Upcoming Event: Women's Ice Hockey versus Sacred Heart University (Exhibition) on September 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Women's Ice Hockey
vs Sacred Heart University (Exhibition)
3:00 PM
Providence College Athletics
Saturday, February 16
Providence, R.I.
2:00 P.M.
Providence College
vs
Northeastern University
Women's Hockey Clashes with No. 3 Northeastern
2/15/2019 11:49:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
The Friars and Huskies will play a home-and-home series this weekend (Feb. 16 and 17).
Puck Drop
The Friars are set for a home-and-home series with No. 3 Northeastern. Saturday (Feb. 16), which is Senior Day, will be a 2:00 game at Schneider Arena. Sunday (Feb. 17) is at Matthews Arena at 2:00 p.m. Sunday's game will be broadcast on NESN.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are currently 19-9-2 overall and 13-8-2 in Hockey East. Providence picked up three points last weekend with a 2-1 win and a 2-2 tie at Maine. Meaghan Rickard (Coventry, R.I.) and Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) scored in Friday's win. Rickard's goal came on the power play while Putigna's game winner was a short-handed goal. On Satruday, Rickard and Neve Van Pelt (Mitchell, Ontario) were the goal scorers. All four goals in the game came in the second period, including Rickard's late goal to tie the game at 2-2. Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.) made 24 saves in each game for a weekend total of 48.
Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) leads the charge offensively for the Friars with 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists). Christina Putigna is second with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) is close behind with nine goals, 11 assists and 20 points. Cassidy MacPherson (Oakville, Ontario) is in fourth with 18 points on nine goals and nine assists. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is second on the team in assists, as she has 13 this season.
Myers has made 28 starts in net. She holds a .926 save percentage and a 1.79 goals against average. The netminder has made 627 total saves and has four shutouts.
Senior Day
The Friars will honor seven seniors during a pre-game ceremony on Satruday. Student managers Hannah Snyder and Colette Geraghty will be recognized, in addition to players Madison Myers, Kate Friesen, Emily Landry, Cassidy MacPherson and Christina Putigna.
Earlier This Season At Northeastern
The Friars visited Matthews Arena early in the season (Oct. 26) and were shutout, 2-0. Andrea Renner and Alina Mueller scored for the Huskies. Veronika Pettey assisted both goals, which came late in the first and early in the second. Madison Myers made 24 saves for the Friars, while Aerin Frankel made 31 for the Huskies. Providence went 0-for-4 on the power play, registering just three shots during the attempts.
Putigna Hits 100
Christina Putigna registered her 100th career point on Feb. 8 at Maine. The senior forward became the 27th player in program history to reach the threshold. She now has 41 goals and 60 assists in 101 games played.
Protecting Leads
The Friars are an impressive 6-0-1 when leading after the first period and 13-1-1 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 12-2-1 when they light the lamp first.
Killing Off Penalties
Providence ranks fourth in the nation in penalty kill (88.2%). The Friars have killed 82-of-93 penalties this season. In addition, Providence has notched five short-handed goals.
Murphy's Streak
Maureen Murphy is currently on a six-game point streak. She's recorded a point in each of the last six games, inclduing five assists. She's only been held off the score sheet in six of 30 games all season.
The sophomore forward is currently 12th in the nation in points per game (1.33) and tied for eighth in goals per game (0.70). She is also second in the nation in game-winning goals (seven) and tied for second in short-handed goals (three).
The Launch of Lunny
Lunny collected three points during her freshman season and already has 16 this season. The sophomore forward has nine goals and seven assists for the Friars. She ranks tied for third on the team in goals and is fifth on the team in points. She had a career-high three-point performance on Jan. 18 against New Hampshire.
Milestones for Myers
Myers recently moved into second place all-time in games played by a goaltender. The senior has played in 117 total games and is just 10 games away from leader, Genevieve Lacasse '12. Myers is also just five wins away from moving into second in career wins by a goaltender. The netminder already took over second place in all-time saves earlier this season. She currently has 2,785 total saves.
Progressing Toward Playoffs
With under a month left in the regular season, Providence is fourth in Hockey East. The top four seeds will host #5-8 in best-of-three quarterfinal series from March 1-3. The Friars have hosted the quarterfinal round in the last two seasons.
Providence has clinched a playoff spot and can finish anywhere from third to fifth place. The Friars' remaining games are against first-place Northeastern (two games), last-place Holy Cross and third-place Boston University.
Hockey East Championship Weekend at Schneider
The 2019 Hockey East Championship will be held on the campus of Providence College, March 9 and 10. Semifinal games will take place on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. Sunday's finale will be played at 1:35 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at friars.com/tickets or by calling 401-865-4672.
National Rankings This Season
The Friars were ranked in the top-10 nationally for seven-consecutive USCHO and USA Hockey polls, from Nov. 12 - Jan. 14. The best ranking for the Friars so far this season is No. 7 in both polls (Dec. 10/11).
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.
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).
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.
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 Huskies
Northeastern is currently ranked third in the nation and first in Hockey East. The Huskies have officially clinched the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Tournament. The team holds a 21-4-4 overall record and owns a 19-2-2 mark in league play. Northeastern recently competed in the Beanpot, losing to BU in a shootout in the first round and then falling to BC, 4-1, in the consolation game. The Huskies rank fourth in the nation in team winning percentage (.793) and first in penalty kill (90.5%).
Who to Watch
Freshman Alina Mueller leads the Huskies with 42 points on 16 goals and 26 assists. She ranks seventh in the nation in points per game (1.45) and sixth in assists per game (0.90). Senior Kasidy Anderson leads the team in goals (17) and is second in points (30). Veronika Pettey, who has 29 points, is a threat on the power play as she has seven power-play goals.
In net, sophomore Aerin Frankel has played 21 games. She holds a 1.67 goals against average (fifth in the nation) and a .938 save percentage (sixth in the nation). The netminder has a 16-2-2 record and has posted five shutouts.
All-Time Series with the Huskies
Providence leads the all-time series, 64-58-11. The Friars swept the regular-season series last year, winning all three games. Northeastern won the meeting earlier this season, 2-0 (Oct. 26).
- GO FRIARS! -
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/ Women's Ice HockeyWomen's Ice Hockey vs. Northeastern
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