Ten games into the season, the UConn women’s ice hockey team (7-3-1, 6-3-0 Hockey East) is in second place in the Hockey East standings, trailing No. 15 Boston College by one point.
The Huskies traveled to Orono, Maine to take on the University of Maine (4-8-0, 2-6-0 Hockey East) in a two-game series at Harold Alfond Sports Arena.
Following a stellar performance by goaltender Megan Warrener last weekend against Northeastern University, head coach Chris MacKenzie put in Tia Chan for game one of the series. The Chinese Olympian did not disappoint. She made 21 saves in net, including 15 shots through the second and third periods, even though the Black Bears had an aggressive approach during the final 40 minutes.
On offense, the star of the game was UConn forward Jada Habisch. The senior from Buffalo, Minnesota scored the only goal of the game in the first period, rebounding a saved shot and tapping it past Maine goaltender Jorden Mattison for her fifth goal of the season. Forwards Christina Walker and Riley Grimley were awarded the assists on Habisch’s goal.
It was the Huskies’ third straight shutout, proving that Chan and Warrener are the Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman of the Hockey East.
UConn looked for their sixth straight victory on Saturday afternoon. Once again, Habisch and Chan led the way for the Huskies.
The game started with a hooking penalty on Maine defenseman Adriana Van De Leest. On the power play, forward Brooke Campbell fired a shot past Mattison to give Connecticut a 1-0 lead for the first two periods. Forward Coryn Tormala and defenseman Ava Rinker assisted the sophomore from Essex, Ontario’s fourth goal of the season.
Maine came out extremely aggressive on offense in the second period, forcing Chan to make 15 saves in the middle period alone.
The score through the first 40 minutes of the game was identical to the first game of the series, but the third period told the story of this game.
Habisch proved why she should be the Hockey East Player of the Week as she continued to heat up in Orono. She scored back-to-back goals to extend the Huskies’ lead to three. Both of the goals had the help of Ontario natives. Her first goal was assisted by defenseman Emma Eryou, a sophomore from Nepean, while her second was assisted by forward Ashley Allard, a freshman from Ottawa.
Thanks to Van De Leest, assisted by forward Ava Stevenson, the Black Bears finally found a shot past Chan, who should be the Stop It Hockey East Goaltender of the Week for the second consecutive week. However, the once-three-goal lead was enough to hold off Maine and resulted in a 3-1 win for the series sweep.
Another positive in the series was the Huskies’ discipline, as they only committed two penalties during the two games.
Connecticut’s defense should not go unmentioned. They did an excellent job of containing Hockey East Co-Player of the Week forward Ann-Frederique Guay who was coming off of a hat trick performance last weekend.
With the addition of two wins, UConn’s record against Maine improved to 41-20-9. They have won three of the last four games against the Black Bears.
It’s been over a month since the last time the Huskies struggled on the road when they fell to Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, which ended in a series sweep.
Outside of the 4-3 loss at the Conte Forum, the Huskies have only allowed seven goals this season and no more than two in a single game. Holding opponents to one goal or less has been the key to winning games for UConn. They have not won this season when giving up at least two goals.
Because of the team’s ability to shut down their opponent’s offense, Connecticut is riding on a six-game winning streak heading into a home-and-home series with the College of Holy Cross (3-6-2, 2-3-2 Hockey East) next weekend, with the home game serving as the team’s Huskies & Heroes game. Maine will head to Burlington, Vermont to take on No. 13 Vermont (6-4-1, 5-2-0 Hockey East).