As the end of the regular season nears, the University of Maine hosted the University of New Hampshire in a key two game women’s Hockey East series at Alfond Arena in Orono on Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats entered the weekend with a three point conference lead over the Black Bears for sixth place. The top six teams get a bye and avoid an opening round contest in the postseason, and by the end of the weekend two wins by Maine pushed them ahead of UNH and into that sixth place spot.
On Friday night- Sophomore forward Lily Fetch scored 1:12 into the third period in lifting Maine to a 2-1 victory in the series opener.
Julia Cabral gave UNH the early lead at 2:22 of the first period, before Mira Seregely evened the score for Maine at 7:41. The game remainded tied until the third period, and the game winner for the Black Bears by Fetch came on assists by Danielle Brunette and Courtney Colarullo.
Elise Morphy added an assist in the win for Maine on the goal by Seregely. Julia Bachetti started her fifth game in the last six in goal since returning from injury and made 19 saves. The Black Bears went 0-3 on the powerplay. Sara Boucher and Lucie Legro had an assist each for UNH, while Sedona Blair made 24 stops in net. The Wildcats went 0-1 on the powerplay.
On Saturday evening- Mikayla Boarder scored a game winning goal late in the second period, and Bachetti came up huge with several Grade A saves in the closing moments of the game as Maine completed the sweep with a 4-3 win.
Maine took the early lead on a breakaway goal by Haley Ryan 2:04 into the first period, but an even strength marker by Brooke Hammer at 5:02 and a powerplay tally by Alyson Hush at 9:39 pushed UNH ahead 2-1. The Black Bears had the answer as Adriana van de Leest scored a powerplay goal at 13:15, and the hosts took the lead into the locker room when Reagan Wurm scored just 43 seconds later at 13:58. The Wildcats found the equalizer by Sadie Makosis on the powerplay at 3:41 of the second. The game winner by Boarder was on her own rebound in the low slot at 17:24 that was assisted by Sam Morrison and Jamie Grinder. UNH would pull their netminder Blair with 2:32 left in the third period, and had many point blank chances right in front of Bachetti who stood tall. The guests even got a powerplay to create a 6 on 4 in the closing seconds, and did find the back of the net but after an official review it was revealed it was well after the final buzzer sounded.
Bachetti made 31 saves in the win for Maine (17 in the third period). Morrison, Grinder, Seregely, Stephanie Jacob, and Lila Shea had one assist each. The Black Bears went 1-2 on the powerplay. Boucher and Shea Verrier led all point scorers in the loss for UNH with two assists a piece. Blair made 35 stops and her team went 2-5 on the powerplay. The Wildcats are now 12-13-1 and 8-11-0 in Hockey East. Maine improves to 8-18-1 and 7-12-1 in league play, now three points in front of UNH for sixth place. The Black Bears, who are now 5-2-1 in their last eight games, will play on the road at Providence and Holy Cross next Friday and Saturday respectively.
