HOCKEY EAST HEADLINES

In the first full weekend of the 2022-23 season, six Hockey East teams found the win column in non-conference play. Merrimack, Vermont, Holy Cross, UConn, Northeastern, Maine all emerged with wins over out of league foes.

Vermont was powered by Corinne McCool’s two goals and three assists as the 14th ranked Catamounts swept RIT with back-to-back 5-2 victories. The graduate student assist on the game-winning strike in Friday’s victory before assisting on the game-tying goal 32 seconds into the middle stanza on Saturday and giving the ‘Cats the lead with a goal 12:40 later.

Northeastern’s offense erupted for a 10-1 win on Saturday after downing LIU, 3-1, the day prior. Rookie Holly Abela netted three goals in the series, including her first career NCAA tally while Alina Mueller recorded her first career hat trick on Saturday.

Merrimack freshman netminder Calli Hogarth earned a 40-save shutout victory in a 2-0 win over Syracuse in her collegiate debut. The freshman netminder turned aside 16 shots in each of the second and third period to preserve the win.

UConn swept Stonehill, 7-1 and 3-2, to improve to 4-0-0 on the year and crack into the national rankings at No. 15. Claire Peterson was a part of a defense that allowed only eight shots on goal in Friday’s 7-1 win. In addition, Peterson scored a power-play goal and assisted on another in the outing.

Maine earned the first win of head coach Molly Engstrom’s tenure, a 6-3 triumph over Saint Anselm.

HOCKEY EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Corinne McCool - Vermont

Corinne McCool (Gr., F; West Roxbury, Mass.) registered two goals and three assists this weekend for five points as the 14th ranked Catamounts swept RIT with back-to-back 5-2 victories. The graduate student assist on the game-winning strike in Friday’s victory before assisting on the game-tying goal 32 seconds into the middle stanza on Saturday and giving the ‘Cats the lead with a goal 12:40 later.

PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIES OF THE WEEK

Holly Abela - Northeastern
Alexia Moreau - Holy Cross

Holly Abela (Fr., F; Brampton, Ont.) netted three goals over two victories over LIU for the Huskies. Abela’s goal in the 3-1 victory marked her first NCAA goal and in the 10-1 win, Abela netted the first multi-point game of her career.

Alexia Moreau (Fr., F; Louiseville, Que.) during Holy Cross’ two-game series split with Union, Moreau scored three goals. In the first game, she scored the first goal of season, her first career goal at Holy Cross. She then scored on the power play in the third period to lead the Crusaders to a 4-3 victory against Union.

HOCKEY EAST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK

Claire Peterson - UConn

Claire Peterson (Sr., D; San Jose, Calif.) was a part of a defense that allowed only eight shots on goal in Friday’s 7-1 win over Stonehill. In addition, Peterson scored a power-play goal and assisted on another in the outing.

HOCKEY EAST GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Calli Hogarth - Merrimack

Calli Hogarth (Fr., G; Barrie, Ont.) earned a 40-save shutout victory in a 2-0 win over Syracuse in her collegiate debut. The freshman netminder turned aside 16 shots in each of the second and third period to preserve the victory.

HOCKEY EAST TOP PERFORMERS

Riley Grimley, UConn (So., F; Eagleville, Pa.) In Friday’s 7-1 victory over Stonehill, Grimley assisted on two goals and finished with a plus-two. She followed up Friday’s performance with two goals on Saturday that helped the Huskies come out with the weekend sweep. The tallies were Grimley’s first and second career goals.

Brooke Campbell, UConn (Fr., F: Essex, Ont.) Had a solid weekend for the Huskies, scoring her first career goal in a 7-1 victory over Stonehill. She finished the weekend with three blocked shots and 18 faceoffs won.

Megan Warrener, UConn (So., G; Stony Creek, Ont.) Improved to 2-0-0 on the season following a 7-1 win over Stonehill on Saturday.

Grace Heiting, Maine (Sr., F; Woodbury, Mass.) Scored two goals in Saturday’s match up against St. Anselm. Her first goal came early in the first period and her second goal was scored only 40 seconds into the second period. Both tallies gave the Black Bears a two-goal lead en route to a 6-3 win.

Ashley Bialas, Maine (Fr., F; Carpentersville, Ill.) Scored her ever collegiate goal in Saturday’s 6-3 win at St. Anselm.

Katie Kaufman, MC (Sr., F; Lake Elmo, Minn.) Had an assist in the Warriors’ first game of the season on Friday and then followed up with a goal and an assist to power Merrimack to a 2-0 win over Syracuse on Saturday. Her game-winning strike came with just eight seconds remaining in the second period.

Ava Boutilier, UNH (Gr., G; Chartlottetown, P.E.I.) Stopped 43 of 45 shots for a .956 save percentage in UNH’s 2-0 loss at No. 7/8 Quinnipiac on Sunday, allowing just one even-strength goal. She stopped over 10 shots in all three periods with a high of 19 in the second stanza. Boutilier’s 43 saves were shy of her personal benchmark of 45 saves that she established Oct. 20, 2019 and matched Nov. 23, 2019.

Alina Mueller, NU (Gr., F; Winterthur, Switzerland) Helped the Huskies to two victories over LIU with three goals and one assist in Northeastern’s opening weekend. Mueller tallied her first career NCAA hat trick in Saturday’s 10-1 victory an added on an assist for a four-point outing. Mueller’s first goal of the day on Saturday was the game-winner and tied her with Kendall Coyne for Northeastern’s career game-winning goal record with 20 in her career. Additionally, Mueller scored short-handed against the Sharks.

Gwyneth Philips, NU (Sr., G; Athens, Ohio) Philips posted two wins over LIU in a 2-0 weekend for the Huskies. Philips made 31 saves over two games and held the Sharks scoreless in 52:34 of action in Saturday’s win.

Sara Levesque, UVM (Sr., D; Chicoutimi, Que.) Had a goal and an assist on Saturday as the Catamounts swept a weekend set with RIT with a 5-2 win.