In their late season surge, the No. 9 UConn men’s ice hockey team supported their cause as one of the best teams in the nation, sweeping Hockey East rivals Northeastern (11-18-3) in a weekend two-game series. After UConn welcomed their rivals to Toscano Ice Forum on Friday, they trekked north the following day to the hallowed grounds of Matthews Arena in Boston, taking care of business.
In the first game of Huskies-on-Huskies action, UConn handled the opposing team by a score of 5-2.
Late in the first period, forward Joey Muldowney continued his stellar sophomore campaign by scoring his first and only goal of the game, giving UConn a solid one-point lead to start the game. Muldowney leads the Huskies in the greatest number of goals scored in a season in the Hockey East era.
Following Muldowney’s goal, Hudson Schandor and Ryan Tattle took advantage of a powerplay and found an open Jake Richard, who found the back of the net to tack onto the Huskies’ 2-0 lead in the middle of the second period. However, nearly 20 seconds later, Northeastern’s Cam Lund cut the deficit down to one point. UConn responded shortly after. Schandor, the star forward out of North Vancouver, added another point to his three total points in the game by lighting the lamp, giving UConn a 3-1 lead going into the final period of play.
Lund found the back of the net and cut down Northeastern’s deficit once again. Nevertheless, this was short-lived as Tattle took matters into his own hands, scoring the Huskies’ fourth goal of the game. With two seconds left, Tattle found the back of the net, giving UConn much-needed insurance and icing a 5-2 victory in front of a roaring Toscano crowd.
Much like the previous day, UConn handled Northeastern once again at the mercy of a 7-1 gong show victory. Northeastern is known for having a great fan base, but they were silenced by UConn in blowout fashion.
UConn’s 6-foot-6 defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg started things off with a bang, scoring a goal to give UConn a 1-0 in the first period. Seven minutes later, Ethan Whitcomb added to the Huskies’ cause, ripping the puck into the goal for a two-point lead. However, Northeastern’s Joaquim Lemay took advantage of a powerplay to score their only goal of the game. Following Lemay’s goal, defenseman John Spetz showcased his clutch-factor in front of the rowdy Boston crowd, scoring to give UConn a 3-1 lead.
It was all UConn from there on out. The second period was highlighted by a goal off the stick of Mahwah, N.J. native Nick Carabin, scoring his first of the weekend. Whitcomb added another goal himself, giving the Huskies a commanding 5-1 lead going into the third period.
UConn’s Jake Richard and Kaden Shahen each scored a goal in the third period to add onto their already-commanding lead, contributing to their 7-1 victory. The Huskies’ defense played phenomenally well the entire weekend, highlighted by stellar goaltending play from Tyler Muszelik. If the Huskies keep this up, they should have a legitimate chance to do something big in the postseason.
With the two victories, UConn’s record improved to 19-10-4 on the season. The Huskies will now prepare for some Thursday night hockey action this week against Vermont (11-18-3) in their regular-season finale. The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt.