The University of Maine women’s hockey team continued their season on Friday afternoon after a 3 week layoff. The Black Bears got a game winning goal from Ida Press and 21 saves from Loryn Porter to top the New Hampshire Wildcats 2-1 at the Whittemore Center in Durham, New Hampshire in Hockey East play.
Maine got off to a fast start when Liga Milijone pounced on a rebound and slammed it past UNH goalie Nikki Harnett at 1:09 of the first period for her first goal of the season. The Wildcats though evened things on a powerplay when Jada Christian deflected a point shot behind Porter at 9:34. The Black Bear powerplay went to work early in the second, with Press also getting her first of the season at 4:10 that turned out to be the eventual game winner. The hosts from UNH (1-4, 0-3 Hockey East) had some chances in the third period and with the goalie pulled late, but couldn’t tie it up as Maine held on to improve to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in Hockey East on the season.
Ida Kuoppala, Ally Johnson, Amalie Anderson, and Taylor Leeth each had one assist in the win. Harnett made 31 saves in the loss for the Wildcats. Maine was 1-4 on the powerplay, while UNH was 0-4. The same two teams finish up their two game weekend series Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.