March 9, 2008

Box Score

Storrs, Conn. - In what has become a staple match-up in women's college hockey, the Friars and New Hampshire Wildcats met once again in the Hockey East Championship game, and it proved to be another classic. No. 2 UNH held on to edge the Friars, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the Freitas Ice Forum. Sam Faber scored at 16:43 of the first and Kayley Herman stopped all 17 Friar shots she faced to lead the Wildcats to their third consecutive HE Tournament title. Providence finishes their season with a 16-16-4 mark, while UNH advances to the NCAA's with a 32-3-1 record.

In the first period, UNH came out and tested the Friar defense early. The Wildcats' Faber broke in on PC's Danielle Ciarletta (Blaine, Minn.) at 17:40, forcing the junior netminder to make a left pad save. While skating shorthanded, Faber again troubled the Friar defense as she took off on what looked to be a breakaway, but a diving poke-check by back-checking forward Sarah Feldman (Fall River, Mass.) negated the Wildcat threat. Ciarletta made an impressive glove save at the 10:26 mark on UNH's Courtney Birchard. But UNH was able to open the scoring at 16:43 when UNH's Maggie Joyce controlled an attempted Friar clear at the blue line and passed it to Birchard, who found Faber alone in front for the score. In all, Ciarletta made ten saves in the period.

In the second, the Friars found their way to the penalty box twice in the early going, but Ciarletta and the penalty killing unit held off the Wildcats. While on their second kill of the period, the Friars came close to evening the score when Amber Yung (Rockville, Va.) found a breaking Feldman along the far boards, but the ensuing shot went just wide of Kayley Herman in the UNH cage at 5:32. The Friars started playing more and more in the UNH zone, and their next chance came at 6:20 when Danielle Tangredi (London, Ontario) forced Herman to make a right-pad save after she received a pass from Feldman just to Herman's right. The Friars earned a 1:39 long five-on-three advantage at 16:10, but UNH was able to keep the Friars off the board, as drives by Kathleen Smith (Waterloo, Ontario) and Yung were pushed aside. The Friars found themselves on the power-play again to end the period, and Herman came up with two more stops, including a blocker save on PC's Katy Beach (Cleveland, Ohio), to keep the score at 1-0 after two periods of play.

The Friars and Wildcats played up and down hockey to begin the third. UNH earned a power-play at 5:42, but again the Friar defense held. Tangredi almost evened the score once again when she found a loose puck in front and fired on Herman, but UNH's freshman goalie came up with the save from point blank range at 8:04. Jenna Keilch (Clinton Township, Mich.) was the next Friar to come close as she forced Herman to commit a turnover while UNH was on the power play, but Herman was able to dive back and save Keilch's shot with the handle of her outstretched stick. Ciarletta came up with a another breakaway save, this time on UNH's Sadie Wright-Ward at 16:48 with her right-pad, keeping the Friars within one. Providence pulled Ciarletta at the 18:36 mark in favor of the extra attacker, and then UNH's Jennifer Hitchcock took a slashing penalty to give the Friars a six-on-four chance to end the game. The Friars generated a turnover in the high slot to get the shot they were looking for, but once again Herman was equal to the task, as UNH held on for the 1-0 win.

In net, Ciarletta finished with 21 saves, while Herman made 17.

Immediately following the game, the Hockey East Association announced the 2008 All-Hockey East Tournament team. Pehkonen was named as one of the three forwards, while Smith was one of two defensemen named to the squad. It marked the second consecutive season that Pehkonen was named to the all-tournament team. UNH's Sam Faber was named tournament MVP.