Looking to keep the momentum rolling from last weekend, the UConn Women’s Hockey team kicked off a weekend road trip against Boston University on Friday night in a Hockey East matchup.
The Terriers put pressure on the Huskies and goalkeeper Samantha Carpentier-Yelle with a plethora of shots in the opening minutes, with Courtney Correia, Julia Shaunessy and Alex Allan all putting shots on- net in the first five minutes of the opening period. Boston’s goalkeeper Callie Shanahan came to play for the hosting Terriers, turning away opportunities from Ainsley Svetek and Taylor Wabick to keep UConn off the board.
UConn failed to convert an early power play opportunity created by a Grace Parker interference call, with Shanahan protecting the net to send the game into the second period still 0-0.
The Huskies successfully neutralized a BU power play in the second after Amy Landry was called for cross checking. With UConn at even strength, they were able to get on the board first, courtesy of a Viki Harkness goal, her 11th goal of the season, converting an opportunity created by Danielle Fox and Morgan Wabick. This lead was short-lived, as the Terriers beat Carpentier-Yelle with a short-handed goal from MacKenna Parker, her ninth goal of the season coming late in the second period. Shanahan locked down UConn the rest of the period, turning away several Taylor Wabick shots to send the game to the third tied at one.
The third period was more of the same, as both defenses and goalkeepers were locked in a duel, with both UConn and BU blocking several shots apiece in the opening minutes. The Huskies were forced on the defensive midway through via a Chloe Gonsalves holding penalty, but Carpentier-Yelle saved two shots on-goal from Haylee Blinkhorn and Lacey Martin to keep the game tied. Throughout the period, both UConn and BU failed to convert the game-winning goal, sending the game to overtime.
UConn had chances to win early in overtime, but Shanahan turned away Natalie Snodgrass, Fox and Danika Pasqua to keep the Terriers in the game. Boston did not have many opportunities in the extra frame themselves, pushing the game to a shootout still tied at one apiece.
In the shootout, it was Boston coming out on top, courtesy of Parker shot that got by Carpentier-Yelle to propel the Terriers to a home victory, snapping the Huskies’ winning streak at four.
Next, the Huskies traveled to Durham hoping to bounce back against New Hampshire. UConn had two power play opportunities in the first period, but Wildcat goalkeeper Nicky Harnett came prepared, shutting down the Husky attack and turning away shots from Pasqua, Fox and Summer-Rae Dobson. For UConn, Megan Warrener anchored down the defensive end to keep New Hampshire off the scoreboard, sending the game into the second tied at zero.
The script was flipped seconds into the second period, as Natalie Snodgrass scored her 11th goal of the season coming off an assist from Morgan Wabick. This assist was Wabick’s 100th point of her Husky career, and gave UConn a 1-0 lead that they would continue to add onto.
Within the span of two minutes, Fox scored two goals in a row, her seventh and eighth of the season, padding the Connecticut lead to 3-0 after feeds from Jada Habisch and Ainsley Svetek/Alex Anne-Boye, respectively. The UConn onslaught of goals forced the Wildcats to change goalies, putting in Ava Thewes with the hope that New Hampshire could get back into the game.
However, Fox had other plans, scoring her third goal of the game one minute into the third period assisted by a Harkness pass. Warrener and the UConn defense shut down the New Hampshire attack, with the freshman saving 16 Wildcat shots for another shutout. Snodgrass tacked on her 12th goal on the season, beating Thewes and putting the icing on the cake for a 5-0 UConn win, a strong bounce-back performance after falling in a shootout just 24 hours before in Boston.
With the win, UConn swept the season series from New Hampshire, outscoring the Wildcats 10-1 throughout the three meetings. This was the most goals scored for the Huskies since Jan. 7 against Vermont, where they also came out on top, 5-1.
Up next for the Huskies is a home-and-home series with the Providence Friars, as they welcome their Hockey East opponent to Freitas on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and hit the road on Saturday to Providence for an afternoon affair at 3:00 p.m. This nationally ranked UConn squad will look to build on their impressive record of 21-6-3 and 15-5-3 in conference play, closing the season strong and building momentum going into the final weekend of regular season contests.
