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
Friday, February 8
Orono, Maine
2:00 P.M.
Providence College
at
University of Maine
Women's Hockey Treks to Maine for a Pair
2/6/2019 12:04:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
The Friars will play two games at Alfond Arena on Feb. 8 and 9.
Puck Drop
The Friars travel to Maine for a pair of games on Feb. 8 and 9. Puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday at Alfond Arena.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are currently 18-9-1 overall and 12-8-1 in Hockey East. Providence picked up three points last weekend with a 2-2 tie at Merrimack (Feb. 1) and a 3-1 victory over UConn (Feb. 2). The Friars had a strong first period in North Andover, getting goals from Hayley Lunny (Bedford, N.Y.) and Emily Landry (Orangeville, Ontario) to jump out to a 2-0 lead. The Warriors scored the game-tying goal with just 1:53 left in the third. On Saturday, the Friars were the comeback kids. UConn scored just 18 seconds in, but goals from Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden), Landry and then an empty netter from Mauren Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) sealed a 3-1 win. Eight different Friars had points in the win. Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.) made a total of 50 saves over the weekend and allowed just three goals.
Murphy leads the charge offensively for the Friars with 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists). Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) and Hjalmarsson are tied for second. They've each tallied nine goals, 10 assists and 19 points. Cassidy MacPherson (Oakville, Ontario) is close behind with 18 points on nine goals and nine assists. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is second on the team in assists, as she has 11 this season.
Madison Myers has made 26 starts in net. She holds a .925 save percentage and a 1.82 goals against average. The netminder has made 579 total saves and has four shutouts.
Earlier This Season Vs. Maine
Providence defeated Maine by a score of 3-1 earlier this season at Schneider Arena (Nov. 11). The Black Bears struck first, but the Friars responded with a goal in each period to secure the victory. Neve Van Pelt (Mitchell, Ontario), Kate Friesen (Altona, Manitoba) and Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) were the goal scorers. Putigna and Friesen each added an assist for two-point performances. Carly Jackson made 30 saves for Maine, while Myers made 23 for Providence.
Protecting Leads
The Friars are an impressive 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 11-2-1 when they light the lamp first.
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 second on the team in goals and is fifth on the team in points. She's also entering this weekend on a three-game point streak.
Multi-Point Murphy
Maureen Murphy has recorded at least two points in 12 of 28 games so far for Providence. She's only been held off the score sheet in six of 28 games all season. She's currently 10th in the nation in points per game (1.36) and fourth in goals per game (0.75). She is also tied for first in the nation in game-winning goals (seven) and tied for second in short-handed goals (three).
Where the Friars Rank
Providence ranks 12th in the nation in scoring margin (0.93), sixth in the nation in penalty kill (88.2%) and tied for 10th in team winning percentage (.661).
National Polls
The Friars were ranked in the top-10 nationally for seven-consecutive polls, before being just outside the top-10 for the past three weeks. The team is currently receiving votes in the USA Hockey Poll. The best ranking for the Friars so far this season is No. 7 in both polls (Dec. 10/11).
Milestones for Myers
Myers is just one game away from moving into sole posession of second all-time at Providence is goaltender games played. The senior has played in 115 total games. She's also just six wins away from moving into second in career wins by a goaltender. Myers already took over second place in all-time saves earlier this season. She currently has 2,737 total saves.
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.
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.
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.
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.Â
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).
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 Black Bears
Maine is currently 14-12-3 overall and 7-12-3 in league play. The Black Bears are coming off two losses at New Hampshire last weekend. UNH prevailed 5-2 and 3-2. As a team, Maine averages 2.55 goals per game and give up 1.97. Maine is 12.5% on the power play and 84.3% on the penalty kill. The Black Bears are third in the nation in penalty minutes, averaging 10.4 per game.
Who to Watch
Freshman Celine Tedenby leads the Black Bears in points (24) and assists (14). Junior Tereza Vanisova had 15 goals and six assists for 21 points. She's the team's leading goal scorer and has 21 points. Senior Alyson Matteau is second on the team in assists (12). Anna Zikova is Maine's best power-play threat, as she has three goals on the power play.
In net, Carly Jackson has seen a majority of time. She's played 23 games and holds a 1.93 goals against average. She also has a .926 save percentage and has recorded three shutouts.
All-Time Series with the Black Bears
Providence leads the all-time series, 45-8-11. The Friars are undefeated in the last eight contests agianst Maine, dating back to 2016. Providence is 17-6-7 on the road at Maine.
- GO FRIARS! -
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