Freshman goaltender Brian Foster tallied his second career shutout with 29 saves to help No. 2 New Hampshire to a 2-0 non-conference victory against St. Lawrence on Friday night in front of a sellout Whittemore Center crowd of 6,501.
With the win, the Wildcats head into the holiday break with a 12-game unbeaten streak at 11-0-1, the second-longest unbeaten streak in the country.
UNH ups its record to 13-2-1 overall, including a 10-1-1 mark in Hockey East play. UNH sits atop the conference standings with 21 points.
The Wildcats scored two goals in the third period just 42 seconds apart in the only scoring of the game.
Freshman forward Bobby Butler, after winning the faceoff on the play, tapped the puck back to junior defenseman Brad Flaishans, who took a wrist shot from the left point. Saints goalie Alex Petizian made the initial save but Butler streaked towards the net and collected the rebound to beat him to the right side for the fourth goal of his Wildcat career at 4:52.
UNH then got the insurance tally when senior captain Josh Ciocco scored on a breakaway on the power play, his fifth goal of the season at the 5:34 mark of the final period.
Ciocco received the breakout pass in the neutral zone from sophomore forward Thomas Fortney, who sent the puck out of the Wildcats’ defensive zone. Ciocco crashed the net and the puck trickled past Petizian to make it 2-0.
In the opening period, the Wildcats controlled play for the majority of the frame, putting up a 17-3 shot advantage to start the game.
St. Lawrence then came out strong in the middle stanza, posting a 18-6 shot difference in the second period. The Wildcats outshot SLU, 32-29 in the game.
Foster managed 18 saves in the second period and eight in the final frame in his second collegiate start. Petizian was also solid in the losing cause for St. Lawrence, with 30 saves on the night, including 17 in the opening period. Senior forward Jacob Micflikier tallied a game-high six shots on goal for New Hampshire.
With the loss the Saints drop to 8-7-0 on the season (5-2-0 ECACHL).
