DURHAM, N.H. - Freshmen Raylen Dziengelewski (Southwick, Mass.) and Jenn Wakefield (Pickering, Ontario) recorded four points apiece to lead the top-ranked University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team to Sunday afternoon's 11-1 non-conference victory against Niagara University at the Whittemore Center.
UNH, which defeated the Purple Eagles 6-2 on Saturday, scored on 4 of 6 power-play opportunities and extended its winning streak to four games to improve to 13-2-0. Niagara is now 6-4-2.
Dziengelewski established career highs in both assists and points as she tallied all four of her points on assists. Wakefield finished with two goals and two assists for personal bests in both assists and points. Kelly Paton (Woodstock, Ontario) was one of six other Wildcats to record multiple points as she matched her career high of three points (2g, 1a).
Leah Craig (Seaforth, Ontario) scored two goals; Sam Faber (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) and Sadie Wright-Ward (Durham, N.H.) both tallied a goal and an assist; and Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) and Jennifer Hitchcock (LaSalle, Ontario) both recorded two assists.
Kayley Herman (Weyburn, Saskatchewan) finished with 21 saves and lost the shutout bid with 41 seconds remaining in regulation when Autumn Stuntz scored. Niagara starting goalie Nikki Rudy made 15 saves and left with the Purple Eagles trailing 4-0 at 8:27 of the second period. Jill Zelonis went the rest of the way; she yielded seven goals and stopped 14 shots.
Paton gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 7:59 of the first period when she redirected Dziengelewski's shot from the left point.
UNH took that 1-0 lead and a 15-9 shot advantage into the first intermission and broke the game open early in the middle stanza. Shannon Sisk (Pipersville, Pa.) recorded her first collegiate point when she redirected a shot by Angela Taylor (Paisley, Scotland) into the net at 6:12; Stefanie Marty (Nussbaumen, Switzerland) tallied her first career point with an assist on the play. Faber scored 44 seconds later on a breakaway off a Wakefield outlet pass.
Paton struck again on the power play at 8:27 - this time at the top of the crease off passes from Faber and Martine Garland (Toronto, Ontario). Niagara called time out and changed goalies, but Craig scored 90 seconds later to extend UNH's lead to 5-0; Dziengelewski, with the initial blocked shot, and Hitchcock set up Craig's tally.
Steph Holmes (Rye, N.Y.), with the assistance of Micaela Long (South Boston, Mass.) and Bellamy, scored a power-play goal on a high shot from the slot at 14:10, then Wakefield tallied a goal on a high shot from the slot at 16:04 to extend the advantage to 7-0.
Wakefield opened the third-period scoring at 4:07 when her shot from the slot caromed off the left post into the net and Craig, with the assistance of Wright-Ward and Dziengelewski, scored from the right doorstep at 6:25 to give the 'Cats a 9-0 lead.
Wright-Ward scored at 13:11 and Courtney Birchard (Mississauga, Ontario) netted UNH's 11th goal at 18:44.
The 11 goals marked the most scored by the 'Cats since they won 11-1 at Northeastern University on Feb. 11, 2006. The six second-period tallies are the most UNH scored in a single stanza since March 5, 2005, when the Wildcats netted six third-period goals against Boston College.
New Hampshire returns to action when the Wildcats conclude their eight-game homestand Dec. 1 (2 p.m.) against Boston University. Tickets are available online at www.unhwildcats.com and videostreaming is available online at UNHwildcats.tv.