PROVIDENCE R.I. — Providence College (2-0, 2-0) hosted the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Wildcats (0-3-1, 0-3-1) Friday, and showed no mercy. Senior goaltender Ava Boutilier made 31 saves including five in the first period, 16 in the second and 10 in the third period. That was not enough to help the Wildcats come away with the victory as they were bested 3-1 by the Friars.
It was a quiet first 20 minutes for both teams; however, the ‘Cats recorded a 7-5 shot advantage and an unsuccessful powerplay.
The game picked up about halfway into the second period when sophomore forward Lindsey Bocha scored a goal to give Providence a 1-0 lead. It was not long after that the Friars were given a power play for cross-checking. UNH junior forward Annie Berry managed to score an unassisted short-handed goal in the 15th minute of the period to tie the game up.
The Friars ran away with the game in the third period. UNH continued to run out of gas once Providence started to take control of the puck.
Providence’s two-goal run started in the sixth minute of the third period and ended in the 17th with back-to-back goals from grad student forward Hayley Lunny. Her second goal was off a late power-play to put the Wildcats away.
On Saturday, the Boston University (BU) Terriers (3-0-1, 2-0-0) travelled back to UNH for their third matchup of the season. This was the closest bought between the two teams as it resulted in a tie. The Wildcats, however, took the extra point after winning the shootout.
UNH had played catchup all game as they only led the Terriers at one point in regulation. That was just the fifth minute of the game when first-year forward Kira Judikis scored her third goal of the season. But that lead did not last long as just over a minute later first-year forward Christina Vote managed to tie the game up.
First-year forward Kylie Roberts scored a goal just over three minutes into the second period in which the Terriers had most of the puck control. Powerplays were the catalyst for BU’s control of the puck. One was a tripping penalty in the fifth minute and the other was an interference penalty in the 13th.
It was in the 17th minute of the period when UNH’s first-year defender Marina Alvarez scored her first career goal to tie the game up at two. This sparked some life into the Wildcat offense as they outshot BU 20-9 by the end of the second period.
The teams exchanged goals in the third period to make the final regulation score 3-3.
The Terriers outshot UNH 9-2 in the overtime period which included their fifth power-play. Junior goaltender Nicky Harnett sent the game to a shootout by making four saves throughout the penalty kill.
Despite all the penalties, junior forward Jada Christian scored the only goal in the shootout to give the ‘Cats the extra point from the game.
UNH returns to action Friday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. against Boston College (3-0, 1-0). The next day the Wildcats make their way back to the Whittemore Center to host the Eagles at 7p.m.
Photo courtesy of Andrew Yourell
