Huggon extends hex over Black Bears Froats strong for UMaine

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BOSTON – University of New Hampshire senior Jen Huggon added to her nation-leading total with her 14th shutout in the 2-0 triumph over the University of Maine in their Hockey East women’s tournament semifinal at Matthews Arena Saturday afternoon.

But it was Black Bear senior Dawn Froats who stole the show, making 41 saves to keep Huggon and her Wildcats uneasy until Carolyn Gordon provided insurance by converting a two-on-one with 3:59 remaining.

Stephanie Jones’ power-play goal 5:25 into the second period was the game-winner.

Second seed UNH improved to 27-6-2 while No. 3 Maine wound up 12-15-4.

Top seed Providence beat UNH 1-0 in Sunday’s championship game.

“She was amazing,” said Huggon about Froats. “If it wasn’t for her, we would have blown them out.”

Froats made 27 Grade-A saves.

“The forwards and defense played very well in front of me. I felt really good out there. I was relaxed,” said Froats.

Huggon, the Hockey East Player of the Year, finished with 15 saves, but she had to make only eight over the final two periods.

“My team did most of the work today,” said Huggon, who stopped 70 of 71 shots in four wins over the Bears this season, including three shutouts.

“She was pretty good, but once again, we didn’t have any puck luck,” said Maine junior right wing Karen Droog.

Maine had a golden opportunity to take their first lead against UNH this season when Raffi Wolf sent Meagan Aarts in on a breakaway just two minutes into the game.

But Aarts shot high.

“I dropped the shoulder, she [Huggon] went down, and I had the whole top of the net open. But it went right over the crossbar,” said Aarts, who hit the near post off a cross-crease pass from Wolf seconds later.

Huggon made her best save midway through the period when the rebound of Vicky Johnstone’s power-play drive from the point landed on the stick of Nicole Munro in the right circle. Munro fired a 16-footer labeled for the far corner.

“Somehow, she got her toe on it. I thought it was in,” said Munro. “She’s a good goalie.”

“I didn’t put the first rebound in the corner like I would have liked,” said Huggon. “Luckily, I was still in position to make the second save and kick it past the other girls.”

“We were lucky to get on top first. We play a lot better when we get on the board first. It would have been a different game if they had scored first,” said Huggon.

UNH finally broke through when Jones, one of two uncovered Wildcats at the top of the crease, tucked the rebound of an Allison Edgar point shot under Froats.

“She was going into the butterfly and had the paddle [of her stick] down. It just rolled in, underneath,” said Jones.

“It crossed the line so slowly. It was like slow motion. I just couldn’t get there,” said Froats.

After an evenly played first period, UNH parlayed its superior quickness and skill into a 32-8 shots-on-goal edge over the final two periods.

But the Bears worked extremely hard in the defensive zone and limited UNH’s second and third shots.

Gordon finally gave the Wildcats some breathing room by taking a pass from Sanford’s Nicole Stefanilo on the two-on-one and blasting a 20-foot slap shot that glanced in off Froats’ glove.

Maine coach Rick Filighera felt his team “got outplayed in a number of areas, particularly down low,” for most of the game.

“New Hampshire had better jump, they won more one-on-one battles. They deserved to win,” said Filighera.

WILDCATS 2, BLACK BEARS 0

Maine (12-15-4) 0 0 0 ? 0

New Hampshire (27-6-2) 0 1 1 ? 2

First period ? No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Janusc, body checking, 3:13; UNH, Edgar, body checking, 8:38.

Second period ? 1. UNH, Jones 22 (Edgar), 5:25 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Smethurst, tripping, 4:06; UNH, Bernhard, body checking, 7:10; Maine, Droog, interference, 16:09.

Third period ? 2. UNH, Gordon 20 (Stefanilo, Edgar), 16:01. Penalties: Maine, Smethurst, tripping, 16:41; Maine, Johnstone, body checking, 17:19.

Shots on goal: Maine 7-4-4?15; UNH 11-14-18?43

Goaltenders: Maine, Froats (43 shots-41 saves); UNH, Huggon (15-15)

Power-play Opportunities: Maine 0 of 2; UNH 1 of 5

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 7-4-6?17; UNH 13-13-15?41

Attendance: 435