The UConn women’s hockey team (25-8-2, 17-6-1) took down No. 24 University of Maine (13-19-4, 8-12-4) in the first round of the Hockey East tournament Saturday, 6-1, to advance to the semifinals.
The Huskies got the scoring going late in the first period when senior forward Christina Walker sent a slapshot the way of Black Bears goalie Kiia Lahtinen. Ricocheting off her leg pads, Lahtinen fumbled with the puck for a few seconds before it inched past the line for the first score of the day with 4:47 to go in the first. Junior forward Livvy Dewar got the assist.
It was a tough day for Lahtinen, who, despite making 47 saves for the second most of her season, let in all six of UConn’s scores.
The same can’t be said for Huskies keeper Tia Chan. The graduate student, who was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Year on Friday for the second straight season, continued her phenomenal season with 20 saves.
After that first score, the floodgates opened as the Huskies scored again just over 100 seconds later. Sophomore forward Claire Murdoch corralled a pass from junior defender Julia Stephen that bounced off the barrier, before sending it from behind the goal towards senior captain Kyla Josifovic. Josifovic tapped it in for the easy score to make it 2-0 with 2:56 left in the first.
The score was the first postseason goal of Josifovic’s four-year career.
The Huskies kept it going in the second, scoring early on a power player when junior forward Ashley Allard and Murdoch formed a passing triangle with Dewar. Dewar, who ended up with the puck, sent it to the far side of the goal with 18:38 to go for a 3-0 lead.
UConn is ranked 19th nationally in power play goals this season with 22.
They extended their lead even further a few minutes later. Down a player after cross check call on junior forward Martha Mobarak, fellow junior forward Julia Pellerin took it all the way from the blue line of the Huskies’ defensive end for the first shorthanded goal of the season for UConn with 16:35 to play in the second.
The Huskies went quiet for the remainder of the second but weren’t done yet. Murdoch made sure of that when she received a pass from Allard inside the right face-off circle and deposited it in the top left corner for the 5-0 lead with 13:24 left in the third.
UConn scored one last goal with a little under 12 minutes to go in the game when Pellerin found senior forward Megan Woodworth gliding down the middle of the ice. Woodworth dumped it in from close range to give the Huskies their sixth score of the day.
With the game far out of reach, the Black Bears finally got one back on a power play late in the third thanks to a trio of freshmen. Defender Lulu Rucinski sent a pass behind the goal to forward Mackenzie Podewell, who dunked a backhand pass into a swarm of skaters in front of the UConn goal. Forward Isabelle Michaud was the first to it, who slapped it in as she fell to the ground to score the loan goal for Maine. That was it, as the Huskies easily took care of business and finished with the five-goal victory.
On Friday, the Hockey East announced all-star teams for the regular season. In addition to being named Goaltender of the Year, Chan was also named to the All-Hockey East First Team. Pellerin, Murdoch and junior defender Maya Serdachny were all named to the second team, while Josifovic was selected to the third team.
Next up, UConn will return to the Toscano Family Ice Forum on Tuesday for the Hockey East semifinals against No. 16 Holy Cross (19-12-3, 10-11-3). The Crusaders staved off a late comeback attempt from the University of New Hampshire to win their semifinals matchup 5-4 and advance. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m.