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Women's Ice Hockey Travel to UConn
Feb. 3, 2006 The University of Maine Women's Ice Hockey team faces the UConn Huskies for the second time this season. In their first meeting, Maine won an overtime thriller, 1-0 at the Alfond Arena. Defenseman Kelly Law (Markham, Ontario) scored the game-winner in the first meeting off a pass from Sheri Wauters (Kamloops, BC). Coming into this weekend's two-game away conference series with the Huskies, Maine is 12-5-6 (4-5-4) which is good for fifth place in the Hockey East. UConn is just ahead of the Black Bears in fourth place with a 10-16-1 (8-6-0) record. SCOUTING THE HUSKIES - Boston, Mass. - Juniors Ashley Bielawski and Marie Desrosiers scored second-period goals for the Northeastern women's hockey team, but Connecticut's Nicole Tritter got the game-winner in the second period of a 3-2 UConn victory. Marisa Hourihan turned away 31 of 34 shots in the loss, while freshman Brittany Wilson made 28 saves for Connecticut. It marks the sixth time in the last eight games that NU has been defeated by a single goal. Storrs, Conn. (January 29, 2006) - Freshman Kristen Russell (Dauphin, Manitoba) tallied four points and three other Huskies had three points as the University of Connecticut women's ice hockey defeated Northeastern, 10-1, on Sunday afternoon in the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. Eight different Huskies scored in the UConn victory, which was the largest margin of victory and goals scored against a Hockey East opponent for the Huskies. SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS - Orono, Maine - 27 seconds into the first period, Maine scored their first goal and never looked back. Behind two goals from sophomore forward Brigitte Laflamme (St. Augustin, Quebec) and freshman forward Vanessa Vani (St. Catherine's, Ontario), Maine improved to 12-5-6 and 4-5-4 in Hockey East action with a 7-0 win over the visiting Boston University Terriers. With the loss, the Terriers fall to 10-12-4 on the year and 5-9-2 in conference play. Maine and BU are now tied with 12 conference points apiece. HIGH SCORING - Maine owns the record for most points in a game this season with 27 in a 12-1 non-conference win over Sacred Heart on October 28, 2005. UConn sits second with 25 points in Sunday's 10-1 win over conference opponent Northeastern. The Huskies also garnered 21 points in an 8-0 non-conference win over Niagara on January 8, 2006. CLEAN SHEET - The Maine Black Bears have scored at least one goal in their last 29 games dating back to February 13, 2005 when New Hampshire held them scoreless in a 5-0 win. On the opposite end of the spectrum, UConn has been shut-out seven times this season including a 1-0 overtime loss to the Black Bears at Alfond Arena back on October 22, 2005. Maine has kept a clean sheet four times this season. Freshman netminders Genevieve Turgeon (Lac Beauport, Quebec) and sophomore Rachel Gettings (Watervliet, New York) each have two shut outs on the year. The Huskies have kept the opposition scoreless six times this season. CONFERENCE COMPARISON - In 13 games this season, the Maine Black Bears have scored 36 goals averaging 2.77 goals per game. UConn averages 2.36 goals per game having scored 33 in 14 games. The Huskies defense has allowed just 23 goals in 14 games for a 1.64 goals against average compared the Black Bears who average 2.69 goals against allowing 35 in 13 games. SPECIAL TEAMS - Maine leads the Hockey East in power play goals with 20 in 13 games for a 1.54 average. UConn has netted just eight goals on the power play in 14 games for a 0.57 average. Maine has scored three short-handed goals to the Huskies lone goal while on the penalty kill. The Black Bears have allowed four short-handed goals while on the man-advantage while the Huskies have not given up a short-handed goal this season. UConn has the best penalty kill unit in the conference giving up just three goals on 49 chances (.939) with Maine ranked sixth allowing 12 goals on 68 chances (.824). Maine has racked up 177 penalty minutes to UConn's 104 on the season. The Black Bears will take on the UConn Huskies on Saturday, February 4 at 2:00 pm and again on Sunday, February 5 at 2:00 pm. Both games will be played at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, Connecticut. Complete Release in PDF Format
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