The No. 13 UConn men’s hockey team is equipped for one of their most anticipated series of the season at the fifth annual CT Ice Tournament. This year, Sacred Heart will be the host school in Fairfield, Connecticut, at the Martire Family Arena. The other schools participating in the tournament will be No. 15-ranked Quinnipiac and Yale.
“I have always said from my years of coaching in the Bean Pot and now this tournament, I think it is a great dress rehearsal for what is to come,” said head coach Mike Cavanaugh. “When you are playing in a game when there is a trophy on the line, and it is basically single elimination, it prepares your team to play a little bit differently.”
The Ice Bus will enter the CT Ice Tournament with a 12-8-2 overall record and 7-6-2 in Hockey East action. The Huskies have been on a hot streak since the start of the second half of the season as they have won five of their last seven games. They suffered a loss to Wisconsin at the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in December and tied Maine in last Saturday’s matchup but besides that, the Huskies have stayed in the win column with victories over multiple ranked teams. This week, on the USCHO.com DI Men’s Ice Hockey rankings, the Huskies climbed for spots from their No. 17 rank last week and they now check in at No. 13.
Joey Muldowney has been holding down the fort for the Huskies recent offense. The sophomore forward was named Hockey East Player of the Week, announced by the conference on Monday. Last weekend, when the Huskies traveled up North to face No. 5 Maine, Muldowney carried UConn to success after scoring all four goals in the road win to upset the then-No. 5 Black Bears. His four goals were the most in the NCAA in all of last week’s games and the first four-goal game for a Hockey East Player in conference play since 2021. Muldowney now has 12 goals and 22 total points on the season, which is a team high. Graduate-student Hudson Schandor currently has six goals, 14 assists for 20 points and junior Ryan Tattle has 10 goals, 6 assists and14 points, which leaves them not far behind Muldowney.
UConn will open the tournament facing No. 15 Quinnipiac on Friday. This will be a rematch of the CT Ice’s championship game over the past three years. The Bobcats are entering the tournament with a 14-7-2 overall record and 9-3-1 in conference play. Last Friday, in their matchup against Colgate, sophomore forward Andon Cerbone ripped a natural hat trick and lifted the Bobcats to a 6-3 victory. Andon now has eight goals, 14 assists for 22 points on the season and is one of the offensive leaders for Quinnipiac, along with graduate-student Travis Treloar and senior Jack Ricketts.
“We know we have a very formidable opponent in Quinnipiac, they are playing pretty well,” said Cavanaugh. “They are the defending champions so we will have all we can handle on Friday with the Bobcats, that’s for sure.”
The Huskies will travel down to Fairfield, Connecticut, to partake in the annual CT Ice Tournament hosted at Sacred Heart University in hopes of taking home the trophy for the first time ever. UConn will face off against No. 15 Quinnipiac in the first round of the tournament on Friday, Jan. 24. They will then either face Sacred Heart or Yale on Saturday depending on the result of Friday night’s matchups. Puck drop for Friday night is scheduled for 4:00 at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Connecticut.. Yale and Sacred Heart will play following the conclusion of UConn and Quinnipiac, estimated to start at 7:00 p.m. All the tournament games will be available to stream live on SNY and the UConn Sports Network from Learfield.