DURHAM, N.H. - Grad student Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) and senior Tamara Thiérus (Saint-Jérôme, Quebec) both recorded a goal and an assist to lead the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team to Friday's 3-1 victory against Boston College on Senior Night at the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex.
With the win, UNH climbed past BC into third place in the Hockey East standings and secured a home quarterfinal game, which will be played Saturday, March 2 (6 p.m.) against an opponent to be determined. Freshman goaltender Sedona Blair (Eden Prairie, Minn.), the reigning Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week in Hockey East, was credited with 28 saves, including 13 in the third period.
Senior Chavonne Truter (Uxbridge, Ontario) scored an empty-net goal with 1:55 remaining in regulation to secure the win.
BC goalie Grace Campbell recorded double-digit saves all three periods to finish with a total of 35. Gaby Roy netted the Eagles' goal.
UNH improves to 16-15-2 overall and 13-11-2 in Hockey East. BC is now 14-12-7, 13-8-5.
UP NEXT
UNH and BC wrap up the weekend series and regular season Feb. 24 (2 p.m.) at Conte Forum. The game will be televised on NESN+ and also broadcast on ESPN+.
FIRST PERIOD
- BC led 1-0 through 20 minutes despite being outshot 11-5 in the opening 20 minutes.
- In the fifth minute, Cambell turned aside a quick succession of shots by Jada Christian (Caledon East, Ontario), Brianna Legros (New Liskeard, Ontario) and Sydney Leonard (Bfrantford, Ontario) to keep the 'Cats off the scoreboard.
- The Eagles struck first at 15:31 when Roy scored on a rising one-timer from the slot. Sammy Taber, with the centering pass from the end boards, and Kiley Erickson were credited with assists.
SECOND PERIOD
- New Hampshire outscored the guests 2-0 with a 12-11 shot advantage in the second stanza.
- With BC on the power play, Blair slid across the crease to deny Roy at 8:28 to keep the deficit at 1-0.
- UNH leveled the score, 1-1, at 10:27 when Thiérus, standing next to Campbell's blocker side, redirected Berry's initial shot from low in the left circle. Kira Juodikis (LaSalle, Ontario), who cycled the puck from the left corner to Berry, earned the secondary assist.
- Berry gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead at 14:05 when she jammed in her own rebound at the top of the crease. Sydney Leonard (St. Bonifacius, Minn.), with the centering pass from the right wing, and Marina Alvarez (Center Moriches, N.Y.) set up the tally.
THIRD PERIOD
- The 'Cats tallied a 15-13 edge in shots in the final frame.
- Blair made a spectacular save seven minutes into the third period when denied Roy, who had slipped past the defense, at the top of the crease.
- UNH was assessed a major penalty at 11:44, but Blair stopped all three shots and her teammates blocked four shot attempts to preserve the 2-1 lead.
- BC pulled Campbell in favor of an extra skater with 2:01 on the clock. Moments later, Charli Kettyle (Perth, Ontario) rimmed the puck around the left corner and Thiérus chipped the puck off the halfboards into the neutral zone. Truter corralled the loose puck and sent a shot from in front of the UNH bench into the empty net to extend the lead to 3-1 at 18:05.
- Campbell returned to the net and then back to the bench with 1:19 remaining. BC was whistled for a roughing penalty with 15 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK
- UNH finished the game with the edge in both shots (38-29) and faceoffs (28-19).
- Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.
- The Wildcats were credited with 14 blocked shots and the Eagles blocked eight shot attempts.
UNH NOTEBOOK
- Blair now has 849 saves on the season, which ranks second all-time on UNH's single-season leaderboard; she supplanted Jen Huggon's mark of 841 in 2001. The single-season record is 886 set by then-freshman Ava Boutilier in 2018.
- Berry matched her career high of two points, which she had previously done four times.
- Juodikis has a three-game point streak with two goals and two assists in that span.
- Both Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario) and Shea Verrier (Reading, Mass.) won 10 of 17 faceoffs.
- In addition to the assist on the empty-netter, Kettyle led all skaters with four blocks.
- Sixteen wins is UNH's highest total since the 2020 team finished with 18.
- The 13 Hockey East wins are the most since the 2010 squad also had 13 league wins.
- UNH honored a total of nine seniors and grad students on Senior Night - Berry, Christian, Kelly, Kettyle, Legros, Thiérus, Mikah Baptiste (Ottawa, Ontario), Kyla Bent (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Rae Breton (Brighton, Ontario).
SERIES NOTEBOOK
- New Hampshire has a 52-32-7 lifetime record against Boston College.
- UNH is unbeaten the past three meetings with a mark of 2-0-1.
- The Wildcats and Eagles skated to a 2-2 tie at the Whitt back on Jan. 13. UNH won the shootout, 1-0, in seven rounds to earn the extra point in the league standings.
