The University of Connecticut’s women’s ice hockey team is getting ready to start their season off at home as they play Quinnipiac this Saturday in a preseason exhibition game.
The 2023-2024 Hockey East Champions went 25-8-5 and will face off against the Bobcats, who went 25-11-1 last season. The Huskies were the No. 1 seed last season, which contributed to their success in winning the Hockey East Championship for the first time in program history.
The Huskies faced the Bobcats once last year in the Nutmeg Classic where Quinnipiac won 4-2.
However, this time around, the Huskies will look to flip the scoreboard in their favor with the help of some crucial pieces.
Some of UConn’s key returning players include Tia Chan, Jada Habisch and Ashley Allard, all of whom were included in last year’s All-Conference selections.
Senior goalie Chan had an impressive season last year. She played in 24 games and made a total of 642 saves.
Habisch returns to the program as a graduate student, where she will do her best to continue contributing to the scoreboard as she did last season. She scored 17 goals across the season for Connecticut.
Allard had a standout freshman year. She appeared in all 38 games for the Huskies and was awarded Hockey East All-Academic.
Also returning is the Huskies’ head coach, Chris MacKenzie, who led the team to its first Hockey East Championship.
MacKenzie is entering his twelfth season coaching the Huskies and is coming off a very successful year, during which he was awarded Hockey East Coach of the Year for his contributions to the team’s success.
Connecticut will have to watch out for the Bobcats’ returning players who stood out on the team last year. One of them is graduate student Kendall Cooper, who will serve as the captain for the Bobcats this season. Cooper appeared in all 37 games and led the Bobcat defenders in scoring with 11 goals. Sophie Urban is another player the Huskies should look out for. The returning graduate student appeared in all 37 games a year ago and contributed to winning faceoffs for the Bobcats.
Although this game will serve as a preseason exhibition, looking ahead, the Huskies are favored to finish first in the Hockey East preseason poll, which came out on Monday.
In addition, the Huskies are ranked No. 9 in USA Hockey’s preseason poll, with the Bobcats right behind them as No. 10.
With contributing factors of the returning lineup from last year and the strong leadership from their head coach, the game against the Bobcats will have fans looking to see if the Huskies can maintain their rapport from last season.
The Huskies will host the Bobcats Saturday at the Toscano Family Ice Forum, with the puck drop set for 4 p.m.