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Senior goaltender Nicky Harnett made 22 saves for the Wildcats
Harnett, New Hampshire Shut Out UConn, 3-0
Senior goaltender Nicky Harnett made 22 saves for the Wildcats

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. - Senior goaltender Nicky Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) made 22 saves to backbone the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team to Sunday afternoon's 3-0 victory against 14th-ranked UConn at Toscano Family Ice Forum.

Harnett made 12 of her 22 saves in the third period to shut out the Huskies for the second time this season. Sophomore Kira Juodikis (LaSalle, Ontario), grad student Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) and senior captain Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) scored UNH's goals.

UConn goalie Megan Warrener was credited with 15 saves and charged with two goals against; Berry scored into an empty net with 1:34 remaining.

UNH improved to 10-18-0 overall and 8-13-0 in Hockey East. UConn moves to 16-10-3, 10-9-3.


UP NEXT

- Wildcats will return to action on Friday and Saturday,

- New Hampshire returns to action Thursday, Feb. 2 (6 p.m.) at No. 7 Northeastern University.

- UNH's next home game is Feb. 17 agaist the University of Vermont. Purchase tickets online at unhwildcats.com, by calling the ticket office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting the Whittemore Center Ticket Office.


FIRST PERIOD

- UConn recorded a 3-2 shot advantage in the scoreless first period.


SECOND PERIOD

- UNH controlled the opening faceoff and immediately generated a rush into the offensive zone with Brooke Hammer (Commerce Township, Mich.) slipping a pass ahead to Chavonne Truter (Uxbridge, Ontario) in the right circle. Truter quickly sent the puck to the slot, where an oncoming Tamara Thiérus (Saint- Jérôme, Quebec) ripped a one-timer that was turned aside by Warrener.

- Juodikis gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at 11:18. Along the end boards, she deked as if to go in front to the crease but pulled the puck back and continued behind the net, then beat Warrener to the right post to score a wraparound goal.

- Harnett flashed her glove to snare Camryn Wong's screened backhander from the slot at 17:24.

- In the closing seconds of the middle stanza, Ainsley Svetek's shot ricochet off Harnett high into the air but the UNH goalie lunged upward to catch the loose puck.


THIRD PERIOD

- A flurry of penalties gave New Hampshire a 5-on-3 power play and the Wildcats capitalized to extend the lead to 2-0 at 8:38. Sophomore Marina Alvarez (Center Moriches, N.Y.) initiated the sequence with a pass from the right point through the high slot to grad student Gabby Jones (Westfield, Mass.). Jones snapped a pass back across the slot to the left circle, where Rickwood sent a one-timer into the net.

- UConn pulled Warrener in favor of an extra skater with 2:18 remaining and Harnett immediately made saves against Ava Rinker from the slot and Megan Woodworth off the rebound to preserve the two-goal lead.

- The 'Cats were whistled for icing at 18:18 and called a timeout. UConn controlled the ensuing faceoff but made a pass back to the vacated right point and the puck slid through the neutral zone. Berry raced onto the loose puck along the boards and flipped a backhander from the blue line into the open net to give UNH a 3-0 lead at 18:26.

- The Huskies went on their first power play of the game with 25 seconds remaining and Harnett made one more save to deny Svetek (with seven seconds on the clock) to secure the shutout.


GAME NOTEBOOK

- UConn finished with a 22-18 shot advantage.

- The Wildcats had a 24-23 edge in the faceoff circle and 15-12 edge in blocks.

- UNH went 1-for- 3 on the power play and UConn was 0-for-1.


UNH NOTEBOOK

- Harnett stopped 71 of 72 shots in three games vs. UConn this season for a 0.33 GAA and .986 save percentage against the Huskies.

- Juodikis is now UNH's active leader in career goals with 24.

- Rickwood scored her third goal of the season and 11th career. She also led all skaters with three blocked shots.

- Rickwood extended her school record for games played to 157.

- Grad student forward Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) is No. 2 with 153 career games played.

- Alvarez has recorded a point in three of the last four games with one goal and two assists in that span.

- Junior Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario) led UNH with seven faceoff wins.


SERIES NOTEBOOK

- UNH has a 50-23-5 lifetime record against UConn that includes 25-11-2 on the road.

- New Hampshire won the season series 2-1-0 and outscored the Huskies 7-1.

- The teams split a two-game series at UNH's Whittemore Center back in early December.

- Eleven of the past 12 matchups (dating back to November 2019) have ended with one team being shut out.