The No. 8 University of Connecticut men’s ice hockey team closed out their regular season with a road win over the University of Vermont on Thursday.
This was UConn’s (20-10-4, 12-8-4) first time playing in Burlington, Vt. since 2023. The last time the Ice Bus traveled to Gutterson Field House the Huskies came away with a 5-2 victory.
These Hockey East rivals faced off back in November this season, when both games from their weekend slate went into overtime. The Catamounts (11-19-3, 6-15-2) took a 1-0 victory in game one before the Huskies won game two 6-5.
Vermont controlled the puck through the opening minutes of the game, putting four shots on the goal while first-year Callum Tung made some key saves to keep the game scoreless. Tung’s efforts allowed the Huskies to strike first after second-year Joey Muldowney, UConn’s new single season goal leader, scored his 21st goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead, adding on to his historic season.
Just a few minutes later, a holding penalty on Duncan Ramsay gave UConn the opportunity to build their lead. Second-year Jake Richard found the back of the net on an assist from first-year Trey Scott for the power play goal. Richard received the puck at the left circle and fired the one-time shot into the goal to make the game 2-0.
The Catamounts slowed UConn’s momentum to start the second period, keeping the Huskies out of the offensive zone for the majority of the first 10 minutes.
Fifth–year Hudson Schandor got the Huskies rolling again, fielding the loose puck at the point and setting up Richard on a feed in front of the crease. Richard wrapped around in front of the goalie and flicked the puck past the netminder, scoring his second of the game while extending the Huskies lead to three.
The Huskies strung together nearly four minutes of penalties, giving Vermont an extended powerplay advantage. UConn’s penalty kill unit thwarted the Catamounts, allowing them to maintain their lead.
Tung continued his heroics in front of the net, preventing a Vermont goal by pouncing on a rebound following a near tip in by the Catamounts.
The Catamounts finally got on the board with just over four minutes to go in the game. Fourth-year Luca Münzenberger found the loose puck out of the faceoff and managed to sneak a shot past Tung to bring the game within two.
Vermont pulled their keeper in the hopes of salvaging the game, but Muldowney managed to get into space with the puck and heaved a long shot into the empty net to secure the 4-1 victory for UConn.
Tung’s efforts in goal were a large component in leading the Huskies to victory. He finished the game with 31 saves.
The victory clinched the Huskies position of fourth place in the Hockey East standings ahead of the remainder of this weekend’s conference play. This was also the third time in the last four seasons that the Huskies finished the year with 20 wins. The Hockey East tournament will kick off next week, with the top five seeds receiving a first-round bye.
UConn will host their quarterfinal game on March 11, 2025, at the Toscano Family Ice Forum.