MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Senior goaltender Nicky Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) stopped 22 of 24 shots, but the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team was defeated 3-0 by 15th-ranked St. Cloud State University in Game 1 of the East/West Showcase at the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena on Friday afternoon.
Harnett made nine saves in both the first and second periods as part of her 22-save effort.
Grad student defenseman Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) became the UNH record holder for career games played at 151. She surpassed the benchmark of 150 established by Maddie Truax '22. Rickwood led all skaters with four blocks.
SCSU goalie Jojo Chobak made half of her 24 saves in the third period. Allie Cornelius scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and Courtney Hall had three assists to lead the offense. Klara Hymlarova scored the other goal.
UNH moves to 7-15-0 while SCSU improves to 12-10-0.
UP NEXT
- New Hampshire concludes the East/West Showcase against host school No. 4 University of Minnesota on Jan. 7 (5:30 p.m. Eastern).
- The Wildcats' next home game is Friday, Jan. 13 vs Maine. Purchase tickets online by CLICKING HERE, calling (603) 862-4000 or visiting the Whittemore Center Ticket Office.
FIRST PERIOD
- SCSU recorded a 10-8 shot advantage in the opening 20 minutes.
- Hymlarova gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:29. She led a rush through the neutral zone, slipped a pass to the left circle and continued down the slot, where she redirected Courtney Hall's shot into the cage.
SECOND PERIOD
- St. Cloud State generated a 10-4 shot advantage in the middle stanza.
- Allie Cornelius extended the advantage to 2-0 at 1:15 of the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
- New Hampshire recorded a 12-5 edge in shots in the final frame.
- UNH went on a power at 5:27. Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario) was denied by Chobak at 5:45 and then the SCSU goalie turned aside Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) at 6:31 and Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) at 6:43.
- In the remaining 40 seconds of the Wildcats' skater advantage, both shot attempts were blocked by a SCSU skater to keep the score 2-0.
- New Hampshire went on its second power play of the period and fourth of the game at 8:35. Shots by Shea Verrier (Reading, Mass.) at 8:50, Marina Alvarez (Center Moriches, N.Y.) at 9:27 and Chavonne Truter (Uxbridge, Ontario) at 10:00 were all stopped by Chobak.
- The 'Cats attempted four other shots during that skater advantage, but one was off target and three others were blocked.
- UNH pulled Harnett in favor of an extra skater at 16:46, but Cornelius scored into the empty next to extend the Huskies' lead to 3-0 at 17:26.
GAME NOTEBOOK
- St. Cloud State finished with a 25-24 shot advantage.
- UNH had the 31-26 edge in the faceoff circle that included a 16-6 edge in the third period.
- Both teams blocked 13 shot attempts.
- SCSU went 1-for-4 on the power play while the Wildcats were 0-for-4.
UNH NOTEBOOK
- Brooks was the top 'Cat in the faceoff circle with a team-high 10 wins and team best winning percentage of 62.5 percent.
- Martin has now played in 147 career games, which is tied for fourth on the program's all-time list. A total of 36 Wildcats have played 140+ career games.
SERIES NOTEBOOK
- UNH has a 3-1-0 lifetime record against SCSU. Prior to Friday, these teams had not faced off since Jan. 18, 2002, when the Wildcats skated to a 7-3 home win.
