In what was their first big-time matchup of the season, the UConn men’s hockey team faced the challenge of a two-game series against No. 16 Ohio State this weekend. The series opener took place in Storrs, Conn. at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday night.
Senior goaltender Tyler Muszelik got the start in the net and made 32 saves to help the Huskies clinch the win.
UConn got the same start with aggressive play in the first period. They won the opening faceoff and played dominant hockey with their early possessions. Senior captain Ryan Tattle took charge with multiple shots on goal, however none of them entered the net. Midway through the period, sophomore Mike Murtagh broke open the scoring for the Huskies as freshman Alexandre Blais found him across the ice to put UConn in the lead 1-0.
Towards the end of the period at 1:43, Ohio State scored the equalizer goal as Max Montes found the back of the net. The teams entered the first period break tied at one. Following a late slashing penalty against the Buckeyes, the Huskies were set to start off the second period on a power play.
UConn took control in the second period, winning the first face off and holding possession of the puck early on. UConn broke the tie after senior Jake Percival won a battle against the fall and found sophomore Kevin Fitzgerald who fired the puck past the Ohio State goaltender to extend UConn’s lead to 2-1. That goal also marked Fitzgerald’s first collegiate goal after being sidelined with an injury all last season. The second period was decisive for the Huskies. After a series of back-and-forth possession exchanges, UConn capitalized again with senior Tristan Fraser taking a pass from senior captain Tabor Heaslip from Percival and launching it to the back of the net. UConn had the 3-1 advantage over Ohio State at the end of the second period.
Ohio State added early pressure at the start of the final frame but UConn’s defense held down the fort with notable saves by Musezlik and blocked shots from Percival plus other defensemen. Ohio State’s Riley Thompson scored on a power-play goal to cut the Huskies lead to one around halfway through the third period.
As the clock ran down, the Huskies sealed the 3-2 win over Ohio.
To wrap up the non-conference series, UConn headed down to Hartford at PeoplesBank Arena for their last matchup against Ohio State. Freshman goaltender Kam Hendrickson got his first career start in the net for the Huskies.
In the first period, both teams were firing shots early. At 18:23, junior Jake Richard even hit the goal pipe, but did not score. The Huskies had four power-play opportunities in the first period alone, but they were unable to capitalize despite leading shots 9-7 over the Buckeyes after the first 20 minutes.
The Huskies got on the board to open up the scoring just 35 seconds into the second period. On the power play, Muldowney scored to give UConn the 1-0 lead. However, the Huskies’ lead was short-lived as the Buckeyes found the equalizer goal at 14:57 which put the score to 1-1. Ohio State continued their surge of momentum to score another goal and take the lead with under three minutes remaining in the second period. UConn entered the second period break down 2-1. UConn netminder Hendrickson made 11 of his 26 saves in the second frame.
In the third period, Tattle tied the game for the Huskies at 5:42 to knot the score 2-2. But Ohio State had a quick response just 17 seconds after with the game-winning goal to take the 3-2 lead over UConn. The Huskies added pressure for the tying goal and pulled the goaltender in favor of an extra skater in the final minutes. Ohio State took advantage of the empty net and scored with 74 seconds remaining in the game and put the game out of reach for UConn with a 4-2 score. After this weekend, the Huskies’ record moves to 2-2 overall this season.
UConn will be back in action next weekend for their first Hockey East series of the season. They will take on No. 1 Boston University for a home-and-home series. The series will commence on Friday, Oct. 24 in Boston and will wrap up back in Storrs, Conn. at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Saturday, Oct. 25. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.