ORONO, Maine—The University of Maine women's ice hockey squad returns to Orono for another pair of Hockey East games to round out October.

GAME INFORMATION

Game No. 7: Maine Black Bears vs. Merrimack College Warriors
Date: Friday, Nov. 4, 2018
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Family Ice Arena | Falmouth, Maine
2018-19 Record: Maine 6-2-0, 2-2-0 WHEA, Merrimack 6-1-2, 3-1-0 WHEA

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 Game No. 8: Maine Black Bears vs. Holy Cross Crusaders
Date: Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
2018-19 Record: Maine 6-2-0, 2-2-0 WHEA, Holy Cross 0-7-2, 0-4-0 WHEA

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 About the Black Bears
• Maine split its first Hockey East home weekend of the season. The Black Bears defeated UNH 5-3 to kick off Homecoming weekend before falling to Boston College 4-1 on Sunday.
• Through the season so far, the Black Bears have averaged 3.62 goals per game, scoring 29 goals overall.
• The Black Bears are playing their first regular season neutral site game since playing Boston College in Auburn, Maine in 2016-17. Maine played its exhibition against the HTI Stars last season in Rockland, Maine.
• Both Tereza Vanisova and Liga Miljone are averaging a point per game this season. Vanisova has scored seven goals and 10 points, while Miljone has three goals and eight assists this season.
• This is the fastest the Black Bears have gotten to six wins in program history in eight games. The previous high was ten games for six wins, done in 2011-12.
• Maine received votes in both the USCHO poll and USA Today/USA Hockey polls this week and have received votes or were nationally ranked through six weeks of the season.

About Merrimack College
•  Merrimack comes into Maine riding a three game winning streak. The Warriors winning streak started at UConn with a 3-1 victory. Last weekend, Merrimack took the home win against Vermont 2-1, before taking a 5-0 win at Holy Cross on Saturday.
• Senior Katelyn Rae leads the Merrimack offense with seven goals and 11 points. Her totals are No. 2 in national goal scoring and No. 12 in national goal scoring. In 113 games played, Rae has tallied 53 goals.
• Goaltender Samantha Ridgewell started all nine Warrior games thus far, going 6-1-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference. In her eight starts, Ridgewell has a 1.09 GAA and .961 save percentage.
• Merrimack has the fewest number of goals allowed this season with 10.
• The Warriors have kicked off the game with scoring, with 10 of 23 goals scored in the first period, and five of 13 goals in the first period of Hockey East contests.
• Merrimack is third in Hockey East with a 3-1-1 conference record.

The Series with the Warriors
• Friday night's game between Merrimack and Maine is the 10th all-time meeting between the two Hockey East squads with Maine holding the 6-3-0 all time lead.
• Last season's series was taken by Maine, 2-1-0 overall. Maine took the victory at Merrimack on Jan. 13 by a 5-1 final before taking the Jan. 19 win, 4-1. The final game against Merrimack was a 4-1 loss at home on Jan. 20.
• These two teams first met on Oct. 15, 2015 in North Andover with Maine taking a 2-1 win.

About Holy Cross
• This is Holy Cross' first season in Division I and first in Hockey East. Before the jump up, the Crusaders had combined for a 46-8 record over the last two seasons.
• Senior Amanda Kewer leads the team in points through nine games with two goals and two assists. Sommer Ross and Danielle Doherty both have a pair of points for the Crusaders.
• Goaltenders Julia Peletier, a sophomore, and Jana Brenon, a freshman, have split time in net this season.
• Peletier is 0-4-1, with a 3.75 goals against average and .893 save percentage, while Brenton is 0-3-1 with a 3.45 goals against average and .905 save percentage.

The Series with the Crusaders
• Sunday's matchup between Maine and Holy Cross is the first all-time meeting between the two Hockey East teams.
• The last time Maine played against a new opponent was on Oct. 18, 2015 at Merrimack when the Warriors were first added to Hockey East.
• The most recent the Black Bears have hosted an opponent in their first-ever matchup was on Jan. 28, 2006 against Boston University—the Terriers first season in Hockey East.

Last Time Out
• The Black Bears split last weekend's Hockey East play at home, winning Friday's game against UNH 5-3.
• Both teams tallied two goals in the first period, before the Black Bears pulled ahead. A second period goal by Celine Tedenby gave Maine the lead, before Tereza Vanisova scored the game winner. Brittany Colton scored the empty net goal to seal the game.
• Maine held Boston College in a close contest on Friday before falling against the nation's No. 6 team. After a scoreless first period, Tereza Vanisova got Maine on the board to make it 2-1. Erin Connolly scored the power play game winner, before finishing an empty net goal to give BC the game, 4-1 final.

On the Leaderboard
• The Black Bears are second in Hockey East scoring with 29 goals for, only a pair behind UConn's 31.
• Tereza Vanisova is tied for first in WHEA goal scoring (7) and is sixth in conference with points (10). Vanisova's seven tallies is second in national goal scoring.
• Liga Miljone and Tereza Vanisova are tied for second in the nation with two game winning goals apiece.
• Defensively the Black Bears are No. 6 for national team defense, allowing opponents a meager average of 1.50 goals per game.
• On the other side of the puck, Maine's offense is also sixth-best in the country in terms of production, averaging 3.62 goals per game.
• Loryn Porter stands amongst the best in the goaltending category—she's ranked No. 8 in the national goals against average leaderboard with a 1.00 GAA, and is tied for No. 2 with two shutotus so far this season.

Women's Hockey East Outlook
• Hockey East proves to be as tight as ever in 2018, as only three points separate the second and fifth place teams.
• Leading the way are two undefeated teams—Northeastern is 6-0-1 in conference play and is No. 8 in the nation. In second is Boston College, which is 4-0-0 in conference play.
• Maine is currently sixth in WHEA standings with a 2-2-0 conference record, good for four points.

In October
• Maine opened up the regular season at Quinnipiac on Oct. 5 and 6 to kickstart the year at a tough ECAC Hockey building. The Black Bears took both games—the first was a 2-1 overtime victory on a goal by Tereza Vanisova. Saturday's game was a 3-0 win for Loryn Porter's first career shutout.
• The Black Bears had two eight goal games against Sacred Heart on Oct. 12 and 13, putting up eight in a game for the first time since Sept. 24, 2010—another 8-0 win against Sacred Heart.
• Maine split the opening set of Hockey East games in a tough road test in Boston.
• The No. 8/9 Northeastern Huskies took Friday's game, 3-0 as Aerin Frankel, reigning Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week, turned away 25 shots on goal.
• Vendula Pribylova scored again in the 2-1 victory at Boston University, with Daria Tereshkina also tallied her third goal of the season as well.
• The Black Bears earned back-to-back Hockey East player of the week honors. Tereza Vanisova was named on Oct. 8, and Vendula Pribylova earned the honors on Oct. 15 as well as the NCAA's Second Star of the week.

Looking Ahead
• The Black Bears have nine games to play in November, with seven of them in Hockey East play.
• Maine hosts its Hockey East Skating Strides game on Nov. 17 against Northeastern. Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer has been an initiative across Hockey East since January 2007. This initiative has raised over $300,000 for breast cancer charities across New England in that time. Funds raised by the Black Bears goes to the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Lewiston.
• Two series are on the road for the Black Bears. The first is at Providence and UConn, two teams that the Black Bears are a combined 1-3-1 against last season. Maine took one win against UConn at home 4-3 in overtime, and took a home and road tie against Providence.
• After Thanksgiving, the Black Bears welcome Dartmouth College for another matchup against an ECAC Hockey squad. These two teams last faced off on Nov. 28 and 29, 2016 in Orono where the teams each took a win.
• Turning the calendar, the Black Bears head to Vermont for its last Hockey East matchup before 2019, squaring up with the Catamounts on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

-UMaine-