The men’s hockey team heads home for two ranked contests against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Huskies played two games against Colorado College at the beginning of October, splitting the pair of games. The Ice Bus dropped the first game by a score of 4-2 but bounced back with a strong 5-1 win in Colorado Springs.
Ohio State is 2-0 on the season, with two wins over Northern Michigan. The number 16 ranked Buckeyes finished last season 24-14-2 and earned an NCAA tournament bid before falling to powerhouse Boston University in their first game.
UConn remained ranked number 12 in the country after their strong showing against Colorado College, who entered the rankings at 19. In the Hockey East preseason poll this season, UConn finished ranked third, right behind Providence in the number two spot. Connecticut’s first conference games will come against BU next weekend.
Tyler Muszelik will be between the pipes for the Ice Bus. The New Hampshire transfer appeared in 22 games last season, posting a record of 11-6-3. The New Jersey native saved 507 shots while conceding just 50 goals. Muszelik has already corralled 60 saves in the first two games of the season.
Opposing Muszelik in net will be Kristoffer Eberly. The junior saw scarce playing time his first two seasons before assuming the main goaltender spot for the Buckeyes this year. Eberly is 2-0 on the season and has snagged 36 saves this season.
Joey Muldowney returns to Storrs for his junior campaign after a fantastic sophomore season. Muldowney finished second in the country last season with 29 goals and has already tallied 2 in the same number of games for the Huskies. The New York native scored in both of UConn’s NCAA tournament games, earning a spot on the Allentown NCAA-All Regional Team. He also had a hat trick against Boston University in the Hockey East tournament, cementing his spot on the All-Hockey East Tournament team.
A player to watch for Ohio State is Félix Caron. The sophomore already has 5 points on the season including a 2-goal, 2-assist performance in OSU’s first win against Northern Michigan. Caron spent one season with RPI before transferring to the now-ranked Buckeyes and instantly providing a spark.
UConn is 1-4-3 all-time against the Buckeyes, but their lone win came in the most recent game between the two squads. The Huskies scored a whopping 6 goals in the route a day after a 0-0 draw against OSU. Besides their 0-0 draw, at least two or more goals have been scored in all the matchups against each other. Expect some firepower to be on display this weekend.
Friday’s game will be at the Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, Conn., and puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday’s game will be the first for the Huskies at the newly renamed People’s Bank Arena in Hartford, Conn. The puck is set to drop at 4 p.m. on Saturday.