Junior forward Nicole Kelly registered two assists for the Wildcats
New Hampshire Earns Weekend Sweep With 4-1 Win Over Holy Cross
Junior forward Nicole Kelly registered two assists for the Wildcats

Box Score - Highlights

DURHAM, N.H. - Junior forward Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario) recorded two assists to lead the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team to Saturday afternoon's 4-1 victory against College of the Holy Cross at the Whittemore Center.

Junior forward Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario), senior forward Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.), junior defenseman Kyla Bent (Halifax, Novia Scotia) and graduate student forward Gabby Jones (Westfield, Mass.) all found the back of the net for the Wildcats.

UNH senior goaltender Nicky Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) stopped a total of 23 shots on net. Holy Cross goaltenders Brook Loranger and Madison Beck both recorded 11 saves; Loranger exited the game when the Crusaders fell behind 4-0 at 2:11 of the second period.

New Hampshire completed the weekend sweep of the Crusaders to improve to 4-7-0 overall and 3-5-0 in Hockey East, while Holy Cross fell to 2-6-2, 1-4-1.


UP NEXT

- UNH returns to action Nov. 4 (6 p.m.) against Northeastern University. Buy tickets online at unhwildcats.com, by calling (603) 862-4000 or visiting the Whittemore Center Ticket Office.


FIRST PERIOD

- The Wildcats took the lead 1-0 at 1:43 of the first period when junior defenseman Charli Kettyle (Perth, Ontario) skated the puck through the neutral zone and slipped a pass to the right point, where Kelly blasted a slap shot on net. Brooks corralled the rebound off Loranger's pads at the left doorstep and scored.

- At 10:36, UNH made it 2-0 on the power play as Berry fired a shot from the left faceoff dot to the back of the net off a pass from the slot by sophomore forward Shea Verrier (Reading, Mass.). Kelly was credited with the secondary assist.


SECOND PERIOD

- The Wildcats carried a 5-on-3 power play into the start of the second stanza and scored 43 seconds into the period to extend the advantage to 3-0. From the right circle, graduate student forward Emily Pinto (Mulmur, Ontario) sent the puck to Bent who then fired a shot from the slot into traffic hitting the top left corner of the net.

- Grad student defenseman Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) initiated that scoring sequence with a pass across the slot to Bent, who then received the return pass from Pinto and scored.

- At 2:11, Jones increased the lead to 4-0 as she skated around a defender in the left circle and stuck a shot from the doorstep in the bottom left corner.


THIRD PERIOD

- Sofia Smithson snapped a screened wrist shot from the left point into the net for a power-play goal at 12:54. Vaia Graves had the assist.


GAME NOTEBOOK

- New Hampshire finished with a 26-24 shot advantage.

- UNH took the 29-19 edge in the faceoff circle.

- The Wildcats recorded 12 shot blocks in comparison to Holy Cross' eight.

- UNH was 2-for-6 on the power play whereas Holy cross was 1 of 2.


UNH NOTEBOOK

- Bent recorded her fourth power-play goal of the season and now leads the team in goals this season with four.

- Kelly tied her career high of two assists; she now has two career multiple-assist games and seven career multiple-point games.

- Brooks and Jones both led the team for faceoff wins with nine apiece.

- Freshman forward Alyson Hush (Toronto, Ontario) was strong in the circle by winning 6 of 7 faceoffs.

- This was the first goal of the season and fifth career for Berry.

- Brooks' goal and Pinto's assist leave them tied for total points this season with eight; both players have tallied a goal and seven assists.

- Graduate student defenseman Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) led all skaters in blocks with three.

- Harnett stopped 36 of 37 shots for a .973 save percentage in the two-game series vs. the Crusaders.


SERIES NOTEBOOK

- UNH has a 14-1-0 lifetime record against Holy Cross and the Wildcats have a six-game win streak in the series.