Ida Kuoppala scored her fourth goal of the season with just 1:37 left to play Saturday afternoon, leading the Maine Black Bears women’s hockey team to a 2-1 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats at the Whittemore Center in Durham, NH in Hockey East action.
Maine (3-1, 3-1 Hockey East) trailed for most of the game however, before rallying behind in the third period to sweep the two game weekend series. After a scoreless first, Rae Breton would score her first goal of the season for UNH (1-5, 0-4) at 3:10 of the second to make it 1-0 Wildcats. The score remained the same until Ali Beltz evened the score with her first at 11:46 of the third. The game winner at 18:23 from Kuoppala came on a nice setup. Rachel Enzler took the puck behind the net from right to left, then sent a perfect backhanded pass to Kuoppala who was all alone to the left of the UNH goalie Ava Boutilier on the doorstep to slam it home.
Loryn Porter made 21 saves in net for Maine in the win. Enzler assisted on both Black Bears goals, while Nicole Pateman also added one assist. Boutilier made 17 saves in the loss for UNH, while Chavone Truter and Maddie Truax each had an assist each. Maine was 0-1 on the powerplay, while UNH went 0-3. The Black Bears are scheduled to play Providence next Saturday and Sunday in Orono at home, but that will more than likely be played at Providence College.
