Four Consecutive Goals Down Women's Ice Hockey in New Hampshire Saturday, 4-2
Liks: Box Score
DURHAM, N.H. – After taking the first lead of the game in the first period, the Merrimack College women's ice hockey team saw New Hampshire net four unanswered goals across all three periods as the Warriors fell on the road to the Wildcats by a score of 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: New Hampshire 4, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (6-12-2, 2-9-0 HEA) | New Hampshire (7-11-1, 6-6-1 HEA)
Location: Whittemore Center | Durham, N.H.
How It Happened
- The Warriors would get the first chance of the game to take some momentum on the road with a power play opportunity just over seven minutes into the first. The fifth-best power play unit in the nation looked strong on their first man-advantage, firing off five shots in the first minute of the penalty. The Wildcats would take another penalty for a brief 5-on-3, then another 1:40 of 5-on-4 for Merrimack. The Warriors would eventually convert on the extended power play thanks to a shot from close in the slot from sophomore Paige Voight (St. Michael, Minn.) that gave Merrimack the first lead of the game.
- Voight and the Warriors would see her tally answered less than a minute later, as the Wildcats quickly tied the game back up at 1-1 just 35 seconds later after a wrist shot from the top of the zone snuck through traffic in front and found the top right corner of the net.
- Looking like the game would head to the second period tied at one, the Wildcats would get a late rush and fire a hard shot on net that was batted down by a nice save from sophomore goaltender Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saskatchewan). But a quality effort on the rebound from the Wildcats would stretch New Hampshire's lead to 2-1 at the first intermission.
- That late goal would give the Wildcats a was of energy that carried over to the second as New Hampshire would be strongly favored in shots on goal in the period after Merrimack controlled that statistic in the first. Penalties would not help the cause, as the Warriors would fall victim to a power play goal from New Hampshire after an impressive redirect in from of the net on a shot from the point, extending their lead to 3-1 at 7:24 of the second.
- The Warriors would nearly cut the deficit to one goal before the end of the second after a good effort on a rebound chance for redshirt sophomore Jackie Pieper (Edina, Minn.) to the left of the net, but her attempt would sail just wide of the post as Merrimack remained trailing by two headed to the third.
- A few late missed opportunities in the second would hurt the Warriors early in the third as New Hampshire would score its fourth unanswered goal of the game just under five minutes into the third period, stretching its lead to three goals with just 15 minutes left in the game.
- Shots would be hard to come by for both sides in the final frame, as the teams combined for just seven shots in the third period. The Warriors would net a goal on one of those space shots, as a nice effort from sophomore Allison Sexton (Stonewall, Manitoba) to cut inside on a defender and fire a quick snapshot on goal would beat the tender and cut Merrimack deficit to 4-2 with 2:58 to go in the game. The Warriors would pull Ridgewell from the net in a late effort to score two goals, but the attempt would be to no avail as Merrimack fell by two.
Inside The Numbers
- Voight's registered her 10th goal of the season on Saturday, marking for her second straight season of double-digit goal totals. In 20 games, she sits just one goal shy of her career-high of 11 goals she set as a rookie in 34 contests last season.
- With her goal on Saturday, Sexton sets her new career high with two goals this season. After netting just one goal and one assist in 29 games as a freshman, Sexton has posted a stat line of 2g-8a-10p in 20 games of her sophomore campaign
- Goaltenders: L – Ridgewell (1-4-2, 25 saves) | L – Cashin (6-4-1, 16 saves)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (1-4) | UNH (1-4)
- SOG: MC – 18 | UNH – 29
Up Next
The Warriors will travel to Providence on Friday to take on the Friars in their final game of 2016 before breaking for the holidays.
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