Graduate forward Emily Pinto had two goals and an assist for the Wildcats
New Hampshire Scores Final Four Goals To Defeat Holy Cross, 6-3
Graduate forward Emily Pinto had two goals and an assist for the Wildcats

Box Score - Highlights

DURHAM, N.H. - Emily Pinto (Mulmur, Ontario) and Marina Alvarez (Center Moriches, NY) recorded three points apiece to lead the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team to a 6-3 victory against College of the Holy cross in Wednesday night's Hockey East opening round game at the Whittemore Center.

Eighth-seeded UNH advances to play at No. 2 seed University of Vermont in a Feb. 25 quarterfinal game. Start time is 1 p.m.

Pinto matched her career highs of two goals and three points, while Alvarez had a career-high two assists and personal best of three points. Kira Juodikis (Lasalle, Ontario) and Gabby Jones (Westfield, Mass) both finished with two points. Juodikis tallied a goal and assist, and Jones had two assists.

Shea Verrier (Reading, Mass.) and Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario) scored UNH's other goals.

Ava Boutlier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) made 12 saves.

Holy Cross goalie Madison Beck stopped 21 shots. Sofia Smithson led the offense with two goals.

The Wildcats, who scored the last four goals of the game, improve to 12-20-3 and ninth-seeded Holy Cross ends its season at 7-26-1.


FIRST PERIOD

- Verrier gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead at 4:01 with a bar-down shot from the right circle. Jones, with the pass from the right half-boards, was credited with the assist.

- Smithson scored with 3:31 remaining in the first period to tie the score, 1-1.

- UNH outshot Holy Cross, 8-5, in the opening 20 minutes.


SECOND PERIOD

- Juodikis slid the puck into the open right side of the net at 9:00 to give UNH a 2-1 lead. Pinto, with the pass across the crease, and Brianna Legros (New Liskeard, Ontario) set up the go-ahead tally.

- Smithson and Millie Sirum scored back-to-back goals at 10:14 and 11:31, respectively, to give Holy Cross a 3-2 lead.

- With 15.8 seconds left, Juodikis' pass from the right corner to the near post was jammed into the net by Pinto to tie the score, 3-3. Alvarez was credited with the secondary assist.


THIRD PERIOD

- Pinto's rip to the top-right corner of the net during a power play at 8:29 puts UNH up 4-3. Alvarez, who dropped the puck to Pinto in the left circle, and Kyla Bent (Halifax, Nova Scotia) set up the goal.

- Alvarez dangled around a defender in the slot and shot an upper-left corner goal at 13:07 to extend the Wildcats' lead to 5-3. Jones and Annie Berry (Milton, Mass.) were credited with the assists.

- Holy Cross pulled Beck in favor of an extra skater with 2:12 remaining.

- Kelly fired a shot from the defensive blue line into the empty net at 18:43 to give the 'Cats a 6-3 lead. Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) chipped the puck up to Kelly to earn the assist.


GAME NOTEBOOK

- UNH had a 27-15 shot advantage and 30-21 edge in the faceoff circle.

- The Cats went 1-for- 2 on the power play and Holy Cross was 1 of 3.

- New Hampshire was credited with five blocked shots while HC had eight.


UNH NOTEBOOK

- Boutilier extended her program record for career saves to 3,395.

- She is No. 2 in career minutes at 7395:38; Jen Huggon (2000-03) holds the benchmark of 7396:05; that's a difference of 27 seconds.

- Rickwood extended her school record for games played to 164.

- Jones matched her season highs of two assists and two points.

- Juodikis and Pinto lead all 'Cats with seven multiple-point games this season.

- Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario) led all skaters with 14 faceoff wins.

- Juodikis and Rae Breton (Brighton, Ontario) lead the Cats with two blocks apiece.

- UNH went 0-1-2 against 11th-ranked Vermont this season - all in the last two weeks of the regular season; the teams skated to a pair of 3-3 ties and UVM won 3-1 in the regular-season finale.


SERIES NOTEBOOK

- UNH has a 16-1-0 lifetime record against Holy Cross.

- The Wildcats won all four meetings this season and have won eight straight in the series.