DURHAM, N.H. – Senior forwards Lindsey Caleo (Clinton Township, Mich.) and Shannon Clement (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) both recorded three points to propel the third-ranked University of New Hampshire women’s ice hockey team to Friday night’s 7-0 Hockey East victory against the University of Maine at the Whittemore Center.

UNH, unbeaten in the last 18 games (15-0-3) against Maine, improved to 16-2-3 overall and vaulted into first place in the Hockey East standings with an 8-1-0 league record. Maine lost its fourth consecutive game to fall to 6-11-2, 1-6-2.

UNH senior goaltender Melissa Bourdon (Ile Bizard, Quebec) made seven saves for her sixth shutout of the season to break the school record for career shutouts with her 27th. Bourdon also ascended into a tie atop the program’s leaderboard (with Alicia Roberts; 1997-2000) with her 76th career victory. Although not tested frequently, Bourdon stoned Vanessa Vani at the top of the crease in the opening minutes of the game and also denied Jenna Ouellette from close range in the closing minutes to preserve the shutout.

Caleo matched her career high of three points for the second consecutive game with two goals and an assist. Clement finished with a season-high three points on a personal-best three-assist effort. Leah Craig (Seaforth, Ontario), Nicole Hekle (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Micaela Long (South Boston, Mass.) and Sadie Wright-Ward (Durham, N.H.) each finished with a goal and an assist. Jennifer Hitchcock (LaSalle, Ontario) extended her point-scoring streak to nine games with UNH’s other tally.

The Wildcats controlled play early in the game and generated an 18-3 shot advantage in the first period to build a 1-0 lead. Caleo gained possession in the right circle, maneuvered across the slot and fired a shot into the upper-left corner at 10:09.

UNH continued to dominate puck control in the second period – 16-2 edge in shots – and began to pull away with goals 3:58 part late in the stanza. Long, with the assistance of Sam Faber (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.), gave the ‘Cats a 2-0 lead at 12:32 when she circled out of the right corner to the slot and wristed a close-range shot into the upper-right corner. Hekle, at the top of the crease, converted a centering pass from Steph Holmes (Rye, N.Y.) in the left circle to extend the cushion to 3-0 at 16:30. Long was also credited with an assist on the tally.

The Wildcats didn’t let up in the third period, in which a 25-2 shot advantage produced four more goals. Wright-Ward, with the assistance of Hekle, scored in the slot at 4:12, then a tic-tac-toe passing play of Wright-Ward at the left circle to Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) in the opposite circle to Hitchcock in the slot gave UNH a 5-0 lead at 6:56.

Craig, with the assistance of Clement and Caleo, potted the team’s sixth goal at 10:01 and Caleo capped the scoring with a goal from the right circle at 14:06. Craig, with a crossing pass from the left circle, and Clement were credited with assists on that scoring play.

Maine goalie Genevieve Turgeon recorded double digits in all three periods with 17 in the first, 14 in the second and 21 in the third to finish with 52.

New Hampshire and Maine conclude the season series Saturday afternoon at the Whittemore Center. Game time is 2 p.m.