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 30
Storrs, Conn.
6:00 P.M.
Providence College
at
University of Connecticut
#8 Women's Hockey Set for Home-and-Home with UConn
11/29/2018 11:36:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Providence is currently on a eight-game winning streak.
Puck Drop
The Friars travel to UConn on Friday (Nov. 30) before welcoming the Huskies to Schneider Arena on Saturday (Dec. 1). Puck drop is at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are off to an 12-2-0 start to the season and have a 7-1-0 record in Hockey East. It is the team's best start since the 1991-92 season. Last weekend, Providence captured the Nutmeg Classic Championship with wins over Yale (2-1) and Quinnipiac (2-1). Christina Putigna (Grimsby, Ontario) and Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) scored in Friday's win. Hjalmarsson's game winner came with just 5:24 remaining in the game. Saturday's championship game featured a comeback effort in which Hayley Lunny (Bedford, N.Y.) scored two third-period goals. The sophomore's first multi-goal game of her career earned her Hockey East Player of the Week honors. Lunny was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Madison Myers (Colchester, Vt.). Myers, who made 34 total saves and only allowed two goals, was also tabbed the Tournament MVP.
Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) leads the charge for the Friars with 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists). Putigna is second, despite missing seven games to begin the season. She's tallied seven goals, six assists and 13 points. Hjalmarsson is third on the team in both points (12) and goals (six). MacPherson ranks fourth with three goals, six assists and nine points. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is second on the team in assists, as she has eight this season.
Myers has made 12 starts in net. She holds a .947 save percentage (ranked fourth in the nation) and a 1.17 goals against average (ranked third in the nation). The netminder has made 252 total saves and has three shutouts.
National Polls
The Friars are in the Top 10 nationally for the third-consecutive week. Providence was selected eighth in both the USCHO (Nov. 26) and USA Hockey (Nov. 27) polls this week. The Friars were tenth two weeks ago and ninth last week.
Hot at Home
The Friars are 6-0-0 at home so far this season. Four of those six wins at home have come in league play.
Streakin'
Murphy is currently on an eight-game point streak for the Friars. She has scored in five of those eight games. The sophomore has only been held without a point in one of 14 games. Putigna had her seven-game point streak snapped against Quinnipiac. She had scored goals in five of those seven games.
Multi-Point Murphy
Maureen Murphy has recorded at least two points in eight of 14 games so far for Providence. Last season, she had seven multi-point performances in 36 games. She's currently fifth in the nation in points per game (1.71) and fourth in goals per game (0.86). 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 (1.36), fourth in the nation in penalty kill (92.1%), fifth in the nation in power play percentage (21.7%) and tied for fourth in team winning percentage (.857) entering the weekend.
Brick Wall Myers
Myers has been excellent for the Friars in net so far this season. In 12 games played, she's 11-1-0 and has three shutouts. She's in the top five nationally for goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. Nov. 23 against Yale marked her 100th career game. She ranks third all-time at Providence in goaltender games played.
Myers has allowed one goal or less in eight of 12 games played this season.
Putigna Point Watch
Putinga currently has 93 career points. The senior forward has scored 38 goals and tallied 55 assists during her four seasons. With seven 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.
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
UConn also participated in last weekend's Nutmeg Classic at Yale. The Huskies fell to Quinnipiac, 3-2, before defeating Yale, 1-0, in the consolation game. Danika Pasqua scored two second-period goals for UConn on Friday, while Viki Harkness scored the game-winning goal on Saturday. Samantha Carpentier-Yelle made 28 saves in her first-career shutout against Yale. UConn is 7-8-1 overall and 4-3-0 in Hockey East play. The Huskies average 2.50 goals per game and give up the same amount. The team ranks sixth in the nation with a 21.7% conversion rate on the power play.
Who to Watch
Junior Catherine Crawley leads the team in points (14). She's second in both goals (five) and assists (nine). Sophomore Natalie Snodgrass leads the team in assists with 10 and has 13 total points. Classmate Morgan Wabick is the leading goal scorer with six strikes. Five of those goals have come on the power play. She has 12 total points. In net, Morgan Fisher has played 13 games. She holds a 2.31 goals against average and a .920 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.
- GO FRIARS! -
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