This past weekend, the No. 17 UConn Huskies hosted No. 11 Ohio State in a two games series. There was a lot of hype revolving around this matchup as both teams are nationally ranked.
Coming into the match, the Huskies and the Buckeyes were each undefeated, both with a 4-0 record. The first game ended in a tie 0-0. Keeping the Buckeyes scoreless, sophomore goaltender Logan Terness had a career high 43 total saves. Ohio State’s goaltender Jakub Dobes also kept the Huskies from scoring with 20 saves. After three periods of intense hockey with both teams playing dominant defense, the game went into a sudden death overtime.
In overtime, neither team had any solid scoring opportunities with both goaltenders standing their ground. The amount of second chances were limited by the defense which led the game to a shootout. The Huskies sent freshman Matthew Wood, juniors Andrew Lucas and Ryan Tverberg but were all denied at the net. To give the Buckeyes a shootout victory, junior Travis Treloar scored a goal followed by a save from sophomore Jakub Dobes.
UConn continued its play against Ohio State on Saturday to wrap up the series.
Right from the puck drop, UConn attacked Ohio State, firing shots at the goaltender and looking for the right opportunity to score early in the game. In the first period, UConn got its chance after a high stick penalty for the Buckeyes gave the Huskies the man advantage. Shortly after the penalty time was up, Lucas found Wood who fired the first goal of the game past the goaltender, giving UConn a 1-0 lead. Ohio State wasted no time and tied up the game 1-1 with a goal from Kamil Sadlocha in the last minute before the period break.
UConn continued to put pressure on the Buckeyes and take advantage of all their mistakes.
Graduate student Ty Amonte fired a shot from right in front of the net to score, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead. To beat Buckeyes goaltender Dobes and to give the Huskies a two-goal lead, Tverberg made a move to get the puck past the net. The second period ended with UConn leading Ohio State 3-1.
The third period was all Huskies and they did not take their foot off the gas. They silenced Ohio State at one goal and their offense went off in the final period. A minute into the period, freshman Jake Percival slid the puck through the goaltenders legs off a rebound from junior Hudson Schandor’s scoring attempt. This put UConn up to a 4-1 lead. The Huskies kept their offense thriving as Amonte found the net for the second time this game, adding a fifth goal. Lastly, a one timer from senior Jake Flynn would cap off the night, extending the Huskies lead to 6-1.
“I thought it might’ve been our best period of the season,” said Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh of the final frame.
Amonte finished the game with two goals and played a large role helping the Huskies overpower the Buckeyes.
“If you want money go to the bank, if you want goals go to the net,” noted Cavanaugh of the team’s strategy.
Freshman Arsenii Sergeev finished with 28 saves, holding the Buckeyes to one goal. As the final buzzer sounded, UConn skated to a 6-1 win over Ohio State and its best start in program history. After this win, the Huskies improved their record to 5-0-1.
UConn will travel to Boston University next weekend to face the No. 9 Terriers in a two-game series. This will be a huge series for the Huskies to see if they can compete with teams at the top 10 level. At Agganis Arena in Boston, the puck drops are scheduled for Friday Oct. 21 at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
