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The University of Maine women’s hockey squad committed three penalties within 59 seconds, allowing conference rival University of New Hampshire to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead and cruise to 7-1 victory over the Black Bears at Alfond Arena on Friday night.
UMaine fell to 2-9-0 overall and 0-5-0 in Hockey East. UNH improved to 7-1-3 overall and 3-1-2 in the conference.
“There is a great rivalry between these two schools, being so close to each other, it’s always nice to come out here and beat up on [our] rival,” said sophomore forward Jenn Wakefield, who tied career game-highs in goals (2), assists (2) and points (4) for UNH.
UMaine senior goaltender, Genevieve Turgeon, had another busy night as she saved 26 of 33 shots.
The Black Bears came out of the gates aggressively, and able to control a majority of play early in the first period. The momentum of the game started to lean toward the Wildcats when at the 4:00 minute mark of the first period UMaine was granted a power play. playing a man down seemed to waken the Wildcat offense, as they outshot the Black Bears 2-0 during the power play.
Later in the first period, the Black Bears gave away the game’s momentum and provided the Wildcats with more than three straight minutes of power play. UNH capitalized on the opportunity, shooting to a 3-0 lead with goals from senior Sam Faber, Wakefield and senior Maggie Joyce.
“We cannot take the penalties that we took in this game and expect success in return,” UMaine coach Dan Lichterman said. “New Hampshire is able to put pressure on opponents even when the game is at full strength. When we take three straight penalties like that, we’re asking for them to pressure us even more.”
Sophomore Jennie Gallo provided the Black Bears with their lone highlight of the game, scoring a quick goal 3:51 into the second period. At that point, the goal cut into the Wildcats lead, 4-1.
Gallo, who now is now leading the team with six goals and second in points with eight, reinforced what Lichterman had to say after the game.
“Staying out of the penalty box definitely would have helped tonight. New Hampshire is a great team and they were able to capitalize on all their opportunities tonight.”
Meanwhile, the game marks the fifth time in a row where UMaine has not scored more than two goals and the offense continues to struggle. The Black Bears are averaging 2.5 goals per game on the season, while opponents average 4.5 goals per game.
Despite the rough start to the season, Lichterman remains optimistic.
“We’re still a very young team [12 freshman and sophomores] and we’re getting better every game. But we definitely could improve our special teams play.”
The Black Bears are only converting 21 percent of their power play opportunities while allowing opponents to convert 26 percent of the time.
Even after a devastating loss to a rival, Gallo is excited by the team’s potential for improvement.
“Although we’re struggling right now, we’re going to keep our heads up high and continue to battle every game. Look for big things to come from this team in the near future.”
The team will be back in action on Nov. 25 when they host the University of Vermont as they try to snap a five-game losing streak. The game will be held in Lewiston at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. The puck is slated to drop at 7 p.m.
