NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- Emma Gorski earned a career-best 51 saves in her first shutout win as the women's ice hockey team turned a 3-0 road victory over the University of Connecticut on Friday night.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack Warriors 3, University of Connecticut Huskies 0
Records: Merrimack (0-7-1, 0-3-1 HEA) | UConn (7-0-0, 3-0-0 HEA)
Location: Freitas Ice Forum | Storrs, Conn.
How It Happened
- Teams went scoreless in an evenly contested first period. Emma Gorski squared up against 13 shots by the Huskies, keeping the hosts off the board.
- Merrimack earned a lead late in the second period on its first power play opportunity of the night. Working with the puck around the perimeter after winning the faceoff, Alexa Pongo at the far side hash marks sent a pass to Julia MacLean, who teed up Katie Kaufman for a pin-point shot top left to give the Warriors a lead.
- The Warriors doubled their lead early in the second period, as Dominika Laskova took the puck away in the neutral zone, breaking into the offensive zone and firing a shot through two defenders from the slot. Laskova broke through the defenders, grabbing her own rebound and sending it back to the middle where a waiting Allison Reeb cashed it in from the paint.
- Katie Kaufman notched her second of the night late in the third to put the game away for the Warriors. Charging forward, the junior snagged on a turnover along the boards at center ice and rushed into the zone, firing off a snap shot from the top of the circle for a 3-0 lead.
- Gorski's stellar play reached its peak in the third period, with the junior turning aside a game-high 22 shots on goal to seal the victory for the Warriors.
Notes & Numbers
- Gorski set a new career high with 51 saves, surpassing her previous high of 47 set against the Northeastern Huskies on Feb. 7, 2020.
- This is the third game a Merrimack player has had a two-goal game this season, joining Dominika Laskova (10/22 vs UConn) and Teghan Inglis (10/15 at BU).
- The last Merrimack goalie to earn a shutout win was Lea-Kristine Demers on Oct. 4, 2019 against RPI.
- Goaltenders: Emma Gorski (51 saves, 1-7-1) | Samantha Carpentier-Yelle (16 saves, 5-1-0)
- Power Plays: MC 1-2 | UConn 0-2
- Shots on Goal: MC 8, UConn 13 | MC 7, UConn 16 | MC 6, UConn 22 | MC 21, UConn 51
- Faceoffs: 20 MC | 29 UConn Blocks: 16 MC | 5 UConn
Up Next
Merrimack returns home to face the University of Maine Black Bears on Saturday, Oct. 30 with puck drop at Lawler set for 4 p.m.
