New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey

The New Hampshire Wildcats represent the University of New Hampshire. They have won five ECAC championships between 1986 and 1996. When the Wildcats joined Hockey East, they won four Hockey East titles from 2006 to 2009. The Wildcats has more wins than any other women's ice hockey program at 668 in its first 32 years. The Wildcats went undefeated in their initial 74 games (73-0-1) spanning the 1978 through 1982 seasons. A UNH goaltender has been declared Hockey East Goaltending Champion in the first six years of the league’s existence. From 2007 to 2009, UNH hosted NCAA Tournament Regional home games.

Arenas

 * Snively Arena (1977-1995)
 * Whittemore Center (1995-present)

Head Coaches

 * Ross McCurdy (1977-1992) 264-36-10
 * Karen Kay (1992-2002) 215-90-25
 * Brian McCloskey (2002-2014) 252-113-40
 * Hilary Witt (2014-present) 80-113-23

History
On March 22, 1998, Brandy Fisher of the Wildcats became the first ever winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. The Wildcats competed in the first AWCHA Division I National Ice Hockey Championship. Contested in March 1998, the Wildcats defeated the Brown Bears by a 4-1 score, to become the first recognized national champion in women's college ice hockey. On January 15, 2000, Carisa Zaban recorded her second straight hat trick (including her 100th career goal), while Samantha Holmes scored one goal and five assists. The Wildcats defeated Northeastern by a score of 9-1.

2006 to 2008
From 2005-06 to 2007-08, the Wildcats set school records with 33 wins in 2006 and 2008. The 2006 team broke seven team and three individual UNH records as well as four team and one individual NCAA records, and 14 team and five individual Hockey East records. In addition, the club had its first perfect season at the Whittemore Center in 2006 (17-0-0). In 2006-07, the club was ranked No. 1 in the nation during the 2007 season (ended at No. 4). The club’s 28 wins in 2007 ranks fourth on program’s single-season list The following year, in 2007-08, New Hampshire was ranked No. 1 in the nation for eight weeks in the 2008 season. In 2008, the Wildcats ended the year #1 in the nation in penalty kill, #2 in offense, #2 in defense and #2 in power play. The 2008 Wildcats broke six Hockey East team records and tied two others en route to the league’s first undefeated season

Erin Whitten
Erin Whitten shut out Dartmouth College in her collegiate debut. She began her coaching career when she joined the UNH women’s ice hockey staff on July 17, 2000. On July 27, 2006, she was promoted to the position of associate head coach on July 27, 2006

First Outdoor Game

 * Aug 21: The Northeastern University women’s hockey team will face New Hampshire at Fenway Park on Jan. 8, 2010, in the first outdoor women’s college hockey game ever. The 4 p.m. game played between the Huskies and Wildcats will be the first game of a Hockey East Doubleheader. The men’s teams at Boston College and Boston University will face off at 7:30 p.m. This will be the 110th all-time matchup between the Huskies and the Wildcats. In the prior 109 matches, New Hampshire has a 73-28-7 record vs. the Huskies.

Notable players

 * Kacey Bellamy
 * Karyn Bye
 * Colleen Coyne
 * Tricia Dunn
 * Sam Faber
 * Samantha Holmes
 * Sue Merz
 * Kelly Paton
 * Erin Whitten (Four-year varsity goaltender at New Hampshire from 1989-93)
 * Carisa Zaban


 * In the 2009-10 season, Kelly Paton ranked near the top in several scoring categories in the NCAA. She ranked fourth in assists per game (1.00), fifth in points per game (1.59) and tied for sixth in points (51). She led the Wildcats in points (51), goals (19) and plus/minus (plus-16). Paton was named Hockey East co-Player of the Year and won the Hockey East Three Stars Award. In addition, Paton was a unanimous All-Hockey East First Team selection, three-time Hockey East Player of the Month and three-time Hockey East Player of the Week.

Championships and accolades

 * UNH's history includes four consecutive EAIAW (Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) titles from 1980-83 and five ECAC titles (1986-87-90-91-96).


 * In 1998, New Hampshire won the inaugural women's ice hockey championship (sponsored by the American Women's College Hockey Alliance) in 1998 at the FleetCenter in Boston. In that 1998 season, Brandy Fisher won the inaugural Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top women's collegiate player. Four Wildcats were also members of the 1998 gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic team.


 * ECAC titles (1990, 1991)
 * ECAC runner-up (1992, 1993)
 * Appeared in the Frozen Four in 2006 and 2008
 * Hockey East regular-season champions in ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08
 * Hockey East Tournament champions in ‘06 ‘07 ‘08

Awards and honors
Wildcats player Brandy Fisher was the first ever Patty Kazmaier Award winner. The program has had four finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award. Besides Fisher, the others have included Nicki Luongo in 1999, Carisa Zaban in 2000 and Kelly Paton in 2010.


 * Courtney Birchard, 2010 WHEA First-Team All-Star
 * Courtney Birchard, 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America Second Team
 * Tricia Dunn, Forward, New Hampshire; 1996 ECAC All-Tournament Team
 * Brandy Fisher, F, 1996 ECAC Tournament most valuable player
 * Brandy Fisher, Patty Kazmaier Award
 * Martine Garland, Top 10 Finalist for 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award
 * Samantha Holmes, 1999-2000 New England Hockey Writers Association Women's Division I All-Star Team
 * Jen Huggon, All-America honors in 2003
 * Carrie Jokiel, Sara Devens Award
 * Kristina Lavoie, 2010 Hockey East Rookie of the Year
 * Kristina Lavoie, 2010 WHEA Honorable Mention All-Star
 * Kristina Lavoie, 2010 WHEA All-Rookie Team
 * Micaela Long, 2010 WHEA First-Team All-Star
 * Micaela Long, 2010 Hockey East Scoring Champion
 * Nicki Luongo, 1999 American Women's College Hockey Alliance All-Americans, First Team
 * Kerry Maher, 1999-2000 New England Hockey Writers Association Women's Division I All-Star Team
 * Kira Misikowetz, Forward, 2001-02 New England Hockey Writers Women's Division I All-Star Team
 * Kelly Paton – New Hampshire, WHEA Player of the Month, October 2009
 * Kelly Paton – New Hampshire, WHEA Player of the Month, November 2009
 * Kelly Paton – New Hampshire, WHEA Player of the Month, February 2010
 * Kelly Paton, 2010 Hockey East Co-Player of the Year
 * Kelly Paton, 2010 WHEA First-Team All-Star
 * Kelly Paton, Runner Up, 2010 Hockey East Scoring Champion
 * Kelly Paton, 2010 Frozen Four Skills Competition participant
 * Kelly Paton, 2010 Women's RBK Hockey Division I All-America First Team
 * Heather Reinke, Defense, 1996 All-ECAC Team
 * Heather Reinke, Defense, 1996 ECAC All-Tournament Team
 * Dina Solimini, Goaltender, 1996 ECAC All-Tournament Team
 * Dina Solimini, 1996 ECAC Honor Roll
 * Erin Whitten, USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year (1994)
 * Erin Whitten, UNH Department of Women’s Athletics Athlete of the Year (1993)
 * Erin Whitten, ECAC Goaltender of the Year (1992)
 * Erin Whitten, ECAC First Team (1992 and 1993)
 * Erin Whitten, ECAC All-Star Selection (equivalent to First Team status) in 1990 and 1991
 * Carisa Zaban, 1996 ECAC Honor Roll
 * Carisa Zaban, 1999 American Women's College Hockey Alliance All-Americans, Second Team
 * Carisa Zaban, 1999-2000 New England Hockey Writers Association Women's Division I All-Star Team
 * Carisa Zaban, 1999-2000 All-America selection
 * Carisa Zaban, 2000 Patty Kazmaier Award finalist

NCAA leaders

 * Melissa Bourdon, NCAA leader, 2005-06 season, Goalie winning percentage, .891
 * Jennifer Hitchcock, NCAA leader, 2005-06 season, Points per game, 1.78