On Saturday, after a long offseason of waiting, the Huskies will be back to playing hockey when they are hosted by the Raiders of Colgate University for two games this weekend.
After a fourth-place finish in last season’s Hockey East standings, the Huskies will hope to replicate their regular season success. The team qualified for the Hockey East conference tournament last season but was defeated by UMass Lowell in their first match of the postseason. Connecticut enters the new season projected to finish fifth in the Hockey East according to the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The Raiders were one of the better teams in the Eastern College Athletic Conference last year, finishing in fifth place out of the 12 teams. The team caught fire once the postseason began and ultimately won the 2023 ECAC tournament, defeating Harvard 3-2 in the championship round. The tournament victory earned Colgate an automatic bid to last season’s National College Athletic Association Division I tournament, where they were defeated by Michigan in the first round of play. The team is projected to replicate last season’s fifth place finish in the ECAC according to the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The Ice Bus had a very busy offseason turning over talent, as the team added seven new players to the roster while bidding farewell to six. Of the players returning to the Huskies this season, perhaps none stands out more than sophomore Matthew Wood. After being hailed as perhaps the most prolific recruit in UConn ice hockey history, Wood delivered on the hype with an outstanding freshman campaign last season. He finished last season as UConn’s leading point scorer with 34 points via 11 goals and 23 assists. His assist total and 102 shot attempts were also tops for the Huskies. Overall, Connecticut outscored their opponents by seven goals with Wood on the ice and the wing was subsequently named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team at the season’s conclusion. Wood’s superb play as a freshman led to him being drafted 15th overall in the 2023 National Hockey League Draft by the Nashville Predators. With both Justin Pearson and Ryan Tverberg no longer on the roster, Wood’s path to becoming the focal point of UConn’s offense is now clear.
Just like the Huskies, Colgate had to deal with lots of turnover during the offseason as both of the team’s two leading scorers from last season are no longer with the team. However, the Raiders did retain defenseman Nick Anderson, who finished first on his team last season in plus-minus while he was on the ice. The senior played in all 40 of Colgate’s matches last season, tallying 29 points behind three goals and 26 assists to finish third on his team in points. Anderson was also a valuable asset on the defensive side of the puck as he blocked 43 shot attempts last year. He turned up his performance once the postseason began, blocking five shots and distributing an assist in a quarterfinal win over St. Lawrence in last year’s ECAC tournament. He also registered an assist in the ECAC championship victory over Harvard and was named ECAC Hockey Defender of the Week on Nov. 28.
In four prior matchups against Colgate, Connecticut has managed a 2-1-1 record. Their most recent game came back on Nov. 27, 2021 when the Huskies defeated the Raiders by a 6-1 score. UConn is riding a two game win streak versus Colgate and will look to expand the streak to three or possibly four games this weekend.
The two teams will kick off the first weekend of the news season with a 7 p.m. match on Saturday before following up with a second game at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Both games are set to be played at the Class of 1965 arena in Hamilton, New York. Live broadcast information is not yet available for either game.