The Huskies are defeated by the Vermont Catamounts 4-2 Friday at Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs. The Huskies look to play Vermont again tomorrow at home. UConn goals scored by #7 Leah Lum and #61 Briana Colangelo. (Tyler Benton/The Daily Campus)
The UConn women’s ice hockey team will play against Maine in a road doubleheader this weekend, hoping to improve its standing in conference play.
The Huskies (8-10-2) and Maine (5-15-1) occupy two of the last three places in Hockey East.
The Black Bears are currently the last in the conference, and a win against UConn would put them over Merrimack in the conference standings. UConn has won its last three games against Maine, including a sweep last year’s series.
Maine and UConn last faced off on Nov. 18, when UConn won 5-3 on a pair of goals from freshman Briana Colangelo as well as one goal each from sophomores Kayla Mee and Jaime Fox and freshman Catherine Crawley. The Black Bears’ first two goals came from Vendula Pribylova while Brook Stacey scored the last goal of the game.
Last weekend, UConn was able to break their losing streak with a win over Vermont and, earlier this week the team, had a tie in overtime with Boston College and a win over Providence.
UConn will likely rely on its leading top goal-scorer, junior Leah Lum, who has tallied 18 goals and 10 assists for 28 total points so far this season. Lum has picked up a lot of the scoring bulk this season, with 10 more goals than Colangelo, the second leading scorer.
Colangelo is second on the team with 24 points, eight goals and 16 assists. Maine’s best player, Tereza Vanišová, has 28 points on 16 goals and 12 assists.
The Huskies emphasize play using their wings to skate fast and score goals fast. Throughout the season, UConn has tended to score in the second or third period, trying to come from behind to win or tie the game.
In the last few games, however, the Huskies were able to score the first goal of the match. They led Providence 2-0 until the last three minutes of the game. But when UConn played Boston College, the team couldn’t hold their lead and ended up scrambling to get a tie on overtime.
UConn and Maine will face off in the first game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10 at Alford Arena and once again Saturday at 2 p.m.
Daniela Marulanda is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at daniela.marulanda@uconn.edu.