Women's Ice Hockey Stifled by New Hampshire

Links: Box Score

DURHAM, New Hampshire – The Merrimack women's ice hockey team came up short against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, falling 4-2 on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 2, New Hampshire 4
Records: Merrimack (4-14-2, 1-12-2 HEAW) | New Hampshire (9-7-2, 7-6-1 HEAW)
Location: Whittemore Center | Durham, NH

How It Happened

• In the first period, Merrimack jumped on an opportunity 4-on-4. From a faceoff in New Hampshire's zone after the penalty called on the Wildcats, junior Megan Fergusson won the draw back to Katie Kaufman, who walked in and fired a wrist shot in for her fourth of the season.
• UNH tied the game in the second period, as a play off the boards kicked out to a player in open space in the slot, tying the game at 1-1.
• Merrimack regained the lead, as Courtney Maud pushed a UNH defender off the puck along the boards feeding it to Kate Bukolska, who walked across the blueline and fired a hard shot from the high slot.
• The Wildcats brought the game even late in the second period on the power play with a shot from the high slot.
• New Hampshire would go on to score two more in the third, with the Wildcats going end-to-end, taking their first lead of the night. UNH added its fourth with a goal shoveled in with bodies deep in the crease with eight minutes to play in the period.

Notes & Numbers

• Special teams served as a focal point of the game, as Merrimack's penalty kill went 4-for-4.
• Senior Mikyla Grant-Mentis led the team with six shots on goal, while Bukolska converted a goal on five shots on goal.
• Merrimack outshot New Hampshire in the first period, 10-7, and held close to shot-for-shot in the third with nine attempts.
• Goaltenders: Emma Gorski (26 saves, 1-4-0) // Ava Boutilier (24 saves, 9-6-1)
• Power Plays: 0-3 | 2-7
• Shots on Goal: 10-7 // 7-13 // 9-10– 26-30
• Faceoffs: 27 // 36
• Blocks: 8 // 15

Up Next
Merrimack will take its winter break before the team heads to Belfast, Northern Ireland to represent Hockey East in the Friendship Series against Quinnipiac University on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, 2020.
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