Coming off an overtime victory in their preseason exhibition game against Quinnipiac last weekend, the Huskies looked to continue their strong start against Minnesota in their first two regular-season games of the season. However, UConn faced multiple challenges throughout the weekend resulting in a 0-2 start to their season.
In the home opener on Friday night, Minnesota dominated the game from the start, scoring all their goals in the first period. Forward Abbey Murphey opened the scoring for the Golden Gophers just twenty seconds into the first period. Two minutes later, Minnesota scored yet again thanks to sophomore Emma Kreisz, who was named to the NCAA Rookie of the Year Watch List due to her breakout freshman year last season. The Huskies struggled to keep the puck out of their zone resulting in Minnesota scoring two more goals in the first period. The Huskies went into the second period trailing 0-4.
UConn looked to turn things around in the second period and did so seven minutes into the period, as junior forward Megan Woodworth scored the first regular-season goal for the Huskies. Despite this, the Huskies failed to get pucks on net and lost to the Golden Gophers 1-4.
On a positive note, the Huskies had an impressive penalty kill in the last six minutes of the game, when Jada Habisch was sent to the penalty box for a major. Senior goalie Tia Chan made several impressive saves and ended the night with 34 total saves, 27 of them from the second and third periods.
Minnesota’s ability to outshoot the Huskies and win 27 out of the 49 faceoffs resulted in their victory, leaving the Huskies looking for a comeback in their game the next day.
UConn and Minnesota faced off again Saturday afternoon. The Huskies changed the outcome from the previous game, taking an early lead in the first period. Senior forward Riley Grimley opened the scoring just seven minutes into the first period with a power play goal, giving UConn the lead and the confidence to take on the rest of the game.
The second period was scoreless for both teams as UConn goalie Megan Warrener made a career-high 45 saves, 14 of them in the second period to keep the Golden Gophers off the score board.
Minnesota was awarded a penalty shot with less than five minutes left in the second period, but Warrener protected the net and sent the Huskies into the third period still up 1-0.
Minnesota responded quickly though, scoring just 26 seconds into the third period to tie the game. However, senior forward Brianna Ware put the Huskies right back in the lead 21 seconds later scoring her 8th career goal. The back-and-forth battle continued with Minnesota and UConn. While both sides were split in faceoff wins, the Golden Gophers still had a significant more number of shots to the net, outshooting the Huskies with 48 shots compared to UConn’s 13.
With only six minutes remaining in regulation, Minnesota forward Natalie Mlynkova kept the the Golden Gophers alive by scoring a goal to send the game into overtime.
Minnesota beat the Huskies to the net as Abbey Murphey, the leading goal scorer for Minnesota, scored the overtime winner.
The back-to-back losses are not the way the Huskies were looking to start their season, but they still remain the top pick to finish in first place by the Hockey East preseason polls.
Heading into their next game, the Huskies will need to work on getting pucks to the net as Minnesota outshot them in both games. Goalies Chan and Warrener came up big for the Huskies blocking several shots in each game to give the Huskies a chance. Fans should keep an eye on Habisch, the leading goal scorer for the Huskies last season, to remain a powerful force throughout this season.
The Huskies will look to turn their season around in their next two game home series against Pennsylvania State this Friday and Saturday. The Penn State Nittany Lions are in a similar situation to the Huskies as they are also coming off a two-game losing streak to Northeastern. Both UConn and Penn State will be looking to get their first regular-season win and it no doubt will be a battle on both ends.
Puck drop for both games will be at 3 p.m. this Friday and Saturday at the Toscano Family Ice Forum.