Durham, New Hampshire – junior goaltender Jacob Hellsten (Lysdal, Sweden) Recorded three consecutive shutouts, made 20 saves, and served as senior alternate captain. harrison blaisdell (Regina, Saskatchewan) The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team, ranked No. 17 nationally and seeded No. 6, scores the only goal of the game as it defeats No. 11 seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell 1-0 in the opening game of the Hockey East Tournament. round Wednesday night at the Whitmore Center at the Key Auto Group Complex.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 20-14-1 and advance to the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinals, where they will play No. 3 seed Maine at Alfond Arena in Orono on Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m. The River Hawks end their season. On 8-24-4.
Score: #6 seed New Hampshire 1, #11 seed UMass Lowell 0
record: UNH (20-14-1); UML (8-24-4)
position: Durham, New Hampshire (Whitmore Center at Key Auto Group Complex)
date: Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Attendance: 4.032
box score
How it happened:
- The only goal of the game came at 10:46 of the first period when Blaisdell backhanded a shot off a pass from a senior defenseman. luke reed (Warman, Saskatchewan) gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.junior forward robert cronin (Plymouth, Mass.) had a secondary assist on this play.
- With 2:29 left in the third period, the River Hawks found the back of the net, but were unable to score the tying goal, giving the Cats their sixth shutout of the season.
- The River Hawks outscored the Wildcats 20-19, with UNH going 0-4 on the power play and UML going 0-3.
Beyond the box score:
- Blaisdell's goal was his 11th of the season.
- Hellsten is 15-11-1 with five shutouts this season. His 1.93 goals-against average ranks second all-time in one season in program history. Ty Conklin averaged 1.84 goals against in 1998-1999.
- The last time the Wildcats posted three straight shutout performances was in the 2012-13 season by Casey DeSmith against Maine, Vermont and Lowell, Massachusetts.
- The Cats won at home with a record of 14 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw. The 14 wins are the most ever at home, and UNH's 16th season was 14-4-1 in 2007-08.
- UNH is 15-1-0 on the season after scoring the first goal. He's also a perfect 12-0 when the Wildcats lead after the first period.
- The last time UNH won 20 games was in 2013-14, when the Cats went 22-18-1.
- The Wildcats last reached the quarterfinals in 2021 with a 7-2 victory over Maine.
