BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Senior forward Liam Blackburn (Prince George, British Columbia) scored his first two goals of the season and sophomore Filip Engarås (Stockholm, Sweden) netted the game winner on his first collegiate goal as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated Princeton, 3-2, on Saturday in the third-place game of the fifth annual Friendship Four at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Wildcats improve to 7-6-1, while the Tigers fall to 1-6-3.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will return to the Whittemore Center on Friday, December 6 when they take on Merrimack at 7 p.m. on NESN as the game is presented by Geico. The 2020 UNH Hockey Calendar will be the giveaway. The Wildcat Toy Drive will also be held at the game. 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 UNHWildcats.com.
GAME INFORMATION
Friendship Four
Score: New Hampshire 3, Princeton 2
Records: UNH (7-6-1), Princeton (1-6-3)
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (SSE Arena)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019
Time: 10 a.m. (ET)
Attendance: 4,163
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead at 15:09 of the first period when Blackburn netted his first goal of the season. Junior forward Eric MacAdams (Salem, Mass.) sent a pass from the side of the net to an open Blackburn right in front of the goal as he sent a one-timer to the glove side. Freshman forward Robby Griffin (Burlington, Mass.) also posted an assist on the goal.
- The Tigers tied the contest at 1-1 at 18:12 when Christian O'Neill scored on a rebound.
- UNH outshot Princeton, 15-4, while the Wildcats went 0-2 on the power play and the Tigers went 0-1.
- Princeton moved out to a 2-1 advantage at 4:28 of the second period when Derek Topatigh redirected the puck to the stick side of the net for the power play goal.
- The Wildcats outshot the Tigers by a 10-8 margin, while Princeton went 1-2 on the man-advantage.
- Blackburn tied the game at 2-2 at 8:21 of the third period with his second goal of the contest as he skated with the puck in front of the net and then sent a shot to the lower glove side of the goal. MacAdams and junior defenseman Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) each posted an assist on the goal.
- Engarås gave the Wildcats the lead at 9:28 as junior forward Kohei Sato (Nishitokyo, Japan) sent the puck to the net. Engarås then knocked the loose puck to the back of the net. Junior assistant captain Charlie Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) also tallied an assist.
- The Wildcats were able to keep the Tigers from scoring again for the 3-2 final.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- UNH outshot Princeton, 34-18.
- Junior goalie Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) made 16 saves, while Ryan Ferland recorded 31 for the Tigers.
- Each team went 1-3 on the power play.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The goal by Engarås was the first of his collegiate career.
- This is the fifth time that Blackburn has scored two goals and it is his ninth career multi-point game.
- UNH Hall of Famer Ralph Cox presented Blackburn with the game MVP award.
- MacAdams posted his fourth career multi-point game.
- The assist by Griffin was his first collegiate point.
- UNH is 13-2-0 all-time versus Princeton.
