The No. 13 UConn men’s hockey team is coming off of a thrilling overtime win against the currently-ranked No. 20 Northeastern Huskies, and are now looking ahead to their next Hockey East series at New Hampshire.
Since their latest win, Connecticut has moved up one spot on the USCHO Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Poll and now sit at No. 13. Despite their loss in the Connecticut Ice tournament against Quinnipiac, the Huskies have been on a roll, winning four out of their last five games. They have key wins against UMass, Yale and Northeastern and they look to keep the winning pattern going.
In those last five games for UConn, junior Hudson Schandor has shined with five goals and three assists. Against Northeastern alone, Schandor had two goals and an assist, one of those goals being the overtime game-winner. Another player who has been a strong force for the Huskies is freshman Matthew Wood. Earlier this week, Hockey East announced that Wood was awarded Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month. In the month of January, Wood recorded seven assists, nine points and 1.5 PPG. In their last few games, Connecticut’s offense has shined and it could not come at a better time as they are fighting for the conference title.
UConn is approaching the final stretch of the regular season with only six games remaining on their schedule. In those six games, they will face New Hampshire three times; twice in Durham and once in Storrs at the Toscano Family Ice Forum. In all-time history, the Huskies are 13-7 against the Wildcats. Connecticut has won seven out of the last 10 matchups against New Hampshire with two being from last season.
“It’s certainly an important Hockey East weekend for us,” said head coach Mike Cavanaugh on facing New Hampshire. “We know we are in a race for home ice and possibly a league title if things break the right way.”
New Hampshire will enter this series with a 9-18-1 overall record and 4-13-1 in conference play. Recently, the Wildcats have been playing some solid hockey, winning five of their last seven games. Two standout Wildcats are senior captain Chase Stevenson and freshman Damien Carfagna. This week, Hockey East announced Stevenson as Player of the Week and Carfagna as ROTC Army Co-Defender of the Week. New Hampshire is not a team that UConn should doubt as they have pulled off some significant wins against fellow Hockey East opponents.
The Ice Bus will travel to New Hampshire for their two-game series against the Wildcats on Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11. Puck drop for Friday is set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+ and Saturday is set for 4:00 p.m. on NESN.
