Women's Ice Hockey Held Scoreless in Maine
Links: Box Score
ORONO, Maine – The Merrimack College women's ice hockey team was stymied once again in Maine as the Warriors were edged by the Black Bears, 1-0 on Sunday afternoon, the second game in as many days in which Maine goaltender Meghann Treacy kept Merrimack from finding the net.
The Basics
Score: Maine 1, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (4-24-1, 2-16-1 HEA) | Maine (9-19-2, 5-15-1 HEA)
Location: Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
How It Happened
After allowing three goals in the opening period just the day before in Maine, the Warriors came out of the gate much faster on Sunday, getting off two quality shots on net in the opening 19 seconds. Despite finishing with 11 shots in the first period, including some great looks on an extended power play and a 53-second 5-on-3 to finish the period, the game would head to the first intermission scoreless.
Merrimack managed another 10 shots in the second period, but their scoring opportunities were less abundant. Any momentum the Warriors tried to create in the first half of the period was stymied by three penalties in the second half of the frame, keep Merrimack on the defensive. Freshman goaltender Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saksatchewan) made some outstanding saves on the kills during the second, making 16 stops in all during the period.
Redshirt freshman captain Jackie Pieper (Edina, Minn.), who already has a shorthanded goal on her resume, created a great shorthanded opportunity for herself, taking the puck end to end and trying to sneak a backhand shot past the tender, but was denied. The effort did however create an offensive zone faceoff for the Warriors while on the penalty kill, eating up significant time.
Maine would get the first and last goal of the game 5:44 into the final period after RIdgewell made an initial pad save on a shot, but Victoria Hummel was left untouched to the rebound and put it in to an open net.
The Warriors would continue to get their own opportunities in the final period and looking to tie the game, including a shot from freshman Katelyn Rae (Courtice, Ontario) that would sneak under Treacy but hit the post and nearly miss putting Merrimack on the board. Merrimack also had two power-play chances in the third period and were able to fire off some nice shots, but none able to find their way in.
Inside The Numbers
- Maine outshot Merrimack in the game by a slim margin of 36-31. Both teams were 0-4 on the power play, while the Black Bears were favored in faceoffs, 35-23.
- Ridgewell finished the game with 35 stops, posting a .972 save percentage. She now has a .922 save percentage in Hockey East play, which ranks fifth in the conference.
- The Warriors will look to pick up on their offense in the final weeks of the season, as Merrimack is averaging 1.18 G/GM so far in 2016.
Up Next
The Warriors will play a home-and-home series with Providence next weekend, with the first game being played at Lawler Rink on Saturday. Puck drop for both games is set for 2:00 p.m.
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