NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- The Black Bears will be opening up three consecutive conference games against Merrimack College with one on the road this Saturday, Jan. 13, followed by a two-game series at the Alfond Arena next weekend.
 
Coming off a two-game sweep at Boston University while also riding the momentum of an eight-game unbeaten streak, the Maine women's ice hockey team earned the No. 10 ranking in the latest USCHO.com Division I Women's Ice Hockey national poll, released on Monday, Jan. 8.The 2017-18 Maine women's hockey team is the first team in program history to be nationally ranked by the USCHO.  

In their last meeting back in the 2016-17 season, the Black Bears overpowered the Warriors on their home ice, 5-3. Current players, sophomore Jessica Jacques and senior Brooke Stacey, tucked away the first two goals of the game while the Black Bears saw two power play goals and one shorthanded throughout the match.
 
MERRIMACK BY THE NUMBERS
1.67 : Goals per game
24.7 : Shots per game
2.50 : Goals against average
6.82% : Power play percentage
3.67 : Power plays per game
76.54% : Penalty kill percentage
3.5 : Penalties per game
 
The Warriors defeated UNH, 4-2, for the first time this season at Lawler Rink, their home ice, on Wednesday, Jan. 10 after dropping a match to them earlier in the season at home and dueling to a draw on the road. With this victory, Merrimack College improved their record to 8-13-3 (3-9-2 WHEA).
 
Merrimack women's ice hockey team achieved their second-straight conference win with significant help from junior Samantha Ridgewell in between the pipes, turning down 23 shots while giving up an unfortunate power play goal in the second period.
 
Leading scorer, Katelyn Rae tallied a pair of unassisted goals plus one assist to add on to her stack of 12 goals and five assists on the season. Her first goal was even when the Warriors were shorthanded on the ice.
 
Annie Boeckers registered her first goal of her junior year as she put away the first point of the game for Merrimack while sophomore Mikayla Grant-Mentis tucked in the game winner for her ninth of the season.  


No. 10 MAINE BY THE NUMBERS
2.70 : Goals per game
29.3 : Shots per game
2.04 : Goals against average
9.09% : Power play percentage
2.33 : Power plays per game
87.10% : Penalty kill percentage
4.5 : Penalties per game
 
The Black Bears currently sit in third place in the WHEA after stealing two wins from Boston University last weekend to improve their overall record to 14-6-3 and conference to 8-3-2.

Sophomore goaltender Carly Jackson earned Women's Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season after stopping 46 shots in a pair of conference wins at Boston University, allowing just three goals in two games to help improve her goals against average this season to 1.81 and her save percentage to .926. The pair of wins were the first for Maine at the Terriers' home rink since the 2011-12 season. 

Sophomore Tereza Vanisova tallied three goals against the Terriers with a pair of goals in the 3-2 victory on Sunday and the second goal, unassisted, for the game-winner on Saturday, 4-1. She currently stands in the top-ten scorers in the nation (#9) with 12 goals and 22 assists this season.
 
Freshman Michelle Weis handed out two assists this past weekend, one in each win against Boston University, accumulating 10 total at this point in the season.

 
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-UMaine-