While many college students enjoyed a weeklong break for Thanksgiving with their families, the UConn women’s ice hockey team played a busy slate of four games, going 2-2 over that stretch.
First, the No. 14 Huskies faced off against the No. 11 Boston College Eagles in a two-game series from Nov. 22 to 23, looking to claim victory against a similarly ranked opponent. Success eluded UConn at the start, as the Eagles overcame a one-goal deficit twice to win 3-2. Freshman forward Claire Murdoch scored her sixth goal of the season for Connecticut on a power play to put them up 1-0, but BC quickly turned it into a tie less than six minutes later on a shot by Lauren Glaser.
UConn regained the lead in the second period with a goal from Livvy Dewar, her first of the campaign and they maintained that momentum with two straight power play opportunities. However, disaster struck at the tail end of the second power play. BC regained the puck and scored a shorthanded goal by Julia Pellerin, knotting the game at 2-2.
In the third period, Glaser made it two goals for the day with a superb solo effort at 9:12, which would prove to be the decisive score. Despite another power play for the Huskies and a furious rally at the end of the game, which saw three shots in the last five seconds, Eagles goalie Grace Campbell kept UConn out of the net to secure the 3-2 victory.
The second match, played at home on the Storrs campus, brought better results for the Huskies. Once again, UConn opened the scoring with a long strike from sophomore defenseman Maya Serdachny, her third goal of the season, as junior forward Kyla Josifovic bagged an assist on the play. BC continued the repeat of events by equalizing with under a minute left in the first, making the score 1-1 as the teams headed into the first intermission.
Connecticut was determined not to give up another game, building up pressure throughout the second period and earning a power play at 14:00. They eventually broke through ten seconds after the power play lapsed. Two quick passes from Megan Woodworth and Josifovic set up Ashley Allard perfectly in front of goal, and her shot found the back of the net, give UConn the lead. From there, Huskies goalie Tia Chan made 10 saves in the remaining time, securing the 2-1 victory and leaving the Eagles to head home disappointed.
In splitting the series at one game apiece, UConn drew even with BC at 8-3 in conference play, with the Eagles ahead in the standings on goal difference.
The Huskies then took a break from conference matchups by playing in the Nutmeg Classic, hosted by Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. In their first game of the tournament, UConn battled against the Yale Bulldogs. For the third game in a row, Connecticut scored the first goal; this time it was the efforts of Josifovic on a power play, putting them up 1-0 halfway through the first period.
That was the only scoring the Huskies could muster, as Yale tied the game in the second period and kept a huge shot advantage – the Bulldogs tallied 38 shots overall to UConn’s 18. Still, the game wasn’t decided until there were less than two minutes to go in the third period. Yale’s Carina DiAntonio slipped a shot past Chan, who made a season-high 35 saves, to give the Bulldogs a late 2-1 lead.
DiAntonio then scored an empty-netter with 30 seconds remaining, making the final score 3-1. As a result, Yale advanced to the final of the tournament to face Quinnipiac, who had thrashed the Sacred Heart Pioneers 8-1 in their matchup.
UConn bounced back in the consolation game against the Pioneers. For the first time in a few games, the Huskies were forced to respond to an early goal from the opponent, as Sacred Heart’s Kate Helgeson opened the scoring in the first period. The reply from UConn came swiftly as Allard fired her fifth goal of the season just a minute after the Pioneers scored.
The second period was all UConn. Allard struck again with seven minutes gone in the period, tying with Murdoch for most goals scored on the team. A short time later, graduate defenseman Sophie Robinson scored her first goal of the season to give the Huskies a comfortable 3-1 cushion.
Connecticut still wasn’t done, as an effort from junior forward Brianna Ware found the back of the net with about two minutes left in the second. The Pioneers clawed one back before the period was over, but UConn ended up prevailing 4-2.
The win puts the Huskies at 10-8 overall. Next, they will travel to face New Hampshire in a Hockey East matchup on Dec. 6.
© Copyright – The Daily Campus
THE DAILY CAMPUS
1266 STORRS ROAD
STORRS, CT
06269, USA
The Daily Campus is UConn’s independent, student-run newspaper. We strive to provide the UConn community with fair, accurate, relevant and editorially independent content, to take on student interests as our own interests, and to provide the best possible environment for students to learn, experience and develop skills related to news media.
ADVERTISE WITH US
View our content policy
Weekly Newsletter sign-up
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
Continue reading
