University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Merrimack
Women’s Hockey Falls at Merrimack, 7-1
2/15/2019 4:31:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The UConn Huskies fell to the Merrimack Warriors, 7-1, Friday afternoon in the first game of this weekend's two-game series in North Andover, Mass. The Huskies got 20 saves from junior goalie Morgan Fisher in the loss.
MC got goals from six different skaters and assists from 10 players as well, including six points (2g, 4a) from senior Katelyn Rae to lead the way. Senior goaltender Savannah Ridgewell made 34 saves to post the win.
The Warriors held a 12-7 shot advantage and a one goal lead after one, as Dominique Kramer opened the scoring at 14:53.
MC made it 2-0 on Courtney Maud's second period tally before UConn ended the shutout bid at 12:13. The Huskies, who got their offense kick-started in the second, scored off a turnover as sophomore Natalie Snodgrass buried her 13th of the season.
The home team added tallied a score at 18:01 in the second to push its lead back to two goals, then ended any thoughts of a comeback with four in the third period off the sticks of Rae (2), Chloe Cook and Madison Morey.
1st Period
Both the Huskies and Warriors tested the opposing team's goalie throughout the period, with Fisher collecting 11 saves while Ridgewell posted seven of her own. The game remained tied through the first 15 minutes, but the home team was the first to break through with a power play goal – Dominique Kramer skated into the crease and put in a shot after getting the puck from Megan Fergusson.
The Huskies were awarded a power play of their own but couldn't find the equalizer they were looking for, and headed into the first intermission down 1-0.
2nd Period
Merrimack took a 2-0 lead 10:55 into the second, converting on a two-on-one break.
UConn, who had picked up the pace and started to get into a bit of a rhythm in the period, was finally able to get one of its 18 shots past Ridgewell - Natalie Snodgrass stole the puck, raced down the far side of the ice, went to the backhand and then wristed the shot past the Merrimack netminder to close the gap to one goal, 2-1.
The Warriors struck again as a turnover deep in the UConn zone led to Mikyla Grant-Mentis finding a loose puck and a one-on-one chance with Fisher and the junior buried it to regain a two-goal advantage.
3rd Period
The home team pushed their lead back to three at 3:25 in the final period. Jessica Bonfae went to the backhand and then dropped the puck off to Katelyn Rae in the middle for the one-timer to make it 4-1.
Merrimack ended any ideas of a comeback as Cook (9:02), Morey (11:48) and Rae (11:57) tacked on three more goals to produce the 7-1 final.
