Completed Event: Women's Ice Hockey at #13/13 University of St. Thomas on October 25, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 5
Women's Ice Hockey
at #13/13 University of St. Thomas
Final
1
-
5
Providence College Athletics
Friday, January 18
Providence, R.I.
6:00 P.M.
Providence College
vs
University of New Hampshire
No. 9 Women's Hockey Welcomes the Wildcats
1/17/2019 11:14:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Games are set for Friday, Jan. 18 and Saturday, Jan. 19.
Puck Drop
The Friars host New Hampshire for a pair of league games this weekend (Jan. 18/19). Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are currently 16-6-0 overall and 10-5-0 in Hockey East. Last weekend, the Friars fell to Boston University in a pair of games. Friday (Jan. 11) was a 5-3 loss at home and Saturday (Jan. 12) was a 4-2 road defeat. Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.), Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) and Hayley Lunny (Bedford, N.Y.) scored in game one, while Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) and Cassidy MacPherson (Oakville, Ontario) were the goal scorers in game two. Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.) made both starts in net, accumulating 44 total saves.
Murphy leads the charge offensively for the Friars with 34 points (20 goals, 14 assists). Putigna is second. She's tallied nine goals, 10 assists and 19 points. MacPherson is third on the team with nine goals and seven assists, while Hjalmarsson has seven goals and eight assists. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is tied with Putigna for second on the team in assists, as she has 10 this season.
Myers has made 20 starts in net. She holds a .929 save percentage and a 1.61 goals against average (ranked sixth in the nation). The netminder has made 419 total saves and has three shutouts.
Special Weekend
Friday's game serves to recognize the second-annual Relive the Rivalry fundraising challenge between the Providence and UNH alumni. The programs competed from Jan. 14-17 to see which alumni base had more donations back to their respective schools. The winning school will be recognized pre-game. On Saturday, the Friars will have their annual Mental Health Awareness game. This year's proceeds will go to the Providence College Counseling Center. A ceremonial puck drop will occur pre-game.
National Polls
The Friars have been ranked in the top-10 nationally for seven-consecutive polls. Providence is currently No. 9 in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls. The best ranking for the Friars so far this season is No. 7 in both polls (Dec. 10/11).
Earlier This Season At UNH
Providence shutout the Wildcats earlier this season, picking up a 1-0 victory in Durham, N.H. (Oct. 28). Murphy scored the game-winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third. Hjalmarsson and Putigna picked up the assists on the play. Myers finished with a season-high 30 saves in her second shutout of the season.
Protecting Leads
The Friars are an impressive 12-1-0 when leading at the end of two periods. Providence has done well to protect leads and also finds success when scoring first. The Friars are 10-2-0 when they light the lamp first.
Multi-Point Murphy
Maureen Murphy has recorded at least two points in 12 of 22 games so far for Providence. She's only been held off the score sheet in four of 22 games all season. She's currently sixth in the nation in points per game (1.55) and second in goals per game (0.91). She is also first in the nation in game-winning goals (seven) and short-handed goals (three).
Where the Friars Rank
Providence ranks eighth in the nation in scoring defense (1.86), 10th in scoring offense (3.18), seventh in the nation in penalty kill (88.9%) and eighth in team winning percentage (.727).
Brick Wall Myers
Myers has been excellent for the Friars in net so far this season. In 20 games played, she's 15-5-0 and has three shutouts. She's in the top ten nationally for goals against average and winning percentage. Myers is seven games away from moving into second all-time in goaltender games played. With 24 saves on Friday against BU, Myers moved into second place in all-time saves at Providence. She currently has 2,577 total saves in her career.
Myers has allowed one goal or less in 12 of 20 games played this season.
Putigna Point Watch
Putinga currently has 99 career points. The senior forward has scored 40 goals and tallied 59 assists during her four seasons. With one more point, Putigna would become the 27th Friar to reach the 100-point mark.
Notching Awards in November
Murphy and Myers were named Player and Goaltender of the Month, respectively, by both Hockey East and the WHCA in November. It was the first national monthly award for either of them.
Murphy finished the month tied for a conference-lead in goals (eight). She registered at least one point in every game of November, scoring goals in five of eight games. Five of her strikes came as game winners, which lead the nation for the month. The sophomore forward added six assists during the month for 14 total points. Murphy had a nine-game point streak from Oct. 28-Nov. 30.
Myers went 8-0-0 and had one shutout during November. She had the best goals against average in Hockey East (1.25) and ranked second in save percentage (.944). She made 167 saves during the month and picked up one shutout. The senior netminder allowed one goal or fewer in six of the eight games during November.
Meet the Staff
Matt Kelly was named the sixth head coach in Providence College women's ice hockey history on June 18, 2018. Most recently, he served as a Head Scout for USA Hockey and the Women's National Team. His primary responsibility was to oversee and maintain the player pools for the U-18 and U-22 squads, in addition to the Women's National Team. He recently captured a gold medal with the Women's National Team at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. Prior to USA Hockey, Kelly served as an assistant women's ice hockey coach at Clarkson University. There, he helped the Golden Knights to the 2014 National Championship. He played at Wayne State and graduated in 2007.
Kelly hired Jake Anderson, Ali Domenico and Doug Ferry to round out his staff. Anderson previously coached at Merrimack, RPI and Holy Cross. He graduated from American International College in 2011, where he was a goaltender. Domenico, a 2009 St. Lawrence graduate, coached at Syracuse prior to arriving at Providence. Ferry remains with the program as the Director of Hockey Operations after serving as a student manager and then the program's graduate assistant for the past two seasons.
Fresh Friar Faces
Providence welcomes four new players to the roster for 2018-19. Annelise Rice (Excelsior, Minn.) joins the program as a sophomore transfer. She played 25 games at North Dakota (2016-17) and registered two points on one goal and one assist. Freshmen Ciara Barone (North Tonawanda, N.Y.), Sara Hjalmarsson (Bakeryd, Sweden) and Caroline Peterson (East Falmouth, Mass.) round out the new additions. Barone attended the Nichols School, while Peterson attended Saint Mark's School. Hjalmarsson went to school and played in Sweden, most notably for the national team in the 2018 Olympic Games in PeyongChang.
Murphy with USA Hockey
During the off-season, Murphy had several chances to compete for USA Hockey. In August, she competed for the USA U-22 Women's Select Team in a three-game series against Canada. She recorded two goals in three games. In September, Murphy was invited to U.S. Women's National Team Evaluation Camp. From Sept. 13-17 she participated in practices and scrimmages with the top players in the country, including 17 players that won gold at the recent Olympics.
Most recently, she was invited to participate in USA Hockey's Winter Training Camp. She was one of 44 players that participated in the camp from Dec. 17 to 21 in Michigan.
Hjalmarsson at Four Nations
Freshman Sara Hjalmarsson missed the Friars' Nov. 9 and Nov. 11 games to represent Sweden at the Four Nations Cup in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Sweden dropped its games against Canada (6-1), Finland (3-2) and the United States (5-1).
Hockey East Preseason Poll
The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Hockey East Preseason poll, which was released on Sept. 20. Providence received 54 points and was picked to finish behind Boston College (81), Northeastern (73) and Maine (59). Rounding out the poll were Boston University (44), UConn (43), New Hampshire (41), Vermont (25), Merrimack (21), and first-year member Holy Cross (9).
Scouting the Wildcats
New Hampshire is 8-11-4 overall and 5-10-1 in Hockey East entering the weekend. The Wildcats were on a nine-game unbeaten streak, including a 3-2 victory over No. 10 Boston College, before falling to UConn twice last weekend. UNH was blanked 2-0 (Jan. 11) and then fell 4-1 (Jan. 12). The Wildcats have played seven overtime games this season and are 1-1-5 in extra time. UNH scores 2.00 goals per game, while giving up 2.22. The Wildcats are tied for second in the nation on the penalty kill (90.3%).
Who to Watch
Junior Taylor Wenczkowski leads the Wildcats in goals (10) and points (14). Freshman Lauren Martin leads the team in assists (nine) and has 11 total points. Seven different players have double-digit point totals for UNH, including four different Wildcats with 11 points. In net, senior Kyra Smith has seen a majority of time. She is 7-6-2 with a .933 save percentage and a 1.93 goals against average.
All-Time Series with the Wildcats
Providence trails the all-time series with a record of 57-84-14. The Friars are an even 29-29-5 at home against UNH.
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/ Women's Ice HockeyWomen's Ice Hockey vs. Northeastern
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