The UConn Huskies won against the UVM Catamounts 3-2 after making a 2 goal comeback in the third period. Their next home game is on 2/22 against BU. (Photo by Eric Wang/The Daily Campus)
Women’s Hockey: UConn set for important series against Merrimack
Danny Barletta, Campus Correspondent
We’ve come to the home stretch of the regular season for the UConn women’s hockey team, and they are in a position to improve their seeding in the postseason tournament in the series against Merrimack this weekend.
UConn (14-14-3, 9-12-3 Hockey East) is currently tied for sixth place in the Hockey East standings with 21 points, while Merrimack (15-10-5, 11-9-3 Hockey East) is in fifth place with 25. If the Huskies can come away with a sweep this weekend they would be tied for fifth place with Merrimack, and would win the tiebreaker with a 2-1 head-to-head record, with just one game left to play.
The difference between the fifth and sixth seed may seem minimal, but it would mean that UConn would play Providence in the first round, who they have beaten, instead of BU, who they have not been able to beat.
Head coach Chris MacKenzie stressed how important these last few games of the regular season are and how it is important to end the season with some momentum.
“We have to continue to find (a) way to get points and move up in the standings,” MacKenzie said. “We are always looking to be playing our best hockey this time of year.”
The Huskies will travel up to North Andover, Massachusetts for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday. Both games are at 2 p.m.
UConn is coming off of a successful weekend against Vermont where they picked up three points via a win and a tie.
Merrimack split their games last weekend by beating New Hampshire 2-1 but losing to Northeastern 6-3.
The Warriors will be fronted by senior Katelyn Rae, who leads the team in goals with 20 and in points with 31. Junior Mikyla Grant-Mentis has also put together a great season, tallying 30 points on 12 goals and a team-leading 18 points.
Merrimack also has one of the top goalies in the country in Samantha Ridgewell, whose .935 save percentage ranks seventh in the nation.
The last time the Huskies took on Merrimack was way back on Oct. 20, when they lost 3-1. They will look for revenge this weekend in what is probably the most important series of their season thus far.
Danny Barletta is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at daniel.barletta@uconn.edu .
