The UConn women’s ice hockey team is set to face off against the Boston University Terriers in a two-game series over the weekend that will decide the Hockey East standings. If the Huskies (19-11-2, 17-6-2) win twice, they will take first place from current frontrunners BU (21-9-2, 18-5-2) and secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Hockey East tournament, which will begin on Feb. 26. Since UConn is locked into the top six seeds, their tournament play will start either Feb. 28 or March 1.
Connecticut is coming off a pair of losses to the Providence Friars last weekend. They will look to reset for this all-important and final regular-season matchup against the Terriers, and they have good reason to believe first place is within reach. The Huskies last played the Terriers on Feb. 7 and came away with a resounding 3-1 win, scoring a goal in every period. Freshman forward Claire Murdoch was central to those efforts, doubling UConn’s 1-0 lead in the second period with an important goal; that score would prove to be the deciding factor in Connecticut’s win. Murdoch, as the team’s leading point-scorer with 13 goals and 13 assists each on the season, will look to make a similar impact in the upcoming series.
The play of goaltender Tia Chan might also be crucial. In their Feb. 7 game against the Terriers, Chan made 33 saves and held BU to just one goal. Overall, she has 11 games where the opponent has scored one goal or less and four shutouts. Chan has started the past five games, and will look to bounce back from the games against Providence, in which the Friars scored seven goals in two games.
On the other side of the rink, the Terriers have some stellar goaltending of their own. Sophomore Mari Pietersen and senior Callie Shanahan have combined for 21 wins and 694 saves for the season, and both have a save percentage of .920 or better. In the offensive zone, junior forward Sydney Healey is the Terriers’ runaway points leader with 21, scoring 13 goals and adding eight assists. Boston also boasts excellent facilitators in Julia Shaunessy and Christina Vote, who have both notched 15 assists each.
Puck drop for the first game will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Toscano Family Ice Forum on the Storrs campus; the game will also appear on ESPN+. The second match, which will close out UConn’s regular season, starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Boston and will be broadcast on ESPN+.