definitely a big sigh of relief."
The news is another step in her goal of going to medical school and becoming a doctor and carries major significance for UNH hockey as well. Boutilier missed much of last season due to injury and has two full years of eligibility remaining after this season.
But she's getting her undergraduate degree in biomedical science this spring after three years. Getting into grad school allows her to stay and play at UNH.
She and Witt were all smiles about that as well Wednesday.
Now it's full speed ahead to UConn and the championship round for the outstanding goalie – her .942 save percentage is third-best in Hockey East and her goals against average of 1.75 is fourth-best – and her team.
"Ava's just a great competitor," Witt said. "That's what makes her so special. She loves the pressure. She loves to play. She's not afraid of anything. You just get this confidence when you go into a game with her. Just going to the grocery store would make me confident with her."
Boutilier is leading a group of like-minded Wildcats into the weekend.
"We're still really confident," Boutilier said. "We think that we have the team this year to win it all. We joke around that we're going to be playing so-and-so in the NCAA quarterfinals. We're joking around a bit about it, but at the same time there's some seriousness to it, too. I think we all believe that we have a special group and a team that can go far."
Witt likes the attitude.
"They're loose and having fun and working hard," she said. "I think the best part about playoff time is you work really hard all year long and then you know what to do and now it's just time to enjoy being at the rink every day and seeing your teammates and getting ready to go into a big game together."
The team is not cocky, Witt said. And she doesn't mind a bit of swagger.
"We want them to be confident," the coach said. "If you're not confident, you're probably not going to have a lot of success."
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
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