The UConn women’s hockey team will hit the ice for the first time this season on Saturday for an exhibition matchup against Quinnipiac.
UConn enters the season ranked at No. 7 on the USCHO’s poll, one down from their final rank of sixth last season. The team finished 28-9-2 last year with a 17-6-1 record in conference play.
The Huskies will look to follow up on their dominant 2025-26 campaign, where they won the Hockey East championship in a thrilling double overtime finish and beat Princeton for their first-ever NCAA tournament victory.
Head coach Chris Mackenzie will be entering his 14th season with the program, a mark that stretches over half the program’s existence.
Quinnipiac enters the match ranked No. 6 on the poll following a 29-9-2 overall record and a 14-6-2 conference record in a season where it also won its conference tournament before falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Bobcats are led by Cassandra Turner, who is in her 12th year at the helm and 18th with Quinnipiac overall.
The Huskies’ two main stars of that fabled Hockey East final have left for the PWHL, with forward Kyla Josifovic going to Detroit and national goaltender of the year Tia Chan heading to San Jose. Chan was the only goaltender in the top ten for the Patty Kazmaier award, given to the top collegiate women’s hockey player every year.
Though two star talents have departed, the Huskies still have plenty to go around. Junior and newly appointed captain Claire Murdoch finished last season at exactly a point per game, a number which may only increase as she enters the latter half of her collegiate career.
UConn also has talents like Livvy Dewar and Julia Pellerin up front, so there will be adequate players to fill the void left by the graduated players.
“I just think there’s gonna be someone that’s gonna step up, it’s happened enough over the 13 years we’ve been here,” head coach Chris Mackenzie said when asked about Chan’s departure. “We’re gonna need one of the three that are in there right now to step up, Shannon [Moran], Amelia [Wilkinson] and Taylor [Belchetz] have been competing, and we’ll see what happens.”
It remains unclear which of the three goalies will be in the net on opening night in St. Cloud State, but tomorrow’s game could provide a general idea of who Mackenize is leaning toward. The performance of whoever plays will also play a role, given that all three have a combined five appearances at the collegiate level.
Quinnipiac junior Felicia Frank will likely get the start for the Bobcats. Frank was in the top three for the goalie award behind Chan and enters the season as a favorite this year.
Quinnipiac also has Patty Kazmaier top ten finisher Kahlen Lamarche returning for her senior year. Unlike the Huskies, the Bobcats have more certainty in their top-end talent, which could give them an upper hand in the game.
The two teams last met each other in the semifinals of the annual Nutmeg Classic, where UConn won 4-3 en route to winning the tournament. The two also faced each other last season in an exhibition game in Hamden.
Both foes will face-off on Saturday at the Toscano Family Ice Forum with a puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m.