Following a massive 4-2 win over Holy Cross, the No. 1 Huskies set their sights on the Hockey East semifinals against No. 4 Boston College.
The Huskies were coming off a massively successful week for the program, as head coach Chris MacKenzie was named Hockey East Coach of the Year. Heading into the contest, the program was prepared to continue its successes.
The last time UConn came face-to-face with Boston College was for a two-game series in mid-October, which resulted in back-to-back losses for the Huskies. This time around, UConn was determined to change the narrative.
The match could not have started better for the Huskies as Jada Habisch nailed the Eagles with a 1-0 start. After catching a bouncing puck from Ava Rinker, Habisch was able to whiz past the Eagle’s defense to face off with the Boston goaltender. Effortlessly, the senior found the net to bring the Huskies to an early advantage and bring in her 17th goal of the season.
Habisch leads Hockey East in game-winning goals and is currently enjoying the Hockey East Player of the Week title, thanks to her exceptional performance in the Holy Cross matchup last Saturday.
The majority of the first was characterized by the Eagles in the neutral zone. Boston College frequently found themselves defending their net or struggling to break through the seemingly impenetrable Husky defense. Husky goaltender Tia Chan had little interaction with the Eagles, as her offensive and defensive lines were all over the puck.
As the period neared the end, there was significant foot traffic near the Eagles’ goal as the Huskies dominated the offensive line. With three minutes left, the first power play of the game came to the Huskies due to a penalty from the Eagles.
Although Boston was able to kill the penalty in the final moments, the period was a massive success for the Huskies.
In the second period, the Eagles upped the ante as they were able to dance around the Huskies’ defense and get several early shots off. Despite this newfound intensity from Boston, UConn was familiar and ready to respond to a swift increase in competition.
Early on in the period, UConn was challenged to defend Chan more closely as the Eagles moved their dominance from the neutral zone into the Huskies’ danger zone.
The Eagles dominated for a solid portion of the period with several strong shifts. Just minutes in, the Huskies were given a leg up for their second power play, but were ultimately unable to capitalize as Boston killed the advantage. With a small-margin game, every play mattered.
Throughout the period, several UConn athletes just missed the back of the Eagles’ net, as they were ultimately unable to connect to get a shot off.
The third period began with a bang as Boston earned a powerplay in the first minute. Just seconds later, the Eagles shot through the five-hole on Chan to tie up the game 1-1 and score on the advantage.
With the contest now knotted up and as the possibility of overtime lingered, the stakes were the highest of the night.
A body-checking penalty against Boston then reversed the roles and gave UConn the powerplay. In the midst of the advantage, a massive hit to Habisch granted the Huskies a five-on-three power play. Despite having a significant upper hand, UConn was unable to secure a lead and the play soon turned into a successful kill for the Eagles.
Despite several close shots by UConn and massive saves from the Boston goaltender, the opponents were unable to pull away from one another and headed into overtime at 1-1.
The duo headed into a 20-minute period of five vs five sudden death overtime. With the Hockey East Championship on the line, it was all or nothing for the Huskies.
After dancing around the ice and several close calls for both teams, senior Kathryn Stockdale nailed the game-winner for UConn. On an assist from Megan Woodworth, Stockdale was able to split the Boston defenders and five-hole the Eagles’ goaltender.
Sporting ear-to-ear grins and jumping into a massive team celebration, the Huskies win was clearly well worth the wait.
UConn will now be headed to the Hockey East Championship against Northeastern where they will look to defend their reigning title. This will be Northeastern’s seventh season in a row appearing at the Championships and this year they will be representing the No. 2 seed behind UConn’s No. 1.