Completed Event: Women's Ice Hockey versus University of Maine on October 31, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 2 , (OT)
Women's Ice Hockey
vs University of Maine
Final
3
-
2
(OT)
Providence College Athletics
Thursday, February 27
Providence, R.I.
6:00 p.m.
Providence College
vs
New Hampshire
Photo by: Stew Milne
Women's Hockey Hosts New Hampshire In Hockey East Quarterfinals
2/26/2020 2:51:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
Puck Drop
The third-seeded Friars are set to host the sixth-seeded Wildcats in a best-of-three quarterfinal series this weekend. Games are set for 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 and then 2:00 p.m. on March 1 (if necessary).
Scouting the Friars
The Friars wrapped up the regular season with a pair of wins to finish 18-12-4 overall and 15-10-2 in Hockey East. Providence defeated Holy Cross on the road, 3-1, before shutting out the Crusaders on home ice for Senior Day, 3-1, to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East Tournament. Senior forward Meaghan Rickard (Coventry, R.I.) led the offense with three points over the weekend, recording a goal and assist in Providence's 3-1 road victory before tallying a lone assist on Saturday at home. Ciara Barone (North Tonawanda, N.Y.), Lauren DeBlois (Lewiston, Maine), Whitney Dove (Port Moody, British Columbia), Bailey Burton (Bloomington, Minn.) and Isabelle Hardy (Oakville, Ontario) each found the back of the net over the weekend. Sandra Abstreiter (Freising, Germany) picked up 14 saves in the Friars' 3-1 road win, while Senior Clare Minnerath (Sartell, Minn.) posted her second shutout of the season with 16 saves on Saturday.
Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden) leads the Friars in points with 28 on 17 goals and eleven assists. Dove holds a team-high 19 assists while adding eight goals. Freshman Lauren DeBlois ranks third on the team in points (22).
Sandra Abstreiter took over in net for Clare Minnerath on Jan. 4. She started the previous 15 matchups since taking over the starting role, excluding Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 22. She has posted a 1.65 goals against average and .934 save percentage for an 9-7-2 overall record.
Regular Season Vs. New Hampshire
The Friars went 2-1-0 against the Wildcats during the regular season. UNH earned a 6-2 win at Schneider in the opener (Oct. 26), but Providence swept the weekend series in Durham (Jan. 17-18). The Friars prevailed 3-1 in game one and 2-1 in game two. Sara Hjalmarsson scored the game winner on Friday before Caroline Peterson played the hero on Saturday, scoring with just 2:15 remaining. Sandra Abstreiter made 32 saves and allowed just one goal in each game. For her efforts in the series, she was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week (Jan. 20).
Freshman Sensation
Lauren DeBlois has stood out in her freshman campaign, totaling 22 points on six goals and 16 assists as a defenseman. She ranks fourth in Hockey East in points (22) and is tied for second in assists (16) among freshman.
She was named Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks on Monday, Feb. 17 and Monday, Feb. 24. DeBlois scored both goals in Providence's 2-1 overtime win over No. 3 Northeastern on Friday, Feb. 14. The game marked her first multi-goal performance of her career.
This past weekend she recorded a goal and an assist in the home-and-home series vs. Holy Cross, giving her five points over her last five games.
Providence vs. Ranked Opponents
Providence currently holds a 3-4 record against ranked opponents this season, including a 2-2 record at Schneider Arena. The team's most recent matchups came against No. 3 Northeastern Univeristy in a home-and-home series with both sides trading victories on the road.
Abstreiter Earns Defensive Player Of The Week Honors
Sandra Abstreiter stopped 64 of 66 shots, earning her the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors. She posted a .970 save percentage, including a 1.00 goals against average in two games against New Hampshire. Abstreiter recorded a career-high 32 saves on Friday, Jan. 17 before matching the feat the following day with another 32 saves.
Providence In The Polls
February 24 marked the seventh time this season that Providence has received votes in the USCHO Women's Poll. The Friars received two votes.
Four-Game Win Streak
The Friars held a season long winning streak of four games spanning from Nov. 17 to Nov. 30. Providence won 3-2 on home ice to begin the winning streak before defeating Merrimack in a home-and-home series on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23.
Providence then defeated Brown in the 25th annual Mayor's Cup, 10-0. The ten goals marked the most goals scored by a team in the Mayor's Cup history and first time the Friars have scored ten goals since Feb. 4, 2007, when they defeated Vermont, 10-1.
Hjalmarsson's Career Day
Sara Hjalmarsson posted a career day against the Brown Bears, scoring three goals to go along with three assists. Her six points are the most by a player in the 25 years of the Mayor's Cup, and the most points scored by a women's player in a game this season in the NCAA.
She was named the Hockey East Player of the Week for her efforts.
Spreading The Wealth
Eighteen Friars have tallied a point this season with 16 players recording a goal. Ten players have reached double digits in Hjalmarsson (28), Dove (27), DeBlois (22), Lunny (18), Rickard (18), Fransoo (14), Burton (13), Van Pelt (11), Murphy (10) and Rice (10).
Minnerath Earns Defensive Player of the Week Honors
Clare Minnerath was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28. It marked her first league honor as a Friar. The senior netminder made a career-high 33 saves en route to her first shutout of the season against No. 3 Northeastern (Oct. 25). She posted a 1-1-0 that last week and made a total of 53 saves in two starts.
Burton Earns Rookie of the Week Honors
Bailey Burton scored a goal in each of her first two collegiate games, including the game winner against Quinnipiac (Oct. 5). For her efforts, she was named Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Oct. 7. Burton's two goals came on just two total shots over that weekend.
Hockey East Preseason Poll
The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Hockey East Preseason poll, which was released on Thursday, Sept. 26. Providence received 56 points and was picked to finish behind Northeastern (81), Boston University (71) and Boston College (65).
Rounding out the poll were New Hampshire (42), UConn (41), Merrimack (30), Maine (29), Vermont (25), and Holy Cross (nine).
Hjalmarsson with Team Sweden
During the off-season, Sara Hjalmarsson had several chances to compete for Team Sweden. She was named to Sweden's National Team roster for the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship. She played four games for Team Sweden without tallying a point.
Scouting the Wildcats
UNH finished the regular season at 16-14-4 overall. The Wildcats posted a 12-12-3 record in conference, finishing sixth in Hockey East. After being swept by then-No. 9 Boston University (Feb. 15-16), the Wildcats rebounded in the regular season finale (Feb. 22). Five different players scored in UNH's 5-1 win over the Eagles. As a team, the Wildcats average 2.3 goals per game and allow just 2.0. Their scoring defense ranks 10th nationally. The Wildcats convert on 15.4% of power plays and kill off 89.1% of penalties.
Who to Watch
Senior Meghara McManus leads UNH offensively with 26 points. She has a team-leading 17 goals and nine assists. Four Wildcats have 20 points. Carlee Turner has seven goals and 13 assists, while Taylor Wenczkowski and Tamara Thierus each have six goals and 14 assists. Tori Howran posted a team-high 19 assists during the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore Ava Boutilier has seen a majority of the time in net, playing in 24 games. She holds a 1.81 goals against average and a .940 save percentage, which ranks sixth nationally.
-GO FRIARS-
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/ Women's Ice HockeyWomen's Ice Hockey vs. Northeastern
Saturday, February 16
Women's Ice Hockey vs. UConn
Saturday, February 02
Women's Ice Hockey vs. Boston College
Saturday, January 26
Women's Ice Hockey vs. New Hampshire
Saturday, January 19
