March 13, 2003

#7 Providence College Friars (22-6-6 / 13-1-1 ): The top-seeded Providence College women's ice hockey team faces fourth-seeded Connecticut in the semi-finals of the HOCKEY EAST Tournament. Providence was last in action on Friday, February 28 when they traveled to Niagara to play the Purple Eagles. Friar sophomore forward Hilary Greaves (Cranston, R.I) scored in overtime to give Providence a 3-2 (overtime) victory. Also scoring in the game for the Friars was senior forward Melanie Ruzzi (Burnsville, Minn.) and junior defenseman Kelli Halcisak (Grosse Ile, Mich.). Freshman goaltender Jana Bugden made 18 saves to improve her record to 18-5-5 on the year. The Friar offense is currently led by Halcisak as she leads the team in points (39) and assists (25). Leading Providence in goals is sophomore forward Rush Zimmerman (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) with 19. The Friars face the Huskies having won the season series with a record of 2-0-1. Providence leads the all-time season series, 12-0-1. Should the Friars defeat the Huskies, Providence would play for the HOCKEY EAST Tournament Championship on Sunday, March 16 at 2:00 p.m. against the winner of the New Hampshire/Maine game that will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.

University of Connecticut Huskies (11-19-4 / 3-9-3): The Huskies face top-seeded Providence in the semi-finals of the HOCKEY EAST Tournament. The fourth-seeded Huskies were last in action for two games at Maine on Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2, losing both of them, 2-0 and 5-1. Forwards Sara Mahoney (Lynn, Mass.), Megan McLeod (Livonia, Mich.), and Jacquelyn McGuire (Glenview, Ill). lead the Husky offense with 16 points each. Mahoney leads the team in goals with 11, while McGuire leads the team in assists with 11. Sophomore goaltender Shannon Murphy (Mapleville, R.I.) has a 5-15-4 record on the season with a 3.02 goals against average, along with two shutouts. This will be just the second-ever postseason appearance in the history of the Connecticut women's ice hockey program.