The UMaine women’s ice hockey team has an impressive freshman goalie in Kiia Lahtinen.
Entering Saturday’s 4:30 Hockey East quarterfinal at Boston College, the freshman from Finland is riding a five-game stretch in which she has allowed just three goals and stopped 120 of the 123 shots she has faced.
She has an 0.58 goals-against average to go with a .975 save percentage in those five games.
“She has been incredible,” said UMaine fifth-year senior defenseman and two-year captain Elise Morphy. “As a freshman, to come in and stand up in crucial moments is so impressive. She is really quick and really smart and has a maturity about her that allows her to stay calm and composed and lock it down in situations when we really need her.
“As a defenseman, she has saved me more times than I can count. I really trust her,” added Morphy.
Lahtinen didn’t have much time to settle in at UMaine because sophomore goalie Julie Bachetti suffered an injury that sidelined her from Oct. 12 to Jan. 5. Lahtinen started 17 of 18 games when Bachetti was sidelined, and that included two starts against current No. 1 Wisconsin and two more against No. 5 Colgate.
“We had to throw her into the fire when Julia got hurt,” said UMaine head coach Molly Engstrom. “She has been our X factor. She gives the team a really good chance to win. She is uber competitive. She wants to be in net all the time. But she is also very laid back, cool and calm.”
Lahtinen has allowed two goals or less in 14 of her 22 starts.
She is 6-15-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage but if you take out the two Wisconsin games and one of the two Colgate losses, she has a 1.99 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
The Black Bears will come into the quarterfinal on a 5-2-2 run over its previous nine games.
Morphy said she didn’t know if there was a defining moment that triggered the good finish.
“We had a lot of really tough games against some top teams and those games helped us become battle-tested,” said Morphy. “We came out with losses but they weren’t a failure at all because we all grew from them and that has shown in recent weeks.”
Three of UMaine’s top six scorers are sophomores and another is a freshman.
“The team learned a lot of hard lessons at the start,” said Engstrom. “We’re definitely playing our best hockey now.”
Sophomore Lily Fetch (8 goals, 7 assist) and senior linemate Adriana van de Leest (6 & 9) lead the Black Bears in scoring followed by freshman Stephanie Jacob (7 & 6), senior Alyssa Wruble (6 & 7) and sophomores Mikayla Boarder (7 & 5) and Sam Morrison (3 & 8).
Morphy said she has been impressed by the young players.
“Some of those games we played against ranked teams were tough for me as a fifth-year [player], and the way they have battled through and have shown so much resilience is incredible,” said Morphy. “I’m so proud of them.”
UMaine will enter the game with an 11-20-3 record and a 10-14-3 conference mark including three losses to Boston College.
BC is 20-12-2 and 16-9-2, respectively.
The Eagles have been paced by sophomores Sammy Taber (11 & 24), Julia Pellerin (18 & 13) and Molly Jordan (8 & 15) along with senior Abby Newhook (9 & 17), graduate student Gaby Roy (10 & 11) and junior goalie Grace Campbell (19-10-2, 2.00, .932).
Pellerin is the daughter of UMaine Hobey Baker Award winner Scott Pellerin (1991-92) and wife Jennifer. Scott Pellerin went on to have a 573-game National Hockey League career.
Julia Pellerin had three goals and two assists in a 5-0 home win over UMaine on Jan. 5.