In what was a bizarre weekend, UConn Men’s Hockey left New York with two ties to bring their record to 2-0-2 on the young season.
The Huskies went 3-for-11 on the power play in the opening weekend of the season but went 0-for-8 with the man advantage against Colgate on Friday. Worse, they allowed a shorthanded goal in the second period on their way to a 4-4 tie against the Raiders. Derek Pratt, David Drake and Brian Morgan each scored their first goals of the season while Tage Thompson already notched his fourth goal of the year.
The Huskies were unsuccessful on the power play once again against RIT, going 0-for-4 on Saturday. The Tigers and Huskies skated to a 1-1 draw with freshman Adam Huska making 36 saves in an impressive debut. Kasperi Ojantakanen scored the lone Husky goal in the third period.
After the weekend, UConn received 10 points in the USCHO coaches’ poll this week, where eight of the top-20 teams are future UConn opponents.
Notre Dame (3-1-0) headed to Minnesota to play No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth and split the series. As a result, the Irish rose from No. 5 to No. 3 in the poll. They will welcome UConn into South Bend on October 27 and 28.
Wednesday evening’s opponent, Quinnipiac, slid one spot down to No. 4 after splitting an away series with Maine. Both match ups went to overtime, with Maine winning on Friday night and Quinnipiac forcing the split on Saturday evening. UConn heads to Hamden this Wednesday night to face the Bobcats.
UMass Lowell, who sat at No. 8 last week, rounds out the top five this week. The Riverhawks took a trip to Colorado College last weekend, sweeping the series. Friday’s game was an offensive outpouring, with an 8-5 win. Saturday’s contest was a 4-0 shut out win.
The Huskies go to Lowell on December 2 and will play the Riverhawks at the XL Center on December 3.
Boston University was ranked No. 2 last week but fell to No. 8 this week after getting swept on the road. The Terriers lost by scores of 4-3 and 3-1 to No. 10 Denver. UConn will host BU on November 18, with the Terriers returning the favor the following evening.
Boston College dropped four spots to No. 10 after splitting the weekend against Wisconsin. Both games were played in Madison, Wisconsin. The Badgers won 3-1 on Friday and the Eagles were able to salvage the split on Saturday, winning 8-5.
UConn and Boston College play in Hartford on November 22 and in Chestnut Hill on January 24.
Like the Eagles, Providence fell four spots, to No. 15. The Friars had one game, a trip up to Worcester to play Holy Cross. The game was off campus at the DCU Center and the Crusaders pulled off the upset in overtime by a score of 2-1.
Yale, despite not playing a game until October 29, managed to move up one spot, to No. 16. Their matchup with UConn will be on January 7 at the XL Center.
Northeastern switched spots with the Bulldogs and now sit at No. 17 in the nation. They had a win and a tie in their home-and-home series with Bentley, which forced the tie at home on Friday, but the fake Huskies prevailed in their home game, 7-3.
UConn will host Northeastern on February 17, while they will play at Matthews Arena the following night.
Maine is second in the received votes category, with 76 points after their split with Quinnipiac. UConn and Maine play in Bridgeport on January 12 and at Fenway Park on the 14th.