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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Sophomore defenseman Luke Reid and the Wildcats play at Merrimack on Friday and take on UConn on Saturday at the Whitt at 7:30.
Photo by: China Wong
Insider Report: Nine to Go
2/3/2022 3:14:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
'Cats at Merrimack on Friday, Face UConn at Home Saturday at 7:30
DURHAM, N.H. – They're down to nine.
The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team has nine regular season games remaining over the next five weekends.
The Wildcats play at Merrimack College on Friday night and then return home to take on Connecticut in the Whittemore Center on Saturday night at 7:30 in their first home game in three weeks.
Saturday's game marks Heroes Night, presented by Eastern Propane and Oil, and there will be a youth cape giveaway.
Individual and group tickets for home games are available at www.unhwildcats.com and by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at 603-862-4000. Under the school's COVID-19 regulations, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks at all indoor athletic events.
The Wildcats are looking to close the gap on both UConn and Merrimack, who are just ahead of them in the Hockey East standings.
"There's a buzz around the team," said sophomore defenseman Luke Reid. "Everyone wants to get to the games. The standings are so close. Every game counts so much."
The Wildcats had last week off.
They split a pair of games against UConn in Hartford in their last games two weeks ago. They won their fifth straight contest with a 3-1 win on Friday night and dropped the rematch, 3-2 in overtime, on Saturday.
UNH sits ninth in the standings, one point behind Boston College. UConn is four points in front of the Wildcats and Merrimack is five. Three points are awarded for a win in regulation time. Teams that finish in the sixth, seventh and eighth spots in the standings will host a first-round game in the first round of the league playoffs.
"You start getting into February and everything is heightened," said UNH coach Mike Souza. "Everything matters a little bit more. The juices get flowing. It's not that you're not excited to play in October and November, but you're a little more ready right now. It's fun, to be honest."
The Wildcats went on a run after losing to Dartmouth on Dec. 30 and put up the five-game win streak.
They struggled to score goals early in the season, but have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in their last six games.
At the same time, grad student goalie Mike Robinson has improved his save percentage to .920 and cut his goals against average to 2.12.
Freshman defenseman Colton Huard has ed the offense and was named Hockey East Defender of the Month for his play in January. Overall, he's had at least one point in each of his last six games with four goals and six assists for 10 points in that span.
For the season, Huard is second on the team in scoring with five goals and nine assists for 14 points. He missed the first six games of the season with an injury. The 14 points make him the fifth-leading scorer in Hockey East among freshmen.
Senior forward Jackson Pierson leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points. Senior forward Filip Engaras is at 5-8-13. Freshman forward Luke Devlin (7-5-12) and senior forward Tyler Ward (3-9-12) are right behind.
Friday, Merrimack and UNH meet for the first time this year. Both teams have overall records of 12-11-1. UConn's overall mark is 12-11-0.
UNH and Merrimack play again Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Whittemore Center.
"They're probably one of the hottest teams in the country," Souza said. "They're firing on all cylinders."
The Warriors, who are coached by former UNH assistant Scott Borek, lost their most recent game, at Connecticut, 3-2, on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
The weekends before that they swept a couple of games each from No. 17 Providence and No. 10 UMass Lowell.
Merrimack presents extra challenges in its home Lawler Rink with an ice surface that is not as large as the Whittemore Center's.
"Things happen fast and they play in your face," Souza said. "We've got to be prepared for that."
Devlin, who's from Needham, Mass., has played in Lawler before.
"It's a lot smaller and we've been working on our small-area game," Devlin said. "We're focusing on sharp quick moves and getting to the net as much as possible and trying to create chances."
THE ROAD AHEAD
· UNH plays Merrimack College in Lawler Rink Friday at 7 p.m.
· The Wildcats face UConn on Saturday at the Whittemore Center at 7:30.
· Saturday's game marks Heroes Night and there will be a youth cape giveaway.
· All UNH games are also available on the Wildcat Sports Radio Network.
· Fans can purchase group and individual game tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).
· Fans must wear masks while inside the Whittemore Center.
· Every Hockey East game will be livestreamed for free on College SportsLive.
· The Wildcats have nine games remaining. All are Hockey East contests.
· UNH plays at Vermont on Friday, Feb. 11.
· The Wildcats play UMass Lowell at home on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.
· They play a pair at Maine on Feb. 18 and 19.
· UNH faces Merrimack at home on Saturday, Feb. 26.
· The Wildcats close out the regular season with a series against UMass Lowell: home on Friday, March 4 and on the road Saturday, March 5.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team has nine regular season games remaining over the next five weekends.
The Wildcats play at Merrimack College on Friday night and then return home to take on Connecticut in the Whittemore Center on Saturday night at 7:30 in their first home game in three weeks.
Saturday's game marks Heroes Night, presented by Eastern Propane and Oil, and there will be a youth cape giveaway.
Individual and group tickets for home games are available at www.unhwildcats.com and by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at 603-862-4000. Under the school's COVID-19 regulations, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks at all indoor athletic events.
The Wildcats are looking to close the gap on both UConn and Merrimack, who are just ahead of them in the Hockey East standings.
"There's a buzz around the team," said sophomore defenseman Luke Reid. "Everyone wants to get to the games. The standings are so close. Every game counts so much."
The Wildcats had last week off.
They split a pair of games against UConn in Hartford in their last games two weeks ago. They won their fifth straight contest with a 3-1 win on Friday night and dropped the rematch, 3-2 in overtime, on Saturday.
UNH sits ninth in the standings, one point behind Boston College. UConn is four points in front of the Wildcats and Merrimack is five. Three points are awarded for a win in regulation time. Teams that finish in the sixth, seventh and eighth spots in the standings will host a first-round game in the first round of the league playoffs.
"You start getting into February and everything is heightened," said UNH coach Mike Souza. "Everything matters a little bit more. The juices get flowing. It's not that you're not excited to play in October and November, but you're a little more ready right now. It's fun, to be honest."
The Wildcats went on a run after losing to Dartmouth on Dec. 30 and put up the five-game win streak.
They struggled to score goals early in the season, but have now outscored their opponents 25-10 in their last six games.
At the same time, grad student goalie Mike Robinson has improved his save percentage to .920 and cut his goals against average to 2.12.
Freshman defenseman Colton Huard has ed the offense and was named Hockey East Defender of the Month for his play in January. Overall, he's had at least one point in each of his last six games with four goals and six assists for 10 points in that span.
For the season, Huard is second on the team in scoring with five goals and nine assists for 14 points. He missed the first six games of the season with an injury. The 14 points make him the fifth-leading scorer in Hockey East among freshmen.
Senior forward Jackson Pierson leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points. Senior forward Filip Engaras is at 5-8-13. Freshman forward Luke Devlin (7-5-12) and senior forward Tyler Ward (3-9-12) are right behind.
Friday, Merrimack and UNH meet for the first time this year. Both teams have overall records of 12-11-1. UConn's overall mark is 12-11-0.
UNH and Merrimack play again Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Whittemore Center.
"They're probably one of the hottest teams in the country," Souza said. "They're firing on all cylinders."
The Warriors, who are coached by former UNH assistant Scott Borek, lost their most recent game, at Connecticut, 3-2, on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
The weekends before that they swept a couple of games each from No. 17 Providence and No. 10 UMass Lowell.
Merrimack presents extra challenges in its home Lawler Rink with an ice surface that is not as large as the Whittemore Center's.
"Things happen fast and they play in your face," Souza said. "We've got to be prepared for that."
Devlin, who's from Needham, Mass., has played in Lawler before.
"It's a lot smaller and we've been working on our small-area game," Devlin said. "We're focusing on sharp quick moves and getting to the net as much as possible and trying to create chances."
THE ROAD AHEAD
· UNH plays Merrimack College in Lawler Rink Friday at 7 p.m.
· The Wildcats face UConn on Saturday at the Whittemore Center at 7:30.
· Saturday's game marks Heroes Night and there will be a youth cape giveaway.
· All UNH games are also available on the Wildcat Sports Radio Network.
· Fans can purchase group and individual game tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).
· Fans must wear masks while inside the Whittemore Center.
· Every Hockey East game will be livestreamed for free on College SportsLive.
· The Wildcats have nine games remaining. All are Hockey East contests.
· UNH plays at Vermont on Friday, Feb. 11.
· The Wildcats play UMass Lowell at home on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.
· They play a pair at Maine on Feb. 18 and 19.
· UNH faces Merrimack at home on Saturday, Feb. 26.
· The Wildcats close out the regular season with a series against UMass Lowell: home on Friday, March 4 and on the road Saturday, March 5.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Players Mentioned
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Tuesday, February 24
Sunday, February 22