DURHAM, N.H. - Senior Liam Blackburn (Prince George, British Columbia) and sophomore Angus Crookshank (North Vancouver, British Columbia) each scored two goals as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated the Guelph Gryphons, 4-3, in an exhibition game on Sunday night at the Whittemore Center. Crookshank also recorded an assist to lead the team in points with three.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats begin a five-game road trip to start the season when they travel to Oxford, Ohio for two games at the Steve Cady Arena versus Miami on Friday and Saturday, October 11-12 at 7 p.m.
NEXT HOME GAME:
- The Wildcats return to the Whittemore Center on Friday, November 1 when they take on Boston College at 7 p.m.
- Individual game tickets with affordable options that start as low as $9 and a convenient six-ticket flexible miniplan can now be purchased for the season by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting the men's hockey ticket page.
Score: New Hampshire 4, Guelph 3
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019
Time: 5 p.m.
Attendance: 2,817
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Wildcats got on the board first with a power play goal from Crookshank at the 2:34 mark. Junior Charlie Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) slipped a pass to Crookshank who stopped it with his skate, collected it, and ripped it to the upper-sick side of the net. Freshman Kalle Eriksson (Leksand, Sweden) also posted an assist on the goal.
- Guelph outshot UNH by a 9-8 margin, while the Wildcats went 1-1 on the power play and the Gryphons went 0-2.
- 1:30 into the second period, the Gryphons tied up the game with a goal from Ryan Valentini. He took a wrist shot from the slot that entered the goal in the upper-glove side.
- Crookshank netted his second goal of the game at 11:29 to put the Wildcats ahead, 2-1. Senior Matt Dawson (Delta, British Columbia) passed the puck forward to Crookshank who gave it to sophomore Jackson Pierson (Zionsville, Ind.) in the slot, and it was given back out to Crookshank on the right side for a shot that went into the upper-stick side of the net.
- The Gryphons answered with a goal tipped in by Marc Stevens at 15:42. Braydon Munn sent the puck towards the goal from the blue line where Stevens was positioned to get a touch on it.
- UNH outshot Guelph 12-8 in the second period. The Wildcats went 0-0 on the power play while the Gryphons went 0-1.
- UNH took the lead once again with a power play goal scored by Blackburn. After junior Benton Maass (Elk River, Minn.) put the puck just past the net, freshman Robby Griffin (Burlington, Mass.) drove to knock it into the slot where Blackburn was there to score on the lower-stick side.
- Blackburn increased the Wildcats' lead at 6:48 when he pulled around a defenseman to face the goalie, who dove but Blackburn tucked the puck just past his glove and into the bottom-right of the net.
- Just over a minute later, Guelph made the score 4-3 with a goal from Mikkel Aagaard. Stephen Templeton sent the puck from the defensive zone up to Aagaard who skated across the goal mouth and put it bottom-stick side.
- The rest of the period remained goalless for a final score of 4-3.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNH outshot Guelph by a 37-23 margin.
- Junior Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) made 14 saves and sophomore Ty Taylor (Richmond, British Columbia) posted six for UNH, while Andrew Masters recorded 33 for Guelph.
- The Wildcats went 2-3 on the power play and the Gryphons went 0-4.
