University of New Hampshire Athletics
On Sunday afternoon in Durham, the men's basketball team hosts Vermont and the men's hockey team plays Sacred Heart.
Insider Report: Let's Play Two
1/7/2023 3:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Men's Ice Hockey, UNH Insider
Men's Basketball Hosts Vermont, Men's Hockey Has Sacred Heart on Sunday
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team gets the cross-the-street matinee doubleheader started with a high noon showdown against Vermont, a perennial power in the America East Conference, on Sunday in Lundholm Gymnasium.
Not long after that game ends, the Wildcat men's hockey team, coming off a huge 2-0 win at No. 11 Providence College on Friday night, takes on Sacred Heart University in a 3 p.m. start in the Whittemore Center. That contest will be followed by a post-game skate – fans are strongly encouraged to bring their own skates - with the Wildcats.
Tickets for UNH hockey and basketball may be purchased at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the ticket office at (603) 862-4000.
Both the men's basketball and hockey teams will be out to get their new calendar years off to a fast start with their first home games of 2023.
Men's basketball
Bill Herrion's team comes into the game at 6-8 overall and 1-1 in America East following Thursday night's 68-50 loss at Binghamton.
The Catamounts have won at least a share of the last six regular season league championships and were picked to finish on top again in the preseason poll.
They beat America East newcomer Bryant, picked second in the poll, 74-64, at home on Thursday night.
"Like I just told the team, every year for the preseason poll I've picked them No. 1 for who knows how many years," Herrion said after practice Saturday afternoon. "I look at it as they're at the top until someone beats them. I've said it before, I just have so much respect for their program, so much respect for how they play. The faces change, the names change, the numbers change, but the results stay the same."
John Becker became the winningest coach at Vermont, passing Tom Brennan, with Thursday's win over Vermont. Becker's overall mark is 265-110 with the Catamounts.
"Everyone will look at their 8-8 overall record, but look at their nonconference schedule," Herrion said. "It was a monster. Now they're in league play and they know how to win in this league. They've got winning DNA. That's what sets them apart, they're such an unbelievably confident basketball team."
Sunday's game will give the Wildcats an early look at how they stack up against the best.
"I think it's a real good test for us," Herrion said. "It will be kind of nice to see how we bounce back."
UNH has split its first two league games – winning 67-51 at UAlbany last Saturday and then losing at Binghamton – and Herrion has been happy with the team's defense, but is looking for more consistency on offense.
Tough defense will again be a key against the Catamounts.
"We've got to guard them, we've got to play them real hard," Herrion said. "They're going to play you very hard and you have to match that or play evener harder. They're an elite defensive team and very, very hard to score against. They're so well coached. When you go on scoring droughts, that's where they separate and they're very good when they're in the lead."
UNH's latest victory in the series came on Jan. 22, 2015, a 73-68 win in Lundholm.
Wildcat junior forward Clarence Daniels is the only America East player averaging a double-double, he's second in scoring in the league at 15.4 points a game and leads in rebounding at 10.4 a game.
Junior guards Nick Johnson at 12.8 points and Kyree Brown at 10.2 give the Wildcats three players averaging in double figures and grad student guard Matthew Herasme is close behind at 9.2.
Ridvan Tutic, a 6-foot-10 and 230-pound freshman out of Serbia, is averaging 6.5 rebounds a game.
After Vermont, UNH plays at Maine on Wednesday and then returns to Lundholm to face Bryant next Saturday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m.
Men's hockey
The Wildcats jumped on Providence early in their first Hockey East game in five weeks on Friday night and held on for the win behind a 35-save shutout from senior David Fessenden.
It was Fessenden's first shutout in his season and a half with the Wildcats.
"We haven't had many bus rides home like that this year," said hockey coach Mike Souza on Saturday afternoon. "It was certainly awesome to see the game through like we did. The guys played and competed hard for 60 minutes. It was a lot of fun. . . . I was proud of the way the guys went in there and played. It's not an easy place to play. They're an NCAA tournament team. I think it's a good sign for our team in the second half."
Cy LeClerc, a freshman forward out of Brentwood, N.H., and senior froward and captain Chase Stevenson scored first period goals for UNH. Sophomore forward Liam Devlin and junior forward Nick Cafarelli assisted on the first goal and senior forward Ryan Black and sophomore defenseman Colton Huard had assists on the second.
"I thought we started well," Souza said. "We were physical. We know that in our league they're one of more physical teams and we know we need to be physical as part of our identity if we're going to have success."
Fessenden made 18 of his 35 saves in the third period.
"He's a competitive guy and he competed well last night," Souza said. "I thought we played well and collectively as a group in front of him, but he did make some saves he needed to make when called upon."
The game against Sacred Heart, one of the top teams in Atlantic Hockey, is UNH's final non-conference game of the year. The Pioneers have won their last five games and are 11-7-1 overall and 10-4-1 in league games.
UNH is 5-16-1 overall and 1-11-1 in Hockey East.
After this weekend, the Wildcats have 11 games remaining, seven of them at the Whittemore Center and eight against teams that this week are ranked in the USCHO Top 25.
The schedule features consecutive home series against in February against UConn (Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb.11) and Maine (Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18).
The Huskies are currently ranked No. 9 in the country.
Because of the pandemic and other scheduling issues, the series against Maine will mark the first time UNH's seniors will play the Black Bears in the Whittemore Center with fans allowed to be in attendance.
The Wildcats lost a pair of one-goal games at Union last weekend, 4-3, and 3-2, and Souza was happy that his defense gave up few chances and the team dug out of 3-0 holes each night.
At Providence, the team built on its play at Union, Souza said.
UNH scored three straight power play goals – one by Devlin and two from Huard – to tie the Friday night game at Union.
Devlin scored both UNH goals on Saturday, the first on the power play.
"I thought he weas really skating," Souza said. "He plays with pace and he can really skate. He's a competitive kid. With fewer loops and circles and more straight line stops and starts, he's a way more effective player."
LeClerc had assists on each of the three power play goals on Friday night and shares the team scoring lead with Huard, who had two assists to go with the two goals last weekend.
LeClerc has nine goals and six assists for 15 points and Huard is at 3-12-15 and Devlin at 7-7-14.
The Wildcats were 4-for-7 on the power play against Union and are up to a 20.3 percent success rate with the man advantage, fourth best in the league.
"I think we've got the right people in the right places," Souza said. "We got over 20 percent and hopefully we can build on that."
Not long after that game ends, the Wildcat men's hockey team, coming off a huge 2-0 win at No. 11 Providence College on Friday night, takes on Sacred Heart University in a 3 p.m. start in the Whittemore Center. That contest will be followed by a post-game skate – fans are strongly encouraged to bring their own skates - with the Wildcats.
Tickets for UNH hockey and basketball may be purchased at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the ticket office at (603) 862-4000.
Both the men's basketball and hockey teams will be out to get their new calendar years off to a fast start with their first home games of 2023.
Men's basketball
Bill Herrion's team comes into the game at 6-8 overall and 1-1 in America East following Thursday night's 68-50 loss at Binghamton.
The Catamounts have won at least a share of the last six regular season league championships and were picked to finish on top again in the preseason poll.
They beat America East newcomer Bryant, picked second in the poll, 74-64, at home on Thursday night.
"Like I just told the team, every year for the preseason poll I've picked them No. 1 for who knows how many years," Herrion said after practice Saturday afternoon. "I look at it as they're at the top until someone beats them. I've said it before, I just have so much respect for their program, so much respect for how they play. The faces change, the names change, the numbers change, but the results stay the same."
John Becker became the winningest coach at Vermont, passing Tom Brennan, with Thursday's win over Vermont. Becker's overall mark is 265-110 with the Catamounts.
"Everyone will look at their 8-8 overall record, but look at their nonconference schedule," Herrion said. "It was a monster. Now they're in league play and they know how to win in this league. They've got winning DNA. That's what sets them apart, they're such an unbelievably confident basketball team."
Sunday's game will give the Wildcats an early look at how they stack up against the best.
"I think it's a real good test for us," Herrion said. "It will be kind of nice to see how we bounce back."
UNH has split its first two league games – winning 67-51 at UAlbany last Saturday and then losing at Binghamton – and Herrion has been happy with the team's defense, but is looking for more consistency on offense.
Tough defense will again be a key against the Catamounts.
"We've got to guard them, we've got to play them real hard," Herrion said. "They're going to play you very hard and you have to match that or play evener harder. They're an elite defensive team and very, very hard to score against. They're so well coached. When you go on scoring droughts, that's where they separate and they're very good when they're in the lead."
UNH's latest victory in the series came on Jan. 22, 2015, a 73-68 win in Lundholm.
Wildcat junior forward Clarence Daniels is the only America East player averaging a double-double, he's second in scoring in the league at 15.4 points a game and leads in rebounding at 10.4 a game.
Junior guards Nick Johnson at 12.8 points and Kyree Brown at 10.2 give the Wildcats three players averaging in double figures and grad student guard Matthew Herasme is close behind at 9.2.
Ridvan Tutic, a 6-foot-10 and 230-pound freshman out of Serbia, is averaging 6.5 rebounds a game.
After Vermont, UNH plays at Maine on Wednesday and then returns to Lundholm to face Bryant next Saturday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m.
Men's hockey
The Wildcats jumped on Providence early in their first Hockey East game in five weeks on Friday night and held on for the win behind a 35-save shutout from senior David Fessenden.
It was Fessenden's first shutout in his season and a half with the Wildcats.
"We haven't had many bus rides home like that this year," said hockey coach Mike Souza on Saturday afternoon. "It was certainly awesome to see the game through like we did. The guys played and competed hard for 60 minutes. It was a lot of fun. . . . I was proud of the way the guys went in there and played. It's not an easy place to play. They're an NCAA tournament team. I think it's a good sign for our team in the second half."
Cy LeClerc, a freshman forward out of Brentwood, N.H., and senior froward and captain Chase Stevenson scored first period goals for UNH. Sophomore forward Liam Devlin and junior forward Nick Cafarelli assisted on the first goal and senior forward Ryan Black and sophomore defenseman Colton Huard had assists on the second.
"I thought we started well," Souza said. "We were physical. We know that in our league they're one of more physical teams and we know we need to be physical as part of our identity if we're going to have success."
Fessenden made 18 of his 35 saves in the third period.
"He's a competitive guy and he competed well last night," Souza said. "I thought we played well and collectively as a group in front of him, but he did make some saves he needed to make when called upon."
The game against Sacred Heart, one of the top teams in Atlantic Hockey, is UNH's final non-conference game of the year. The Pioneers have won their last five games and are 11-7-1 overall and 10-4-1 in league games.
UNH is 5-16-1 overall and 1-11-1 in Hockey East.
After this weekend, the Wildcats have 11 games remaining, seven of them at the Whittemore Center and eight against teams that this week are ranked in the USCHO Top 25.
The schedule features consecutive home series against in February against UConn (Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb.11) and Maine (Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18).
The Huskies are currently ranked No. 9 in the country.
Because of the pandemic and other scheduling issues, the series against Maine will mark the first time UNH's seniors will play the Black Bears in the Whittemore Center with fans allowed to be in attendance.
The Wildcats lost a pair of one-goal games at Union last weekend, 4-3, and 3-2, and Souza was happy that his defense gave up few chances and the team dug out of 3-0 holes each night.
At Providence, the team built on its play at Union, Souza said.
UNH scored three straight power play goals – one by Devlin and two from Huard – to tie the Friday night game at Union.
Devlin scored both UNH goals on Saturday, the first on the power play.
"I thought he weas really skating," Souza said. "He plays with pace and he can really skate. He's a competitive kid. With fewer loops and circles and more straight line stops and starts, he's a way more effective player."
LeClerc had assists on each of the three power play goals on Friday night and shares the team scoring lead with Huard, who had two assists to go with the two goals last weekend.
LeClerc has nine goals and six assists for 15 points and Huard is at 3-12-15 and Devlin at 7-7-14.
The Wildcats were 4-for-7 on the power play against Union and are up to a 20.3 percent success rate with the man advantage, fourth best in the league.
"I think we've got the right people in the right places," Souza said. "We got over 20 percent and hopefully we can build on that."
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