Chavonne Truter scored UNH's only goal in a tourney loss to Merrimack College at the Whittemore Center on Wednesday. (Courtesy photo by China Wong/UNH Athletics)

DURHAM – Sophomore Chavonne Trutter scored a goal but the University of New Hampshire women’s hockey team was defeated 4-1 by Merrimack College in Wednesday night’s Hockey East Tournament opening round game at the Whittemore Center.

Trutter’s goal lifted UNH within 3-1 with 5:09 remaining in regulation but Merrimack scored a shorthanded, empty-net goal with 59.5 seconds left to secure the win.

Senior goalie and captain Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) made 12 of her 23 saves in the second period.

MC goaltender Emma Gorski stopped 30 shots. Gabby Jones (one goal, two assists) and Katie Kaufman (two assists) led the Warriors’ offense.

UNH, which entered the league tournament as the No. 8 seed (9-16-1 Hockey East), finishes the 2022 season with a 11-21-2 overall record.

Ninth-seeded Merrimack improves to 8-24-1 overall and advances to play top-seed Northeastern University in a Feb. 26 quarterfinal.

Merrimack netted a pair of second-period goals with a 14-11 edge in shots.

On a delayed penalty against UNH, Julia MacLean’s shot from the left circle was redirected into the cage by Sam Lessick for an extra-attacker goal and 1-0 lead at 6:22.

Jones netted a 4-on-4 goal to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead at 17:10. In the third period, MC extended the advantage to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 8:20. Boutilier stopped Jones’ initial shot from the left point but Courtney Maud was at the top of the crease to deposit the rebound into the net.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

UNH 58, NJIT 54

Junior guard Brooke Kane of Derry notched her third career double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) to lead Wildcats to a win in their final home game of the season at Lundholm Gym.

The Wildcats improve to 7-19 overall (4-11 AE) on the season, while the Highlanders fall to 14-13 overall (9-7 AE).

UNH got four double-digit efforts from Kane, as well as 11 points apiece from forward Ivy Gogolin (Hopkinton, Mass.), Adara Groman (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Helena Delaruelle (Enghien-les-Bains, France).

The ‘Cats shot 50% in the fourth quarter and held NJIT to just 13% shooting from the floor in the third stanza. UNH went to the charity stripe 35 times on the night and made 26 of them.

UNH trailed 28-21 at the half.

NJIT’s Kenna Squier totaled a game-high 20 points in the losing effort for the Highlanders.

The game marked the final collegiate home game for Gogolin, Amanda Torres of Hudson/Nashua, Faith Bonett (Moorestown, N.J.), Sarah Serbacewicz (Ledyard, Conn.) and Kali Grimm (Norwood Young America, Minn.).

The ‘Cats return to action for the regular-season finale on Saturday at Binghamton at 2 p.m. on ESPN3.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

UNH 83, NJIT 55

Sophomore guard Nick Johnson (Bronx, N.Y.) scored 17 points and senior forward Jayden Martinez (Cibolo, Texas) added 16 to lead a balanced attack in Newark, N.J. in a critical America East road contest.

The Wildcats improved to 13-12 overall and evened their league record at 8-8 to stay in the hunt for a home game in the tournament quarterfinals.

NJIT is 11-15 overall and 6-10 in the league.

UNH came up with perhaps its best offensive performance of the season to avenge a home loss to NJIT (60-55 on Feb. 9)

The Wildcats return to Lundholm Gymnasium on Saturday at noon to celebrate Senior Day and Alumni Day with their final regular season home game of the year against Binghamton.