University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Maine
Murphy's Two Goals Leads UConn Over Maine, 3-1
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Jan. 22, 2011
ORONO, Maine - Senior Brittany Murphy (Tewksbury, Mass.) recorded a pair of goals, while junior Alexandra Garcia (Pointe-Claire, Que.) posted 22 saves to lift the University of Connecticut women's ice hockey team over Maine, 3-1 this afternoon at Alfond Arena. The Huskies have now won five straight contests to improve to 12-13-1 overall and 8-4-1 in Hockey East action.
The Black Bears got on the board first, just three minutes into the contest when Brittany Dougherty was able to put the puck past Garcia at the right post to give Maine a 1-0 lead. Alexandra Vakos (Hamden, Conn.) tried for the equalizer in the 15th minute of the opening period when she fired a shot on net, but it rang off the pipe as the Black Bears were able to hold off the UConn offense.
Murphy was finally able to get the Huskies on the board at the 18:45 mark of the first period when she tapped in a rebound from a Jennifer Chaisson (Cumberland, Ont.) shot that was saved by Maine's Brittany Ott. The goal was Murphy's sixth of the season, while Chaisson recorded her team-high 11th assist of the year.
Kelly Horan (Methuen, Mass.) posted the eventual game-winner five minutes into the second period as she skated in towards Ott, waited for an open shot and back-handed the puck into the net from the low slot. Jody Sydor (St. Albert, Alta.) was credited for the assist on the play as she sent the puck ahead to Horan, giving UConn the 2-1 lead.
Murphy's second goal of the contest came with less than 30 seconds to play in the game as she chased down the puck in the Maine zone and tapped it in for an empty net goal giving the Huskies the 3-1 victory. The goal came after Maine pulled their goalie for the extra skater advantage, but the Black Bears were unable to keep the puck on their offensive end, giving up the final goal of the game.
The Huskies are now 10-for-10 on the penalty kill over the past four contests after holding Maine scoreless on three power play opportunities this afternoon. UConn has allowed just two power play goals over the past seven contests, while scoring five goals on power play opportunities themselves during that span.
With her assist on Murphy's first goal, Chaisson now has 80 points on her career, becoming the fourth Husky to post at least 80 points in their career.
UConn returns to action next weekend when the Huskies play a home-and-home series with Boston University. The Huskies will travel to BU for a 7:00 p.m. game on Friday (Jan. 28) and will then host the Terriers at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 29) in UConn's Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer game.
