After the No. 20 UConn men’s hockey team’s successful weekend in Vermont, they will make their first trip of the year to Hartford to play their home opener against Union on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8.
UConn and Union have a very even history. The Huskies have two wins, two losses and three ties against the Dutchmen. Despite this, the two teams have not been matched up since 2014, meaning that each team’s roster has turned completely over several times since they last met.
This past weekend, Union defeated RIT 4-3 and tied with Army West Point 2-2.
For the preseason coaches’ poll, Union was picked to finish eighth in the ECAC Hockey. The media was a bit higher on them, picking the Dutchmen to finish sixth, a more optimistic and assured viewpoint.
Similar to UConn, Union welcomed many new athletes to the team with 13 total; four transfers and nine first-year students. Another new addition for the Dutchman includes their new head coach Josh Hauge. On April 15, 2022, Hauge was named the 22nd head coach in Union hockey’s history. Previously, he worked for the ECAC Hockey’s rival Clarkson University as the associate head coach.
Union played a solid weekend, coming out of it with a record of 1-0-1. A player that did damage in the Dutchmen’s opening weekend was freshman Carter Korpi, who had two goals in their first game against RIT. Senior goaltender Connor Murphy made 30 stops against West Point as part of a 52-save weekend. Murphy was a key player in Union’s first two games and will play a part in their upcoming games against the Huskies.
For the Huskies, they have dominated the ice defensively as they have only allowed two goals between their first two games. In the opener against Vermont, sophomore goaltender Logan Terness finished the game with 15 saves and in the second game, Arsenii Sergeev had a total of 24 saves. Right off the bat, UConn’s defense has stood strong which propelled the Ice Bus to their first series sweep.
Earlier this week, NCAA Ice Hockey released their week one USCHO Division I Men’s Hockey Poll. On the list, the Huskies were ranked No. 20. Additionally, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine released their women’s college hockey poll as well. The UConn women’s hockey team was ranked No. 15. This makes for two nationally ranked hockey teams in Storrs which is definitely something for UConn to be proud of.
After the Huskies sweep against Vermont, junior Andrew Lucas was named Hockey East player of the week. He recorded two assists in each of the games, helping the Huskies to get on the board and to later securing the wins.
Connecticut hopes to improve their record and remain undefeated in their pair of games against Union. On Friday, the puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the XL Center and Saturday’s game is set to begin at 4:05 p.m.
