The University of Connecticut men’s ice hockey team will look to build off of a strong win over No. 7 Maine when they take on the No. 17 University of New Hampshire Wildcats for two matches this weekend.
After squandering a chance at a victory by allowing Maine to go on a run on Friday, the Huskies responded with an impressive 2-0 victory in their subsequent match against the nation’s No. 7 team. The Connecticut defense held strong despite Maine outshooting UConn 27-19 throughout the contest. Arsenii Sergeev was superb in the goal for the Ice Bus in what amounted to his first collegiate shutout, amassing 27 saves throughout the match. The game remained scoreless until entering the third period when Tabor Heaslip put the Huskies on the board just 22 seconds following the intermission break. Joey Muldowney extended the lead to two following a steal by teammate Tristen Fraser, a lead that the home team would hang on to as the final buzzer sounded.
The win moved the Huskies to 9-10-2 overall on the season including a 5-7-1 showing against Hockey East opponents. Their 17 points in conference play places Connecticut in fifth place in the conference, one point behind fourth place Providence and one point ahead of sixth place Massachusetts.
“I think that it speaks of the difficulty of our league when you are going from one ranked opponent to the next,” UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh said ahead of the weekend set. “I think that we played really well against Maine…now we’re taking on a very strong New Hampshire team. [UNH head coach] Mike [Souza]’s done an excellent job building that team, so it’s going to be quite the task for us.”
The Wildcats are coming off of a tough 3-0 loss against No. 2 Boston University in their latest match, but they were on a high beforehand, winning their prior three matchups entering the contest. New Hampshire is in the midst of an impressive season, going 11-6-1 overall en route to being named the No. 17 program in the nation. The team has gone 4-3-1 in the Hockey East, but finds itself low in the conference standings, having not played as many Hockey East games as the other teams. With 13 points in conference play, UNH is tied with Vermont for seventh place in the Hockey East.
One player to keep tabs on entering the contest will be UConn captain Hudson Schandor. Schandor missed the Huskies’ latest victory over Maine due to injury but was effective before getting hurt. He scored a goal in Connecticut’s first loss to Maine and had another potential goal erased after the referees determined goalie interference. Statistically, Schandor is tied for the best +/- on the Huskies with Thomas Messineo at +9. With three goals and 10 assists, his 13 points on the campaign also rank third for UConn, with his assist total pacing the squad. His availability heading into the weekend could be a major factor for the Ice Bus given the way that he has produced when available.
It’s not difficult to identify who UNH’s top statistical performer has been all season, as Ryan Conmy leads his program in just about all of the notable offensive statistics. His +/- of +8 is the best mark for the Wildcats. He’s scored 10 goals and has dished out 12 assists on the season, both first on New Hampshire, giving him a whopping 22 points this season. The shutout loss to BU was just the fifth time this year that Conmy has failed to record a point from either a goal or an assist. A freshman from Alexandria, Virginia, Conmy’s performance this season is figured to keep him fixed in the Wildcats’ rotation for the foreseeable future.
The Huskies are set to host New Hampshire for the first of the two games at the Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, Connecticut at 7 p.m. on Friday. The two teams will meet for game two at the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex in Durham, New Hampshire at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Fans at home can catch both games live on NESN.