STORRS, Conn. (Nov. 25, 2008) - In a game delayed due to a power outage at Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum, the University of Connecticut women's ice hockey prevailed to a 4-0 victory against Brown on Tuesday night. Jennie Bellonio (Guilford, Conn./Pomfret School) made 17 saves for her first shutout of the season
Nicole Tritter (Toronto, Ont./Toronto Jr. Aeros Inter.) scored on the power play midway through the first period to give UConn the 1-0 edge. Tritter put the puck between the pads of Brown's Nicole Stock after Monique Weber (Rogers, Minn./Elk River) fed the puck to Tritter waiting in front of the net. Jennifer Chaisson (Cumberland, Ont./St. Peter Catholic) also had an assist on Tritter's fourth goal of the season.
Dominique Thibault (L'Orignal, Ont./Montreal Axion NWHL) received the pass from Lauren LeMond (Vista, Calif./Pacific View Charter) and shot the puck above the right pad of Stock to put away her 13th of the season. UConn (7-5-2, 3-4-0) had a two-goal advantage after twenty minutes of play.
Thibault struck again just under four minutes into the second period to put the Huskies up 3-0. This time Jody Sydor (St. Albert, Alta./Sturgeon Composite) and Michelle Binning (Oshawa, Ont./Toronto Jr. Aeros Inter.) had the assists.
UConn capitalized on the power play with Brittany Murphy (Tewksbury, Mass./Lawrence Acad.) scoring at 16:13. Assists by Rebecca Hewett (Oak Bluff, Man./APHA Rangers) and LeMond, it was Murphy’s second goal of the year and first on the power play.
With a 4-0 lead in hand, the Huskies escaped the first of two six-on-four situations in the second period after Murphy and Binning were assessed penalties at 18:18 and 19:30, respectively. UConn effectively shut down the Brown (2-8-1, 2-4-0) power play and allowed the visiting team to get just three shots away.
The score remained 4-0 at the end of three periods despite the Huskies continuing to out shoot the Bears 15-6 in the third period. Brown was once again unable to capitalize on a two-man advantage in the third period. Hewett and Weber were both called into the box at 4:57. The Huskies effectively denied the Bears a goal. Brown was 0-6 on the power play on Tuesday night.
UConn finished the game with 49 shots on goal with Stock finishing the game with 45 saves.
Friday marks the start of the fifth annual Nutmeg Classic with UConn's 4 p.m. game against Wayne State at Freitas Ice Forum. At 7 p.m., Yale and Quinnipiac face off fighting for their spot in the championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. The consolation game will be played at 4 p.m. on Saturday. As always admission is free.
Game Notes
The Huskies are 3-1-2 against ECAC opponents this season.
UConn has out shot its opponent for nine consecutive games.
This is the fourth time this season that UConn has scored two power play goals. The Huskies scored a season-high three against Colgate (Oct. 10).
Dominique Thibault has scored two goals in a single game twice this season, the first happened in the Huskies 4-4 tie with then-No. 7/6 St. Lawrence. She has had six multiple point games this season.