Senior forward Maddie Truax scored at 18:55 of the third period for the Wildcats
Late Truax Goal Sends New Hampshire Past Merrimack, 2-1
Senior forward Maddie Truax scored at 18:55 of the third period for the Wildcats

Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Senior captain Maddie Truax (Gardner, Mass.) scored a goal with 65 seconds left in regulation to lift the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team to Friday night's 2-1 victory against Merrimack College at Lawler Rink.

Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), another senior captain, made 24 saves in her return to the lineup. Fershman Kira Juodikis (LaSalle, Ontario) netted UNH's first goal.

MC goaltender Emma Gorski finished with 20 saves and Ally Qualley scored the Warriors' goal that gave the home team an early 1-0 lead.

UNH is now 9-14-2 overall and 7-10-1 in Hockey East. MC moves to 5-19-1, 4-15-1.


UP NEXT

- UNH returns to action Jan. 30 (2 p.m.) at the University of Vermont.

- The Wildcats' next home game is Friday, Feb. 4 (6 p.m.) against Boston College. Free admission for everyone to this annual Stick it to Stigma game.


FIRST PERIOD

- Merrimack led 1-0 at the end of 20 minutes despite being outshot 6-5.

- Qualley gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead at 4:59. The home team had a 4-0 shot advantage at that point.

- UNH went on the first power play of the game at 6:29 and Gorski backboned the penalty kill with one save.

- MC began a power play at 11:58 and the Wildcats' penalty kill did not allow a shot on goal.

- The 'Cats returned to the power play at 14:39 and Gorski made two more saves to preserve the one-goal lead.


SECOND PERIOD

- New Hampshire scored the only goal of the second stanza on a 10-6 shot advantage.

- Juodikis, with the assistance of Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario) and Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario), scored 51 seconds into the second period on a shot from the low slot to level the score, 1-1.

- UNH went on another power play at 6:23 and attempted one shot, but Gorski needed to stop just one shot as two shots were blocked and three were off target.

- MC was whistled for a charging penalty at 11:50. The Wildcats' pressured and generated three shots on goal, including Brooks and then Juodikis on the rebound, but the score remained deadlocked at 1-1.

- UNH went to the penalty box for hooking at 14:31. Boutilier denied Emily Oosterveld moments later and did not face another shot on this Warriors' power play.

- The parade to the penalty box continued for Merrimack at 17:29. UNH's power play was shortened, however, when the 'Cats were whistled for tripping at 18:48.


THIRD PERIOD

- MC recorded a 14-6 shot advantage in the final frame but New Hampshire scored the only goal of the period.

- The Warriors carried 48 seconds of power-play time into the third period, and Boutilier turned aside Oosterveld and then Madison Oelkers off the rebound.

- UNH was called for tripping at 1:23, but then the Warriors were sent to the penalty box at 2:28 and 3:17 to give UNH a 5-on-3 power play for one minute followed by a 5-on-4 for another minute, but the Wildcats did not record a shot in that span.

- Oelkers got behind the defense on the left wing and skated across the low slot, but Boutilier challenged and poke checked the puck away to deny a scoring chance at 14:40.

- Marina Alvarez (Center Moriches, N.Y.) advanced the puck out of the defensive zone to Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario), whose outlet pass split a pair of defenders to spring Kelly down the slot for a breakaway. Kelly's wrister from the middle of the slot was blocked aside by Gorski at 17:26.

- Four UNH skaters touched the puck on the game-winning goal sequence. Kyla Bent (Halifax, Nova Scotia) carried the puck behind the net and snapped a pass to the high slot, where Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) stopped the puck for Truax to carry out of the zone.

- Truax advanced the puck to Brooke Hammer (Commerce Township, Mich.), who skated the puck along the left boards. Her centering pass found Truax streaking down the slot and she blasted a shot inside the right post with 65 seconds remaining to give UNH its first lead of the game, 2-1.

- Merrimack pulled Gorski briefly with 36.9 seconds remaining and then again for the final 20.2 seconds.

- Boutilier stopped Kallie Kaufman's shot through traffic from the slot with 12:8 seconds on the clock to preserve the win.


GAME NOTEBOOK

- Merrimack recorded a 25-22 shot advantage.

- The teams were a combined 0-for-13 on the power play; UNH had eight power plays.

- New Hampshire finished with a 32-22 edge in the faceoff circle.

- UNH blocked nine shot attempts; MC was credited with eight blocks.


UNH NOTEBOOK

- Juodikis scored her second goal of the week to increase her team-high total to 12. She also netted a goal Monday at UConn.

- Brooks recorded her team-leading 12th assist of the season. She also led all skaters with 15 faceoff wins.

- Martin also excelled in the faceoff circle by winning 8 of 11 draws (72.7%).

- Juodikis and Brooks are tied for the team lead with 18 points.

- Truax netted her third goal of the season and fifth career.

- This was Boutilier's first game action since Jan. 2 at Dartmouth College.

- Boutilier is No. 2 on the programs career saves leaderboard with 2,826. The benchmark of 2,851 is held by UNH Hall of Famer Jen Huggon.

- Sophomore Chavonne Truter (Uxbridge, Ontario) tied for the game high of three blocks.


SERIES NOTEBOOK

- UNH has a 14-4-2 lifetime record against Merrimack that includes 7-3-1 at Lawler Rink.

- The Wildcats won the season series, 2-1-0. The teams split a home-and-home series back in November.