DURHAM, N.H. - University of New Hampshire freshman center Jada Christian (Caledon East, Ontario) notched her fourth goal of her debut season late in the first period to tie the game, but the UNH women's ice hockey team fell to Providence College by a score of 3-1 on Friday evening.
Providence got a puck to bounce of a UNH skate to go up midway through the first, but Christian's wrist shot put the game level at the first intermission. After a power play goal in the second, the Friars would clinch the victory after a empty-netter late in the third.
Freshman netminder Nikki Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) got her second straight start and stopped 27 of 29 shots, but receives the loss, putting her record at 2-2-1 this season.
The Wildcats and the Friars will face off in the final game of the season series on Saturday, January 18 at 2 P.M. at the Whittemore Center.
GAME INFORMATION:
Date: January 17, 2020 - 6 P.M.
Location: Whittemore Center Arena - Durham, N.H.
Attendance: 351
Score: PC 3 (12-9-2, 9-7-0 Hockey East), UNH 1 (11-10-2, 8-8-1 Hockey East)
Goals:
UNH (1) - Jada Christian
PC (3) - Ciara Barone, Sara Hjalmarsson (PP, GW), Hayley Lunny (EN)
Assists:
UNH (2) - Lauren Martin, Tamara Thiérus
PC (4) - Annelise Rice, Kathleen McHugh, Lauren DeBlois, Avery Fransoo
Goaltenders:
UNH - Nikki Harnett - 6-11-10 - 27 (2 GA) {58:33} (L)
PC - Sandra Abstreiter - 8-10-14 - 32 (1 GA) {60:00} (W)
GAME RECAP
- Providence got on the board early in the first after winning a faceoff in its own defensive zone and skated down ice. The two-on-two rush ended with a shot by Providence's Ciara Barone that was initially saved by Harnett but the puck bounced in off a UNH skate resulting in a 1-0 Providence lead 9:11 into the first period.
- UNH would answer back late in the period after Tamara Thiérus (Saint-Jérôme, Quebec) from the blue line sent a pass towards the glove-side face off dot to Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario); the puck deflected off a scrum and found freshman Jada Christian with a wide open left and she flipped a wrister in to equalize.
- Providence would re-take the lead on a power play 1:28 into the second period after the Wildcats cleared the zone; Providence's Lauren DeBlois took the puck in the neutral zone and crossed it to Sara Hjalmarsson; she took the puck back into the offensive zone and fired a shot that went top shelf to put the Friars back up 2-1.
- The Wildcats pulled Harnett with just under two minutes left in the third. The Wildcats had several hard shot attempts either get blocked down or saved by Abstreiter.
- After one such blocked shot, the Friars fired the puck down ice from their own defensive zone and it trickled into the empty net to seal the victory with under 30 seconds to play.
PENALTIES
UNH: 5-10 PC: 4-8
POWER PLAYS
UNH: 0-3 PC: 1-4
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS:
Points (1): Three players
Goals (1): Jada Christian
Assists (1): Lauren Martin, Tamara Thiérus
Shots (5): Carlee Turner, Nicole Dunbar
Blocked Shots (5): Emily Rickwood
Faceoffs (18): Carlee Turner
PROVIDENCE LEADERS:
Points (1): Seven players
Goals (1): Three players
Assists (1): Four players
Shots (7): Sara Hjalmarsson
Blocked Shots (2): Three players
Faceoffs (9) Three players
