WORCESTER, Mass.- The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team will spend the weekend away to face two Hockey East opponents. The Crusaders will first head to Durham, N.H. for a night game at New Hampshire (UNH) on Friday, Dec. 1. Holy Cross will then make its way further north to Orono, Maine to take on the Black Bears on Saturday Dec. 2. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. at Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex and 4 p.m. at Harold Alfond Sports Arena. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (5-8-2, 2-5-2 Hockey East): 

• The Crusaders hosted Assumption on Tuesday Nov. 28 for a non-conference mid-week matchup and took the 5-0 victory. Sophomore goalie Brooke Loranger earned her first career win and shutout with a great 19 save performance on the night.
• Holy Cross got on the board first with a back-handed goal scored by sophomore forward Alexia Moreau at 9:09. She was assisted by senior forward Millie Sirum. With less than two minutes left in the period (18:38), junior forward Madison Michals netted her first goal of the season (second career) assisted by freshman forward Emily Crovo right off the faceoff to conclude the opening period.
• Sophomore defenseman Casey Borgiel got the Crusaders cooking to kick off the second period with a goal at 7:11, her first of the season (third career). She was assisted by sophomore forward Alexis Perry and freshman forward Reghan Chadwick. At 9:51, Sirum went to work taking advantage of a break away situation to net a goal on her own to end the second period with a 4-0 lead.
• A strong third period on the attack for the Crusaders was finally rewarded at 17:48 when Chadwick scored the fifth goal of the night, buying the puck into the top right corner of the net. She was assisted by senior forward Bryn Saarela and senior defenseman Grace Johnson to come out with the 5-0 victory.
• With Sirums goal on the night she furthered her charge as Holy Cross's leading scorer with seven goals on the year. Borgiel has racked up nine assists so far this season, the most of the Crusaders. Sirum and Moreau hold the most points for Holy Cross with 14 apiece. Junior defensemen Emilie Fortunato, Emma Min and Carmen Elliott led the Crusaders defense in blocked shots. Fortunato has the most of the team with 23, followed closely by Min with 21 and Elliott with 20.
• Loranger took home her first win and her first career shutout with a strong performance between the pipes. She made 19 saves keeping the Greyhounds out of the net. She now has a 2.83 goals against average and a .885 save percentage this season.

WATCHING THE WILDCATS (4-8-1, 1-6-1 Hockey East):

• New Hampshire (UNH) concluded the 2022-23 season with a 12-21-3 overall record and 9-15-3 conference record. The Wildcats finished in eighth place in the Hockey East and fell at Vermont 2-1 in overtime in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
• The Wildcats most recently took on Harvard in a non-conference mid-week matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 21. UNH took the 3-0 win at home.
• The Wildcats had a slow start to the competition, netting their first goal at 17:46 in the first period, scored by junior forward Brooke Hammer. She was assisted by senior forward Nicole Kelly for the 1-0 lead going into the second period.
• Once again it took some time to get the offense going but junior forward Kira Juodikis scored the second Wildcat goal at 15:15 to extend UNH's lead to 2-0. She was assisted by Hammer and junior forward Shea Verrier.
• Hammer struck again four minutes into the third period for the 3-0 advantage assisted by Juodikis and graduate defenseman Rae Brenton. UNH took the win in regulation with Hammer contributing to every Wildcat scoring opportunity.
• Juodikis is currently the Wildcats leading scorer with eight goals and has the most points with 15 on the year. Juodikis is tied with Kyla Bent for the most assists on the season with seven each. Brenton is a defensive powerhouse with 41 blocks so far this year, more than 10 to the nearest Wildcat to follow.
• Freshman goalie Sedona Blair made 19 saves in the Havard game and has become UNH's go-to choice in net. She has made a total of 373 saves on the season with a 2.41 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

BACKGROUND ON THE BLACK BEARS (4-8-1, 1-6-1 Hockey East):

• Maine concluded the 2022-23 season with a 15-18-2 overall record and 12-13-2 conference record. The Black Bears finished in sixth place in the Hockey East and fell at No. 14 Providence 5-2 in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
• The Black Bears most recently swept No. 14 Vermont (UVM) in a two-game Hockey East series on Nov. 17 and 18. Maine took the 3-0 win on Friday and a close 3-2 win on Saturday at UVM. The Black Bears are scheduled to face the Catamounts one more time on Friday, Dec. 1 before the Crusaders visit on Saturday.
• In game one, Maine scored mid-way through the first period to get on the board first with a goal by fifth year forward Ida Kuoppala at 11:38. She was assisted by senior defenseman Elise Morphy and sophomore forward Ava Stevenson for the 1-0 lead. The Black Bears picked up two more goals in the second period with freshman defenseman Ashley Kokavec netting a goal three minutes into the period. Junior forward Alyssa Wruble followed suit with a goal five minutes later at 8:31 for the 3-0 advantage. Neither team scored in the third period with Maine coming out with the win. Kokavec was assisted by freshman forward Haley Ryan and fifth year forward Abby Latorella while Wruble was assisted by senior forward Rahel Enzler and junior forward Mira Seregély.
• In game two, the Black Bears had a dominant short-handed goal by Kuoppala at 9:17. She was assisted by Enzler and Ryan. The Catamounts answered back with two quick goals scored three minutes apart to take the 2-1 lead going into the second period. Maine took advantage of the power-play in the second period with a goal at 9:43 by graduate forward Ann-Frederique Guay assisted by Enzler and Wruble to tie the game up 2-2. It wasn't until the third period that the Black Bears reclaimed the lead with Kuoppala netting the game winner at 7:55. She was assisted by Morphy and Guay for the 3-2 victory.
• Wruble is currently the Black Bears leading scorer with 12 goals. Freshman forward Lilli Welcke has 15 assists, the most of any Maine skater. Seregély has the most points with 23 on the year. Junior defenseman Kennedy Little leads the Maine defense with 42 blocks so far this season.
• Freshman goalie Julia Bachetti was in goal for both games on the weekend making 19 saves in game one and 26 saves in game two. The freshman made seven appearances in between the pipes for Maine seeing 416:09 minutes of action. She currently has a 2.60 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross and UNH met last year with the Wildcats last hosting the Crusaders for their final matchup of the season. Holy Cross fell in a 7-4 loss on Feb. 5. The Wildcats are on an all-time eight game win streak.
• The Crusaders and the Black Bears last encounter ended in an exciting 2-1 win in overtime on Feb. 3. Holy Cross currently has an all-time one game win streak over Maine.
• Holy Cross holds a 1-16-0 all-time series and 1-15-0 all-time conference record against UNH.
• The Crusaders own  a 3-10-3 all-time series and conference record against Maine.

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