University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Fall 4-2 to Holy Cross
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
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STORRS, CT (Nov. 21) - Two Huskies scored their first-ever goals for the program, but it wasn’t enough to fend off league-leading Holy Cross who came back from a lackluster first period to defeat the University of Connecticut men’s hockey team by a score of 4-2 at the UConn Ice Arena. The Crusaders’ Greg Kealey notched a goal and two assists to help lead his team to victory.
The win keeps Holy Cross atop the Atlantic Hockey Association standings with an undefeated record of 7-0-1, and moves them to 7-3-1 overall. UConn drops to 3-5-2 overall and 2-3-1 in the AHA.
The Huskies stormed out of the gate to begin the contest, and by midway through the first period had out-shot Holy Cross 9-2. With 5:27 remaining in the period, sophomore transfer Aaron Kakepetum (Balmertown, Ontario) hit a shot that deflected off the post and then off Holy Cross goaltender Tony Quesada before finding its way into the right side of the net. Freshmen Alan Stevenson (Utica, NY) and Trevor Stewart (Elk River, MN) assisted on the goal, which was Kakepetum’s first point at UConn.
The tables turned in period two, as the Crusaders knocked in two goals back-to-back in the early going. Andrew McKay collected a shot that rebounded off UConn goaltender Scott Tomes (Windham, NH) to get Holy Cross on the board with 4:09 elapsed in the period. Just under two minutes later, at the 5:58 mark and in a power play situation, Kealey took a pass from the right side and found a hole to put the Crusaders up 2-1.
The third period went much the same way, as Holy Cross scored goals with 3:52 and 7:32 elapsed in the final period. Pierre Napert-Frenette, a team and AHA goal-scoring leader, scored right in front of the net to give the Crusaders a two-goal lead, and Jeff Dames scored the team’s final goal when he found himself wide open on the left side to collect a rebound and slip the puck past Tomes.
UConn freshman James Martin (Rogers, MN) was tipped the puck from Chris Uber (Ithaca, NY) after a shot by Beau McLaughin (Virginia Beach, VA) to score his first career goal and point with 1:39 remaining, but it was as close as the Huskies would get.
Tomes finished with 22 saves for UConn, while Quesada stopped 29 shots in a game which saw UConn out-shoot Holy Cross 31-26.
The Huskies return to the ice tomorrow, Saturday, November 22, when they host Quinnipiac at 7:05 p.m.
