The UConn men’s hockey team will make their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance this Friday, March 28 on the road. The Huskies were put into the Allentown Regional in Pennsylvania and will face off against in-state rival, No. 11 Quinnipiac in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four Tournament.
The Allentown Region will consist of four teams: Maine (#1 seed), UConn (#2 seed), Quinnipiac (#3 seed), and Penn State (#4 seed). These teams are set to compete at the PPL Center in Allentown, Penn., with a trip to the Frozen Four d in St. Louis on the line.
The Huskies broke program history as the team’s first ever bid to the DI College Men’s Ice Hockey NCAA Tournament. Prior to the national tournament, UConn is coming off a loss in the Hockey East Championship to No. 4 Maine, with a final score of 5-2 at TD Garden in Boston. However, the Huskies are looking ahead to the national tournament and are hungry for success.
“Lots of energy, they’re certainly excited,” said head coach Mike Cavanaugh. “It’s new territory for us but I think it’s something our guys are really looking forward to.”
“Our whole team’s very confident going into this, we know we can play with the best of the best in this league, I mean we showed it all year, being sixth in the PairWise [rankings],” said freshman forward Kaden Shahan. “We have nothing but confidence going into this but it’s just like I said, staying within our program, sticking to our script this whole tournament.”
As for the national tournament opponent, UConn is already familiar with Quinnipiac as they defeated them earlier in the season in the semifinal round of the CT Ice Tournament. The first matchup was a thriller as junior Ryan Tattle sealed the deal for the Huskies with the game winning goal with five seconds left in regulation. The final score was 2-1 and the game sent the Huskies to the CT Ice Championship that they ended up winning for the first time ever after beating Sacred Heart.
“We’ve played them [Quinnipiac] every year,” said Cavanaugh on Wednesday’s media availability at Toscano Family Ice Forum. “So in some ways, it’s great because you’re familiar with the team. People have been asking me ‘Don’t you want a different opponent?’ Hey, I’m happy to be in the tournament, I’ll play anybody. Like I said, in some ways it’s nice knowing that we’re familiar opponents.”
This team has been described as special all season long. From the talent, team camaraderie and young additions, the team is prepared to reach new levels, and Cavanaugh is fully aware of that. When asked about what has made this group so special as to be able to accomplish this and get the program to where it’s never been, Cavanaugh’s answer was clear.
“Hudson Schandor and John Spetz. Very simple,” Cavanaugh said. When they decided to come back last year when everybody thought the sky was falling because guys were transferring out of here, they decided to come back. When they did that, I think that really energized the group that was coming back and they set the tone for all our young kids. I mean, on any given night we could have eight freshmen in the lineup. They [Schandor and Spetz] make sure that they [freshmen] understand the expectations on and off the ice and they’ve held them to it and set an unbelievable example for those younger guys going forward.”
Cavanaugh has no doubt in his mind that UConn can be a hockey school. In his 12th season as head coach of the Huskies, Cavanaugh understands the culture of successful sports at the University of Connecticut, and it’s his goal every day to get his players to adhere to that. Last week, the Hockey East Association announced that Cavanaugh was named the Bob Kullen Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 season after taking the Huskies to new territories.
A resource that Cavanaugh has had in his time at UConn is his connection with the UConn women’s basketball head coach, one of the most legendary coaches of all-time college sports, Geno Auriemma. Coach Auriemma has over 1,000 wins in his 40-year coaching career at UConn and Cavanaugh said they have a good relationship as two coaches in Storrs,. The two of them have discussed their game preparations, their teams and coaching philosophies. Auriemma was in attendance at the Hockey East Quarterfinals between UConn and Providence at Toscano Family Ice Forum. He has been known to be a supporter of the UConn Hockey program.
Now to talk Quinnipiac. The Huskies are no strangers to the Bobcats, as they are just an hour south of Storrs in Hamden, Conn. However, different from UConn, the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team has a lot of experience in this tournament as they were crowned National Champions in 2023. The Bobcats head into the NCAA Tournament with a 24-11-2 overall record and 16-5-1 in ECAC action. The team earned the program’s fifth consecutive Clearly Cup and regular season title. Quinnipiac is the first team in league history to win five straight trophies and have won nine regular season championships in 12 years since their first in the 2012-13 season.
Something that is integral to the Huskies’ success in the NCAA Tournament is the availability of Schandor. The graduate-student captain was unavailable in the lineup through the semi-final and final of the Hockey East Tournament. Cavanaugh described Schandor to be doing better, but it will most likely be the same situation as last week and they will not know the status of his availability until game day.
The Huskies will enter this matchup with a 22-11-4 overall record and they finished their Hockey East season with a 12-8-4 conference record. UConn saw many positives in their offense this season with sophomore Joey Muldowney setting the program record for goals in a season in the Hockey East era. Another program record was set by Schandor who now has the most assists in a season in the Huskies Hockey East era. Under Cavanaugh, UConn’s penalty kill is boasting an 81% kill rate and the Huskies are also tied for the nation lead in shorthanded goals with nine. UConn also has a strong goaltender rotation with junior Tyler Muszelik and freshman Callum Tung who have been holding down the fort on defense recently for the Ice Bus.
No. 7 UConn will take on No. 11 Quinnipiac in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four Tournament. Puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. in Allentown, Penn. The game will be available to stream live on ESPNU and on the radio at the UConn Sports Network from Learfield – Fox Sports 97.9 FM.