UConn men’s hockey beat 15th place UMass Lowell 2-1

UConn’s men’s hockey won 15th place in the UMass Lowell River Hawks 2-1 XL Center to cut a three-match losing streak that included three different but equally painful losses.

When head coach Mike Cavanaugh spoke after the game, he looked clearly tired and spoke in a hoarse voice. The Huskies needed this victory, and they desperately needed it.

I thought it was a bold victory for our team, Cavanaugh said.

UConn scored two goals in the second period before UMass Lowell responded to get one in to reach the final semi-final. The Huskies then grabbed the 2-1 lead in the last 20 minutes and earned three important points in the Hockey East series.

The Huskies play to win

By the time he got into Sunday’s game, UConn had beaten weaker opponents on schedule, but dropped tight games for good teams. The night before, the Huskies played a steady game with the River Hawks and moved into the third inning 0-0 before giving up two goals and a blank goal on the way to a 3-0 loss.

This season, UConn won against just one team with a record. It didn’t help that UMass Lowell’s physical, disciplined team, which isn’t easy to play against, came into the game with an unbeaten tube in nine games and started 5-0-0 in Hockey East.

After so many narrow heartbeaters, the Huskies eventually returned to service.

We played a lot of games where I didn’t think we played the game last night to win the game, Cavanaugh said. We did tonight, and there were countless of them.

It started with a defensive end. UConn blocked 17 shots, breaking the season record and always seeming to get a stick on the puck around the net. Even as the River Hawks controlled the ball, the Huskies cleared the area and forced visitors to reset.

Ryan Tverberg, UConn’s top scorer, set the tone by placing his body between the puck and the goal to end shots throughout the game.

Its old saying: If your best players are committed to doing all the little things to help you win, it makes coaching a lot easier, Cavanaugh said.

At the other end, UConn scored two of their goals in different ways. For the first time, Jachym Kondelik carried the puck into the zone and gave a hard pass to Kevin ONeil on the edge. He handed it to the open Wheeler in front of the net, who tapped it past UMass Lowell goalkeeper Owen Savory and lifted the Huskies to a 1-0 lead in just 24 seconds from the second set.

Eight minutes later, Jake Flynns hit the pole, but then bounced back from the Savorys into the net. When the younger blueliner was reimbursed for the result, Kondelik settled in front of Savory and took his eyes off, preventing the net guard from doing the initial fight. The Huskies got a good bounce, but Cavanaugh didn’t want to hear anything about the luck.

You get a puck assembly when you go to the front of the net and the goalkeeper is screened and he doesn’t know where the puck is. Yes, you need it, Cavanaugh said. I think you’re also creating your own puck, and I think there was a lot of that in that goal.

When UMass Lowell pulled one back at the end of the period, UConn locked into the defense in the third inning. River Hawks had a fantastic opportunity to put Huskies up another goal 20 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar.

UMass Lowell only pulled his goalkeeper 1:12 to play, and UConn survived against an extra skater and took the win.

Evans, I sit first

The victory of the Huskies came without their two most talented attackers. Jonny Evans and Vladislav Firstov were both scratched from the lineup after playing Sunday.

They both had nagging injuries, Cavanaugh said. I just thought I was going to this game, I know how hard Lowell is playing. You can’t go in if you’re not 100 percent, and I think it showed up a little last night.

Hope next week are good.

Next

After Thanksgiving, UConn will play one match next weekend at home against Colgate on Saturday.

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