Matchup	Merrimack Warriors (4-20-4, 1-16-4 HEAW) vs. No. 2/3 Northeastern Huskies (23-3-1, 20-2-0 HEAW) vs. New Hampshire Wildcats (13-12-3, 10-10-2 HEAW)
Date/Time	Friday, February 7, 2020 | 6:00 PM Saturday, February 8, 2020 | 2:00 PM
Venue	Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
Multimedia	Friday Video | Saturday Video | Live Stats
Social	Twitter |  Instagram

 
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack women's ice hockey team looks to rebound after a loss at Providence with a pair of home games against Northeastern on Friday and New Hampshire on Saturday.
 
Friday's contest will be the first of the season against the No. 2/3 Huskies the Warriors will play this season. Teams will face off two more times on Feb. 21 and 22, with a home-and-home. The last time Merrimack faced off against Northeastern, both teams walked away with a tie, with the 4-4 draw coming on Feb. 23, 2019. Merrimack will finish the season series against New Hampshire on Friday, Feb. 8 after the Wildcats took both games in December both at Lawler Rink and the Whittemore Center.  

Friday is the Warriors' Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer game, with the team fundraising for The Ellie Fund, which provides essential support services for breast cancer patients, allowing the focus to be on family, recovery and healing. By providing nutritional and grocery assistance, transportation to medical appointments, childcare and support through group therapy, The Ellie Fund helps ease the stresses of everyday life for patients and their families. Skating Strides is a Hockey East wide initiative in its thirteenth season, and has raised nearly $400,000 for community based charities to date.

Saturday, the Bertagna Trophy Tour comes to Lawler Rink, where fans can see the trophy given to conference playoff champions, as well as enter a raffle to win tickets to see the Women's Hockey East Championship at Merrimack.

Five Things to Know:
• Senior netminder Lea-Kristine Demers has had five straight games with 35 or more saves, with her highest shot total coming against Maine on Jan. 17, where Demers made 45 stops.
• Mikyla Grant-Mentis is two points short of taking the all-time points lead in program history. Grant-Mentis has 112 points, with 54 goals and 58 assists in 131 career games.  
• In the last game against UNH, Merrimack's goals came from Katie Kaufman and Kate Bukolska.
• Merrimack's power play is sixth in Hockey East in conference contests, with the Warriors converting at a 15.1% rate, with 14 goals on the advantage in conference play.
• Sophomore defender Julia MacLean is fourth in Hockey East in blocked shots with 56 this season.  
 
A Look at the Huskies:
The No. 3 team in the country enters Lawler Rink on a nine game winning streak. The Huskies clinched the Hockey East regular season title in a 3-2 overtime win against UConn last Friday.  
 
Northeastern is led by sophomore forward Alina Mueller, named Hockey East Player of the Month for January, having tallied 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points in 28 games this season. Aerin Frankel, the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for January, holds a 21-3-1 overall record and a 1.06 goals against. Northeastern's offense leads Hockey East, averaging 4.09 goals per game in conference play; a full goal higher than the next-best offense.
 
A Look at the Wildcats:
New Hampshire last competed against state rival Dartmouth, taking a 3-1 win on Tuesday, after taking a loss and tie on the road against Maine. The Wildcats have clinched a playoff spot, and look to cement home ice in the final weeks of the season.
 
The Wildcats offense is led by Meghara McManus, who has posted 15 goals and 22 points through 28 games this season. Ava Boutilier has backstopped a majority of games this season, holding a 9-7-1 record and 2.05 goals against, as well as three shutouts in conference play.
 
Inside the Matchup
 

Merrimack (4-20-4, 1-16-4 HEAW)	Category	Northeastern(14-10-2, 11-8-0 HEAW)	New Hampshire (14-12-3, 10-10-2 HEAW)
3-0 L, (1/31 at Providence)	Last Game	3-1 W, (2/4 vs Harvard Beanpot Semis)	3-1 W (2/4 vs Dartmouth)
1.82	Scoring Offense	3.93	2.34
3.25	Scoring Defense	0.93	2.14
25.6	Shots/Game	35.8	30.8
33.0	Shots Allowed/Game	25.6	28.2
19-120	PPG-Chances	17-105	20-136
15.8%	PP%	16.2%	14.7%
96-116	PK-Chances	87-93	108-120
82.8%	PK%	93.5%	90.0%
122-269	Penalties-PIM	103-217	125-261
4.4	PEN/Game	3.7	4.3

 
Up Next
The Warriors will travel to UConn for a weekend series against the Huskies at Freitas Forum on Friday, February 14 at 6 p.m. before taking them on again on Saturday, February 15 at 3 p.m.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.