In the middle of a crucial road trip, the No. 11 UConn women’s ice hockey team (19-6-5, 16-3-4 Hockey East) looks to stay in front in the Hockey East standings as they are hosted by Merrimack (10-17-3, 7-13-3 Hockey East) and Vermont (11-15-4, 9-11-3 Hockey East).
The beginning of the road trip did not start as hot as the Huskies would’ve liked. UConn tied with Northeastern on Friday, losing in the shootout 1-0. However, Connecticut added another game to the win column on Saturday with a 5-1 win over the Holy Cross.
UConn saw three of its players named to the Hockey East Top Performers list: forwards Coryn Tormala and Ashley Allard, along with defenseman Ainsley Svetek. Tormala posted three points last weekend for the Huskies with one goal and two assists. Allard increased her point streak to three games with two goals and one assist. Svetek registered a point in both games this weekend.
The two-goalie trend seems to continue with juniors Megan Warrener and Tia Chan. Warrener had 20 saves and allowed one goal in the Huskies’ win over Holy Cross, while Chan put up 31 saves in 65 minutes, allowing two goals in regulation and overtime.
Tonight’s game against Merrimack will be the third of four games in Massachusetts during the Huskies’ road trip. It is the first meeting between the two teams since Dec. 1, when graduate student Camryn Wong knocked in the game-winning goal in a 2-1 overtime victory at home.
UConn will be up against the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Week in forward Maria Lindberg. The Stockholm, Sweden native was second nationally in points out of all freshmen with three points during the Warriors’ home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire last weekend. Lindberg leads the team in goals and is tied for second in points behind forward Celine Tedenby. The redshirt fifth-year has 21 points with 14 assists.
Vermont will take on Boston University before the battle with Connecticut on Saturday afternoon. It hasn’t been long since the two schools met, with a win and scoreless tie in late January. It will be Senior Day for the Catamounts.
It will be a tall task for the Huskies to take on forward Natalie Mlynkova, the Hockey East Player of the Week. She played a factor in all four of the Catamounts’ goals last weekend in a pair of 2-2 draws at Boston College and Providence College, with a goal and an assist in each game. With her goal on Friday, the senior became the third all-time leading scorer in Vermont history with 47 career goals. She added her 48th career goal on a game-tying goal with 4.6 seconds left in the third period on Saturday.
Mlynkova wasn’t the only Catamount to be recognized by the Hockey East. Goaltender Jessie McPherson made the Hockey East Top Performers list. The senior from Chatham, Ontario had 64 combined saves in the two games in addition to four stops in a shootout on Saturday to earn Vermont an extra point.
Defenseman Krista Parkkonen and forward Lily Humphrey are tied for Vermont’s lead in assists with 14. One of the main differences between the two is that Parkkonen has one more goal than Humphrey.
After this weekend, UConn will wrap up their regular season with a home-and-home against Boston University as the Huskies control their destiny to a Hockey East regular season championship.
Merrimack will host Boston University on Saturday before finishing their regular season with a home-and-home against Providence.
Vermont will be on the road for their last two games of the regular season, both at Northeastern.
The puck drop against Merrimack is set for 4 p.m. at Lawlor Rink in North Andover, Mass. Tomorrow’s game at Vermont is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt. Both games will be available to watch on ESPN+.
