Women's Hockey Faces No. 8 Northeastern in Hockey East Play

Puck Drop

The Friars take on the No. 8 Northeastern University Huskies in Boston, Mass. on Friday, Oct. 26. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at Matthews Arena.

Scouting the Friars

The Friars are off to a 4-1-0 start to the season and have a 1-0-0 mark in Hockey East. Most recently, the Friars split a weekend series at Penn State, winning the first game in overtime (3-2) and dropping the second game (5-3).

Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) leads the charge for the Friars with 11 points (five goals, six assists). She picked up five points last weekend in Happy Valley (two goals, three assists). Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) is second on the team in points (seven) and tied for first in goals (five). Junior Whitney Dove (Port Moody, British Columbia) has two goals, both on the power play, and three assists for five points. She scored both of her goals against the Nittany Lions last weekend. Senior Cassidy MacPherson (Oakville, Ontario) is fourth in points. She's scored two goals and chipped in two assists.

Just five games in, Providence already has 14 different players in the line-up with at least a point. 13 different players have posted an assist, while nine players have found the back of the net.

Senior Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.) has made three starts in net. She holds a .952 save percentage and a 0.99 goals against average. The netminder has made 60 total saves and has one shutout. Sandra Abstreiter (Freising, Germany) has played the other two games, including the Oct. 20 game at Penn State. She's 1-1-0 with a 3.54 goals against average and a .841 save percentage. She made a career-high 23 saves in the game at PSU.

Multi-Point Murphy

Maureen Murphy has recorded at least two points in all five games so far for Providence. Last season, she had seven multi-point performances in 36 games. She currently ranks fourth in the nation in points per game (2.20), tied for sixth in goals per game (1.00) and is tied for first in short-handed goals (two).

Where the Friars Rank

Providence ranks eighth in the nation in scoring offense (3.80 goals per game), 13th in the nation in penalty kill (93.8%) and ninth in team winning percentage (.800).

Penn State Series

Murphy lifted the Friars over the Nittany Lions on Friday (Oct. 19) in overtime. She scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist on Dove's power-play tally. In Saturday's game, Providence was down 5-1 late, before tacking on two power-play goals to make the final 5-3. Dove, Hjalmarsson and Murphy all had two points.

Myers played in net on Friday, making 21 saves. Abstreiter got the start on Saturday, posting 23 saves and allowing four goals.

Career Nights

Six different Friars broke career highs in the Oct. 12 game against Holy Cross. Sophomore Giana Savastano (Mapleville, R.I.) picked up her first-career point on an assist. Classmate Maureen Murphy tied her career-high in assists with two helpers. Similarly, sophomore defenseman Ariane Julien (Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) had her first two-point game. She posted two assists for the first time in her career. It was also a big night for the rookies, as Hjalmarsson recorded her first hat trick and three-point game. Ciara Barone (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) notched her first goal, assist, and two-point outing in her first-career appearance. Lastly, Caroline Peterson (East Falmouth, Mass.) tallied her first point on an assist.

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.

Fresh Friar Faces

Providence welcomes four new players to the roster for 2018-19. Annelise Rice (Excelsior, Minn.) joins the program as a sophomore transfer. She played 25 games at North Dakota (2016-17) and registered two points on one goal and one assist. Freshmen Ciara Barone (North Tonawanda, N.Y.), Sara Hjalmarsson (Bakeryd, Sweden) and Caroline Peterson (East Falmouth, Mass.) round out the new additions. Barone attended the Nichols School, while Peterson attended Saint Mark's School. Hjalmarsson went to school and played in Sweden, most notably for the national team in the 2018 Olympic Games in PeyongChang.

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.

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

The Huskies enter the game ranked eighth in both the USCHO and USA

Hockey Polls. The team is 4-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in Hockey East play. League victories came over Boston University (5-0), then-No. 10 Maine (3-0) and New Hampshire (3-1). Northeastern also split a series with No. 7/8 Colgate, losing 3-2 and then winning 5-2. The team is averaging 33.3 shots on goal per game and 3.50 goals per game. Additionally, the Huskies have converted on the power play 6/28 times (21.4%).

Who to Watch

Sophomore Veronika Pettey leads the team offensively with 10 points on five goals and five assists. Three of her goals have come on the power play (second best in the nation). She's currently tied for 13th in the nation in points per game (1.67). Senior Kasidy Anderson also has five goals, while sophomore Brooke Hobson also has five assists. She is second on the team in points with seven total.

In net, senior Britany Bugalski and sophomore Aerin Frankel have each played three games. Bugalski is 2-0-1 with a 1.96 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. Frankel is 2-1-0 with a 1.01 goals against average and a .963 save percentage.

All-Time Series with the Huskies

Providence leads the all-time series with a 64-57-11 record. The Friars swept the regular-season series last year winning 2-1 at home (Oct. 28), 6-4 on the road (Oct. 29) and 1-0 at home (Feb. 18). Prior to that, Northeastern had won the previous ten meetings.

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Providence College Athletics

Women's Hockey Faces No. 8 Northeastern in Hockey East Play

Players Mentioned

Sandra Abstreiter

Ciara Barone

Whitney Dove

Sara Hjalmarsson

Ariane Julien

Cassidy MacPherson

Maureen Murphy

Madison Myers

Caroline Peterson

Annelise Rice

Giana Savastano

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