DURHAM, N.H. – The Holy Cross women's hockey team fell to New Hampshire 3-0 Thursday night in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round at the Whittemore Center.
The Crusaders entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, while New Hampshire was the No. 8 seed. This was Holy Cross' first ever playoff game since joining Hockey East.
The Wildcats used their Olympic sized rink to their advantage in the first, as both goals were due in part to the larger sheet. UNH took advantage of a Holy Cross change for its first goal, before Nicole Kelly intercepted a D-to-D pass and went on a breakaway to score the second.
The Crusaders controlled the second period from the opening faceoff, outshooting the Wildcats 16-6 in the frame. Holy Cross peppered the UNH net with shots, and even had a breakaway of its own that looked promising.
Katie MacCuaig found herself one-on-one with the Wildcat netminder, but Ava Boutilier was up to the task.
Mary Edmonds and
Sommer Ross were noticeably active in the frame.
The Wildcats took some of the momentum back in the third, but the Crusaders kept pressing.
Bryn Saarela and
Millie Sirum put shots on goal within the first minute of the period, but Boutilier stood strong. Kelly added her second goal of the night with just under five minutes to go to in the game to wrap things up and end the Crusaders' season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- MacCuaig led the team with six shots on goal for the game. Lilly Feeney had five and Saarela had four.
- Jada Brenon made 29 saves in goal, including a number of impressive ones, as has come to be the norm for the junior. She now has 2,200 saves in her career, just 194 from taking over first place in the program record books.
- The Crusaders won the faceoff battle, 30-25, with Edmonds leading the way going 17-for-26.
- Shots were 32-31 in favor of UNH on the night. After the Wildcats outshot them 14-6 in the opening frame, the Crusaders held the advantage 25-18 the rest of the way.
