UConn women’s hockey opened Hockey East play with a pair of victories over Holy Cross this weekend.
On Saturday, the eighth ranked Huskies beat the Crusaders in overtime on their home ice, 4-3 and on Sunday they won on the road, 3-2. Both games consisted of multiple goals scored in the third period.
Connecticut now boasts a 7-2-1 overall record and a 2-0-0 conference record. Holy Cross is now 7-4-0 overall and 0-3-0 in conference play.
Game 1: Holy Cross 3, Connecticut 4 – Saturday, Nov. 1
Despite a third period comeback, the Huskies held off the Crusaders in overtime on Saturday.
Tied at three two and a half minutes into overtime, UConn forwards connected as junior Livvy Dewar fed the puck to senior Kyla Josifovic who found the net and scored her fifth goal of the season to end the game.
The first period started off very fast-paced. Through the first 10 minutes, there were a combined 16 shots. At the 11-minute mark, junior defenseman Julia Stephen fired a shot that found the net, but after review, officials ruled the goal no good.
Moments later, freshman defensemen True Thompson scored her first collegiate goal to open the scoring, 1-0.
However, this lead was short lived because 44 seconds later, freshman forward Violet Carroll scored to even the ledger.
The scoring barrage continued less than two minutes later when freshman forward Peyton Anzivino scored her first collegiate goal to make it 2-1. With nearly four minutes left in the period, senior defensemen Meghane Duchesne-Chalifoux’s shot found the net to give the Huskies a two-goal advantage.
The second period consisted of a lot of shooting, but no scoring. There were a combined 42 shots in the period. The first powerplay of the game came at the 9:23 mark when junior forward Emily Crovo committed a holding penalty for Holy Cross.
Later in the period, sophomore defensemen Sarah Rowe was sent to the box for cross-checking right before the second intermission.
Just over 11 minutes into the third period, senior forward Lane Lewis set up sophomore Amanda Aslan for her second goal of the 2025-26 season, cutting the Crusaders’ deficit to one.
From there, Holy Cross continued to attack. With under three minutes to play, Lewis had a good opportunity to score but couldn’t put the puck in the net. This prompted head coach Katie Lachapelle to pull her senior goalie Abby Hornung out of the game.
Then, 38 seconds after that decision, Carroll scored to tie the game at three with 2:02 left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Connecticut dominated the extra period of play right from the beginning. They kept the puck on their end of the ice. Two minutes in, senior forwards Megan Woodworth and Brooke Campell each attempted to score, but couldn’t. After a faceoff won by Dewar, she found Josifovic right in front of the net who shot and won the game.
“I’m happy we scored four goals,” head coach Chris MacKenzie told UCTV Sports postgame. “I would’ve liked to see us just lock it down and win 3-1, 4-1.”
Game 2: Connecticut 3, Holy Cross 2 – Sunday, Nov. 2
Connecticut’s strong third period performance propelled them over the Crusaders in game two of the weekend.
Senior forward Christina Walker put the game out of reach for the Huskies by scoring off a Stephen pass to make it 3-1 with 11:56 left in the game.
Both teams opened aggressively, combining for 16 shots in the first 12 minutes. Sophomore forward Claire Murdoch led the charge for UConn with three attempts, each narrowly missing the net.
At the 8:14 mark of the first, junior forward Lulu Rourke committed a tripping penalty to be sent to the box for Holy Cross.
However, being shorthanded did not stop the Crusaders. Fifty five seconds after the penalty, junior forward Manny Gendron scored a goal off a senior forward Charlotte Sonntag pass, 1-0.
After that, both teams traded shot stints, but ultimately couldn’t score again before the first period clock ran out.
The second period had a very similar start as the first. Both teams came out firing on all cylinders.
As the period progressed, the aggressiveness increased, and Holy Cross committed back-to-back penalties by Lewis and Rowe to give the Huskies a five to three player advantage.
Over the next minute and a half, UConn fired 10 shots before Dewar finally broke through to even the score at one nearly 15 minutes into the period.
The goal marked Dewar’s second of the season and first since September.
In the third period, Gendron committed another Holy Cross penalty; this one was for roughing. The Huskies kept the puck on their end for the duration of the penalty but were unable to break the tie.
Minutes later, off a flurry of Crusaders shot attempts, Woodworth rebounded a junior forward Ashley Allard missed shot and scored to make it 2-1 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Less than a minute later, Walker’s shot missed, but Stephen grabbed the rebound and returned it to her, setting up the eventual game-winning goal, 3-1.
Dewar then committed a Connecticut penalty to give Holy Cross a player advantage. With nearly eight minutes left to play, freshman forward Naemi Herzig scored her third goal in the last three games to cut the Crusaders deficit to one.
From there, Connecticut’s defense held strong a prevented another score before the end of the game.
The Huskies attempted 40 shots in the contest to the Crusaders’ 23.
Next up, UConn will head to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to play Boston College on Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.