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, November 23
New Haven, Conn.
7:00 P.M.
Providence College
at
Yale University
No. 9 Women's Hockey Set to Participate in Nutmeg Classic
11/21/2018 11:41:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Live Video (Friday vs. Yale)ESPN+ Stream (Friday vs. Yale)Live Stats (Friday vs. Yale)Live Video (Saturday)PDF Game Notes
The Friars begin the tournament on Friday, Nov. 23 against Yale.
Puck Drop
The Friars travel to New Haven, Conn. to participate in the 2018 Nutmeg Classic. Providence faces off with Yale on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:00 p.m. Quinnipiac and UConn play in the other opening game. The winners advance to Saturday's championship game, which will be played at 7:00 p.m. The other two teams will face off at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are off to an 10-2-0 start to the season and have a 7-1-0 record in Hockey East. It is the team's best start since the 1996-97 season. Last weekend, Providence swept Merrimack in a home-and-home series. Friday's home win was 3-1, while Saturday's road win was 5-3. Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) put up six points on the weekend, scoring three goals and adding three assists. Whitney Dove (Port Moody, British Columbia) and Meaghan Rickard (Coventry, R.I.) each had two-point performances on Friday. Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) had a four-point weekend, with three of her points coming in Saturday's win. Cassidy MacPherson (Oakville, Ontario) was the other Friar with a multi-point effort, as she posted two assists on Saturday.Â
Murphy leads the charge for the Friars with 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists). Putigna is second, despite only playing in eight games this season. She's tallied eight goals, six assists and 12 points. Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) is third on the team in both points (11) and goals (five). MacPherson ranks fourth with three goals, five assists and eight points. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is second on the team in assists, as she has seven this season.
Myers has made ten starts in net. She holds a .948 save percentage (ranked fourth in the nation) and a 1.20 goals against average (ranked third in the nation). The netminder has made 218 total saves and has three shutouts.
National Polls
The Friars are in the Top 10 nationally for the second-consecutive week. Providence was selected ninth in both the USCHO (Nov. 19) and USA Hockey (Nov. 20) polls this week. The Friars were tenth last week.
Streakin'
Murphy and Putigna are each on six-game point streaks for the Friars. Murphy has scored goals in five of the last six games, while Putigna has scored in four of them, notching assists in the other two.
Multi-Point Murphy
Maureen Murphy has recorded at least two points in eight of 12 games so far for Providence. Last season, she had seven multi-point performances in 36 games. She's currently fourth in the nation in points per game (1.83) and second in goals per game (1.00). She is also first in the nation in game-winning goals (six) and tied for first in short-handed goals (two).
Where the Friars Rank
Providence ranks ninth in the nation in scoring margin (1.42), sixth in the nation in penalty kill (91.6%), seventh in the nation in power play percentage (21.4%) and tied for fourth in team winning percentage (.900) entering the weekend.
Brick Wall Myers
Myers has been excellent for the Friars in net so far this season. In ten games played, she's 8-1-0 and has three shutouts. She's in the top five nationally for goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. The next time Myers takes the ice will be her 100th career game.Â
Putigna Point Watch
Putinga currently has 92 career points. The senior forward has scored 37 goals and tallied 55 assists during her four seasons. With eight more points, Putigna would become the 27th Friar to reach the 100-point mark.
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.
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 Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have played all ECAC games so far, with a 2-6-0 overall record. Yale is coming off a huge 5-1 upset over No. 3 Clarkson (Nov. 17). Emma Vlasic scored two goals for the Bulldogs in the win. As a team, Yale averages 2.38 goals per game, while giving up 2.75. The Bulldogs convert on 8% of power plays, while only killing off 77.4% of penalties.
Who to Watch
Senior Emma Vlasic leads the team offensively. She has eight points on a team-leading five goals and three assists. Freshman Rebecca Vanstone has six points on four goals and two assists. Kirsten Nergaard, Greta Skarzynski and Claire Dalton each have four assists for the team lead in that category. Two different goaltenders have played for the Bulldogs. Tera Hoffmann has played five games. She holds a .945 save percentage and a 2.02 goals against average. Gianna Meloni has a 3.38 goals against average and a .906 save percentage through three games.Â
All-Time Series with the Bulldogs
Providence leads the all-time series 25-8-2. The Friars hold a 14-5-1 edge in New Haven, Conn. This is the first meeting between the programs since 2014.
Scouting the Bobcats
The Bobcats enter the weekend on a four-game winless streak. After a three-game league winning streak (Oct. 26-Nov. 3) the Bobcats have gone 0-3-1. On the year, Quinnipiac is 3-7-3 overall and 3-2-1 in ECAC games. The Bobcats have played five overtime games this season and hold an 0-2-3 record in extra time games. As a team, Quinnipiac averages 1.69 goals per game, allowing 1.92 goals per game.Â
Who to Watch
Sophomore Taylor House leads the team in points (seven) and goals (five). Kati Tabin and MacKenzie Lancaster each have four assists. Freshman Lexie Adzija is the other top scorer, with three goals, three assists and six points. In net, Abbie Ives has played 10 games. She has a .924 save percentage and a 1.65 goals against average. She's also tallied three shutouts on the season.
All-Time Series with the Bobcats
Providence leads the all-time series 7-1-0. The teams split the last weekend series (2017) with each team winning at home. Providence won 3-1 on Oct. 6 and Quinnipiac won 1-0 on Oct. 7.
Scouting the Huskies
The Huskies are 6-7-1 overall and 3-6-1 in Hockey East. Last weekend, UConn suffered back-to-back shutout losses against Boston College. UConn fell 3-0 on Friday (Nov. 16) and 4-0 on Saturday (Nov. 17). As a team, UConn averages 2.64 goals per game and goals against per game. The Huskies rank third in the nation on the power play, converting 23.6% of the time.Â
Who to Watch
Junior Catherine Crawley leads the team in points (13). She's second in both goals (five) and assists (eight). Sophomore Natalie Snodgrass leads the team in assists with nine and has 12 total points. Classmate Morgan Wabick is the leading goal scorer with six strikes. She has 10 total points. In net, Morgan Fisher has played 12 games. She holds a 2.25 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
All-Time Series with the Huskies
Providence leads the all-time series 43-19-7. The teams met six times last season. The regular season series was 1-1-1. UConn then came to Friartown and upset Providence in a Hockey East Quarterfinal best-of-three series. The Friars won the first game before UConn was victorious in the second two.
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