University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Ice Hockey Earns 10th Spot in National Polls
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Oct. 15, 2008
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut women's ice hockey team (3-1-1) earned a pair of number 10 spots in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Polls. The Huskies start the Hockey East slate with a 7 p.m. game against No. 5/4 New Hampshire at Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum on Wednesday.
With 16 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll and 11 in the USCHO.com poll, UConn is the only previously unranked team to crack the top-10. The Huskies are one of just three conference teams to earn a ranking in both as No. 7/8 Boston College joins UConn and UNH.
The Huskies refused to lose last weekend, winning a 4-1 decision over Colgate on Oct. 10 and tying last week's No. 6/7 St. Lawrence on Oct. 11. St. Lawrence is now ranked sixth in each national poll.
Michelle Binning (Oshawa, Ont./Toronto Jr. Aeros. Inter. AA) scored twice on the power play to open scoring against Colgate, lifting the Huskies to a 2-1 lead. Three of the four goals scored by UConn were with the man advantage as Dominique Thibault (L'Original, Ont./Montreal Axion NWHL) scored another in the third period. Brittany Murphy (Tewksbury, Mass./Lawrence Academy) added another to the Husky total midway through the final period and it was the only even strength goal of the game.
Thibault scored 17 seconds into the game against St. Lawrence on Saturday with the Huskies battling to a 4-4 tie against the Saints. Monique Weber (Rogers, Minn./Elk River High School) recorded her second goal of the year and Thibault scored her second of the game to give UConn a 3-1 lead. On the power-play, Amy Hollstein (Pembroke, Mass./Lawrence Academy) increased the lead (4-2) before St. Lawrence would score back-to-back goals early in the third period to tie it (4-4).
Earning a No. 5/4 ranking, UNH arrives with a 2-0-1 record this season. The Wildcats swept a two-game series at Niagara with a pair of five-goal games. UNH opened the season with Hockey East opponent, Boston College in a game that required the conference's first shootout in history to decide the victor. It took five rounds for the Wildcats to prevail with the season-opening 3-2 win.
UNH's Jenn Wakefield earned Pure Hockey Player of the Week accolades as announced by Hockey East on Oct. 12. Wakefield scored three goals and had four assists against the Purple Eagles. She had the game-winning goal at Niagara on Oct. 10 and assisted UNH's game winner the following night. The Wildcats won the first game 5-3 and took the second, on Oct. 11, by a score of 5-2.
The Huskies and the Wildcats face-off at 7 p.m. at Freitas Ice Forum and the first 100 fans to arrive will receive an UConn Ice Hockey T-shirt.
