ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine women's ice hockey team will kick off their season facing the University of New Hampshire Wilcats in an exhibition game on Saturday, Sept 20. The Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle will be at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, NH with puck-drop set for 2:00 PM.

BLACK BEARS' SEASON PREVIEW:

• Maine was voted 7th in the Hockey East preseason poll. 
• The Black Bears ended last season 6th in the league, with a 10-14-3 record, before falling to Boston College 4-3 in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.

BLACK BEARS RETURNERS TO WATCH:

• Maine returns 17 players from last season, including scoring leaders Lily Fetch (8-7-15) and  Mikayla Boarder (8-6-14), both of whom are entering their junior seasons. 
• Maine's top scorer on the defensive end, Kendall Sundby enters her sophomore season after four goals, six assists for 10 points last season. Three of Sundby's goals came on the powerplay.
• Kiia Lahtinen ended her freshman campaign as National Rookie of the Month, after earning two shutouts in February.  Lahtinen held a .909 save percentage while playing in 23 games as a rookie.
• Netminder Julia Bachetti returns for her junior season after splitting time with Lahtinen last year. Bachetti held a .901 save percentage in her 12 games played.

NINE NEW FACES:
Maine added nine new players to the mix this year, including four defenders, four forwards and one goalie.

• Lulu Rucinski - D
• Sade Sandilands - D
• Paige Fong - D
• Camille Dubuc (redshirt) - D
• Isabelle Michaud - F
• Mackenzie Podewell - F
• Darragh Browne - F
• Ali Altiman - F
• Laurie Deguire - G

HEAD COACH MOLLY ENGSTROM & STAFF

• Molly Engstrom most recently was tabbed as the Head Coach for Team USA's U22 Collegiate Select group in August. The team defeated Canada twice in the three-game series.
• Engstrom enters her fourth season with the Black Bears. Last year, Engstrom led Maine in shutting out one nationally ranked opponent (Northeastern) and tying one other nationally ranked opponent (UConn) before beating them in a shootout. 
• Maine had the third hardest schedule in the NCAA in the first half of the 2024-25 season.
• Engstrom and staff produced three professional players out of last season in Alyssa Wruble, Adriana Van de Leest and Mira Seregely.
• Kirsti Hussey was promoted to Associate Head Coach as she enters her fouth season at Maine along side Engstrom.
• Assistant coach McKenna Wesloh and goalie coach Derek Fournier return for their second seasons on staff at Maine.

PREVIOUS MATCHUPS WITH UNH

• Last season, Maine swept UNH in the three-game series. 
• On the road, Maine won 4-1. At home, Maine won 2-1 and 4-3.
• Kiia Lahtinen saw game one, while Julia Bachetti played in net for games two and three.

MORE ON UNH: 

• The Wildcats lost their top-5 scorers from last season.
• Starting goaltender, Sedona Blair, returns as a junior after seeing 30 games last season.
• UNH finished 7th in Hockey East last season before dropping the Opening Round Playoff matchup to no. 10 seed Merrimack. 
• The Wildcats conference record ended 11-14-2.

LOOKING AHEAD:

• Maine kicks off the season with seven non-conference matchups, six games of which will be against top-10 nationally ranked teams.
• Starting with an away series at #10 Quinnipiac on Sept 26/27, Maine travels to #1 Wisconsin for two games on Oct 3/4. After that, Maine hosts their home opener on Oct 10 against St. Anselm. 
• Next, Maine hosts #6 Colgate for two games on Oct 17/18.