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, March 9
Providence, RI
1:30 p.m.
Providence College
vs
Northeastern University
Women's Hockey Ready For Hockey East Semifinal Date With Northeastern
3/8/2019 12:04:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
The Friars and Huskies are set to play at 1:35 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Puck Drop
The fourth-seeded Friars are set to host the first-seeded Huskies in a Hockey East Semifinal match-up on Saturday, March 9 at 1:35 p.m. The Friars' game will be streamed live through FloHockey and will be televised as a tape delay on NESNPlus at 7:00 p.m. The second semifinal will air live on NESNPlus and will be availble on FloHockey for fans outside of the New England area.
Hockey East Championship Weekend at Schneider
The entire 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.
Scouting the Friars
Providence concluded the regular season at 22-10-2 and with a 16-9-2 mark in league play, finishing fourth. The Friars swept Merrimack in last weekend's quarterfinal series to advance to the semifinal for the first time since 2013. On Friday, Providence posted a 2-0 victory. Meaghan Rickard (Coventry, R.I.) scored the game winner, which was assisted by Chloe Gonsalves (Toronto, Onartio) and Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.). Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) capped the win with a late empty-net goal. Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.) made 17 saves in her sixth shutout of the season. On Saturday, the Friars skated to a 2-1 win behind goals from Neve Van Pelt (Mitchell, Ontario) and Murphy. Four different Friars tallied assists in the win, while Myers stopped 23 shots in goal.
Maureen Murphy leads the charge offensively for the Friars with 43 points (22 goals, 21 assists). Christina Putigna is second with 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points. Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) is third with 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points. Meaghan Rickard is close behind with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists. Avery Fransoo is second on the team in assists, as she has 15 this season.
Myers has made 34 starts in net. She holds a .931 save percentage (13th in the nation) and a 1.68 goals against average (fifth in the nation). The netminder has made 765 total saves and has six shutouts.
Regular Season Vs. Northeastern
The Friars went 1-2-0 against Northeastern during the regular season. The teams split a series (Feb. 16/17) with Northeastern taking a 3-1 victory at Schneider and the Friars rallying for a 5-2 win at Matthews Arena. Hjalmarsson notched the first two goals in the win, with Van Pelt, Putigna and Rickard adding tallies. Rickard scored the lone goal in Friday's loss. NU's Skylar Fontaine posted four points, including three goals in that weekend series with the Friars. Back in October, the Huskies shut the Friars out, taking a 2-0 victory on their home ice. Myers has made 69 saves in the three meetings with NU, allowing seven goals. Aerin Frankel made 83, including two 31-save showings for the Huskies.
Historically Speaking
Providence tied the program record for wins in a season, 24, with two victories last weekend. The Friars went 24-6-6 back in 2002-03 and are currently 24-10-2 this year.
For Hockey East specifically, Providence eclipsed the program record for league wins (16). The Friars earned their best conference winning percentage since 2009-10. Providence posted a .630 winning percentage in Hockey East play and was .643 back in '09-'10.
Friars Against Hockey East
Providence is just one of three teams in Hockey East to beat every other conference opponent at least once during the regular season. With late wins against #3 Northeastern (Feb. 17) and #8 Boston University (Feb. 23), Providence defeated every league foe at least once. The Friars had one win against the top-three teams in the league, but beat everyone else at least twice. The other teams that defeated everyone are Northeastern and Boston College.
Myers Earns Hockey East Goaltender of the Month
Madison Myers was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for February. It marked the second time this season that she won the award, as she also earned the title in November. She started all eight of the Friars' games, posting a 5-1-2 record. The senior ranked second in the conference in goals against average (1.48) and save percentage (.942) for the month. She also recorded a conference-high 196 saves and posted one shutout.
Protecting Leads
The Friars are an impressive 8-0-1 when leading after the first period and 17-1-1 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 16-2-1 when they light the lamp first.
Special Teams Strength
Providence ranks tied for seventh in the nation in penalty kill percentage (87.2%), 14th in power play percentage (18.5%) and fifth in combined special teams (54.2%). The Friars have scored 20 power-play goals and five short-handed goals so far this season.
Murphy's Numbers
Maureen Murphy ranks fourth in Hockey East in points (43) and is third in goals scored (22). She's only been held off the scoresheet in nine of 36 games all season. Additionally, she's had 12 multi-point games. The sophomore forward is currently tied for 19th in the nation in points per game (1.19) and is 15th in goals per game (0.61). She is also second in the nation in game-winning goals (eight) and tied for fourth in short-handed goals (three).
The Launch of Lunny
Lunny collected three points during her freshman season and already has 18 this season. The sophomore forward has nine goals and nine assists for the Friars. She ranks tied for fourth on the team in goals and is sixth on the team in points. She had a career-high three-point performance on Jan. 18 against New Hampshire.
Milestones for Myers
Myers has moved into second place all-time in games played, wins and saves this season. She is behind Genevieve Lacasse '12 in all three categories. The senior netminder took over sole possession of second place in wins with two last weekend against Merrimack. She's four games away from tying Lacasse in games played, having appeared in 124 for her career. For saves, Myers is still 559 back from first place.
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 45 goals and 63 assists in 134 games played.
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). Providence is currently receiving votes in both polls.
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 ranked third in the nation and is the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament. The Huskies are 25-5-5 overall and went 21-3-3 in league play. NU ranks eighth in the nation in scoring offense (3.51) and first in penalty kill percentage (90.2%). The team is 4-1-1 over its last six games, including the weekend series with Providence at the end of the regular season and last weekend's quarterfinal sweep of Vermont. The Huskies beat the Catamounts 7-2 and 1-0 to advance to the semifinal. Saturday's win marked Dave Flint's 200th victory as the head coach of the Huskies.
Who to Watch
Freshman duo Alina Mueller and Chloe Aurard were unanimously selected to the Hockey East Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team earlier this week. Mueller leads the Huskies in points (49) and assists (30). She's seventh in the nation in assists per game (0.86) and ninth in points per game (1.40). Aurard has 28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists. Senior Kasidy Anderson leads NU in goals (20) and is second on the team in points (35). Sophomores Veronika Pettey and Skylar Fontaine each have 32 points, as well.
In net, Aerin Frankel has a 19-3-3 record. She holds a .933 save percentage (third in Hockey East) and a 1.77 goals against average (second in Hockey East) with six shutouts.
All-Time Series' with the Huskies
Providence leads the all-time series with Northeastern, 65-59-11. At home, the Friars trail 21-25-8. Northeastern also leads the season series (2-1-0) and the playoff meetings (2-1).
- GO FRIARS! -
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