March 15, 2010

Pure Hockey Players of the Week Micaela Long and Tara Watchorn

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- The Women's Hockey East Tournament Champion Boston University Terriers traveled to Pennsylvania to face the College Hockey America champion Mercyhurst in the first round of the NCAA quarterfinals. UNH also earned a bid into the NCAA quarterfinals and traveled west to face the No. 2 seeded University of Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.

In their first trip to the big dance in program history, Boston University fell to Mercyhurst by a score of 4-1. Mercyhurst jumped to an early two-goal lead in the first period followed by another unanswered goal in the third period. The Terriers rebounded when sophomore Tara Watchorn (Newcastle, Ont.) found the back of the net with a power-play goal assisted by Jill Cardella (Rochester, N.Y). Watchorn netted the overtime game-winner in the WHEA Championship game over UConn last weekend. Melissa Haber (Toronto, Ont.) stopped 29 shots in her senior finale between the pipes for BU. The lone Terrier goal was not enough and BU fell in to Mercyhurst by a final score of 4-1.

UNH faced off against the second seeded Minnestoa-Duluth at the DECC on Saturday afternoon. UMD scored the first goal of the game, but UNH senior forward Michela Long (South Boston, Mass.) answered the Bulldogs with a goal of her own just three minutes later. Long's goal came off an assist from Katie Brock (Marblehead, Mass.). The goal marked Long's 48th career goal as she finished the season leading the Wildcats in assists this season, with 38. Both teams struggled to get on the board in the second period despite three power-play chances. UMD took advantage of their power-play and scored the game winner at the start of the third period. The Wildcats were edged by a final score of 2-1, but skated strong right to their season's end. Junior netminder Kayley Herman (Weyburn, Sask.) notched 24 stops in her 14th and final start of the season for the Wildcats.

PURE HOCKEY CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK MICAELA LONG - NEW HAMPSHIRE Senior Forward; South Boston, Mass. Long potted the Wildcats lone goal in the NCAA Tournament loss at Minnesota-Duluth (2-1) on Saturday afternoon.

PURE HOCKEY CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK TARA WATCHORN - BOSTON UNIVERSITY Sophomore Defenseman; Newcastle, Ont. Watchorn scored the Terriers' first-ever goal in the NCAA Tournament at Mercyhurst on Saturday.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK MELISSA HABER - BOSTON UNIVERSITY Senior Goaltender; Toronto, Ont. Haber made 29 saves in the Terriers' NCAA Tournament debut at No. 1 Mercyhurst in the 4-1 loss.

Kayley Herman, UNH (Jr., G, Weyburn, Sask.) Registered 24 saves in the 2-1 loss to UMD Saturday in the NCAA tournament.

KELLY PATON, UNH (WOODSTOCK, ONT.) FINISHED HER UNH CAREER WITH 162 POINTS IN 141 GAMES FOR THE WILDCATS

Boston University: The Hockey East champion Terriers made their NCAA Tournament debut on Saturday, falling to No. 1 Mercyhurst, 4-1, in Erie, Pa. ... It was the first postseason game in program history on opponents' ice ...Sophomore Tara Watchorn (Newcastle, Ont.), who scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the Hockey East Championship game, scored the Terriers' lone goal...Senior Melissa Haber (Toronto, Ont.) graduates as the Terriers' career leader with a 2.24 goals-against average and programrecord nine career shutouts...Senior Melissa Anderson (Langley, B.C.) finishes her career as the Terriers' all-time leader in goals (57), assists (75), points (132) and power-play goals (18)...Anderson also set singleseason records for goals (21) and points (39) in her senior campaign ...With a final record of 17-9-12, the Terriers set a program record for fewest losses in a season.

University of New Hampshire: Senior forward and captain Kelly Paton (Woodstock, Ontario) was named a Top 3 Finalist for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award… She is the fourth UNH Wildcat to receive that distinction; the most recent had been Carisa Zaban in 2000… In her first action since Feb. 6, Kayley Herman (Weyburn, Saskatchewan) stopped 24 of 26 shots in the NCAA quarterfinal vs. Minnesota-Duluth… The end of the 2010 season also marked the end of UNH careers for the four seniors -- Paton, Micaela Long (South Boston, Mass.), Kelly Cahill (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and assistant captain Shannon Sisk (Pipersville, Md.)… Paton recorded 62 goals and 100 assists for 162 points to rank fifth in assists, 11th in points and tied for 18th in goals on UNH's career leaderboard… Long tallied 126 career points on 48 goals and 78 assists in 143 games… Cahill had 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 in two years at UNH; she had career totals of 15-22-37… Sisk played in 116 games with totals of five goals and four assists for nine points.