UConn goes back on the ice this weekend as they face Boston College, who are currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA. The last time both sides met, back in mid-December, the Eagles (8-2, Hockey East) clutched a 4-3 overtime win in their home rink, but fell 3-1 the following day at Freitas.
UConn (5-5-1, Hockey East) were originally supposed to play UMass Lowell this weekend but their series had to be postponed.
The Huskies will enter the match fresh off a New Hampshire clean sweep, managing to defeat the Wildcats 6-5 thanks to a Carter Turnbull game-winner in OT followed by a pulverizing 8-3 win the following match. In that series, Jonny Evans and Hudson Schandor racked up four and two points respectively while goaltender Tomas Vomacka made a total of 49 saves. Evans also managed to be named Hockey East’s player of the week following this series.
Despite the knowledge of playing the top ranked team in the league, head coach Mike Cavanaugh said in a press conference that the team should not feel discouraged when facing the Eagles.
“We’ve played No. 1 teams in the country before, it’s just a game we have to focus on playing very well,” Cavanaugh said. “We just have to play our game and can’t get too focused on the opponent. When we’re successful…we’re tough to play against in all three zones, and that’s gonna be our mantra going into the game [Friday] night.”
“We’ve played No. 1 teams in the country before, it’s just a game we have to focus on playing very well,”
Looking at the Huskies’ opponent for the weekend, the Eagles will be flying high on a three-game win streak. In their series last week, BC managed to get a clean sweep against Merrimack, scoring a total of seven goals while only conceding four. A variety of Boston College players were involved in the series, but some of the more prominent players that should be on UConn’s radar are senior forward Logan Hutsko, who got a goal and an assist, junior defenseman Jack St. Ivany, who provided two assists, and junior forward Marc McLaughlin, who got a goal and two assists, to name a few.
This is probably the one matchup all hockey fans should watch this season, and for all the good reasons. This is almost like a David and Goliath situation that will consist of three interesting and action-packed periods in Friday and Saturday night’s games.
The Huskies will start off the series by taking the ice bus to Kelley Rink on Friday, followed by them hosting the Eagles at Freitas on Saturday.
