The No. 11 UConn women’s ice hockey team (14-6-2, 11-3-1 Hockey East) is just a point behind No. 13 Boston College but could slide into first place in the conference standings if they continue to stay hot, as the Huskies are currently on a three-game winning streak.
They began the weekend in North Andover, Mass., where Merrimack College (7-13-2, 4-9-2 Hockey East) looked for revenge against the Huskies after the first meeting ended in an overtime loss for the Warriors.
The game started with strong plays from the back line. Defenseman Claire Peterson sent the puck down the ice to forward Riley Grimley, who set up freshman Ashley Allard for her third goal of the season, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Merrimack was aggressive on offense, especially when they went on the power play due to a body-checking penalty on Grimley and an interference call on forward Kathryn Stockdale, but could not tie the score in the first 20 minutes despite outshooting the Huskies 8-6.
Defense was the key for both teams in the first 40 minutes, as the second period went scoreless. Following a penalty killed by the Warriors, the Ottawa, Ontario native wrapped the puck around and fired a behind-the-back shot for the senior’s fifth goal of the season, which ended up being the game-winner.
However, shortly after the goal, Merrimack responded with forward Maria Lindberg cutting the Warriors’ deficit back to one goal.
With junior Megan Warrener tying her season-best in saves with 26, the Huskies stayed perfect against Merrimack this season, with a 2-1 victory.
It was High School Day and Jersey Day for the Huskies on Saturday, as they hosted Boston University (9-10-2, 7-8-1 Hockey East) at the Toscano Family Ice Forum. Allard gave the Hockey East consideration in potentially being the conference’s Rookie of the Week, as she collected two assists to bring her total to seven on the season.
Warrener saw a lot of action in the first period as she kept out 11 shots on goal, keeping the Huskies’ defense on its heels.
Midway through the first period, forward Kyla Josifvoic found sophomore Brooke Campbell for the opening goal, with the puck passing through the five-hole of Alexa Matses.
Defenseman Camryn Wong found forward Coryn Tormala, who found the top right shelf for UConn’s second goal of the game three minutes after the first goal.
Boston University’s Sydney Healey cut the Terriers’ deficit to one after finding the back of the net less than two minutes after Tormala’s goal.
The Terriers had the edge in the second period, scoring the period’s only goal off the stick of Lilli Welcke, who tied it up midway through the period. Despite scoring the only goal, they failed to outshoot Connecticut, who won that battle 21-18.
Allard and Grimley continued to have a strong weekend as they connected to set up Habisch, who was wide open on the right side to break the tie. Allard found Peterson, who sniped the bottom right corner of the net to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. Josifvoic put the cherry on top of a prolific third period with an empty net goal, giving UConn a 5-2 win.
Head coach Chris MacKenzie became the winningest coach in program history with 164 wins in 11 years.
UConn will look to stay undefeated against the University of Maine (11-11-1, 7-8-1 Hockey East) this season on Friday night in Storrs. Following that, they will travel to face the University of New Hampshire (10-10-2, 7-6-2 Hockey East) on Sunday.