University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Boston University
Huskies Ready to Battle for the Belpot
11/21/2018 12:07:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Gm 13: UConn (5-6-1, 2-5-1 HEA) vs. Boston University (3-5-1, 3-3-1 HEA) -Â Nov. 23, 2018 | 7:00 pm GST (2 pm EST)
Gm 14: UConn vs. No. 11/12 Union / Yale - Nov. 24, 2018 | 3/7 pm GST (10 am/2 pm EST)
TV Coverage:Â Friday - NESN, ESPN+, TSNÂ |Â Saturday - NESNPlus, ESPN+, TSN
Video Stream: Watch.ESPNPlus.com
Live Stats: UConnHuskies.com
Ice Chips
- The Huskies made the trip across the Atlantic to Belfast, Northern Ireland to take part in the Northern Irish Connections Friendship Four at The SSE Arena. This is the fourth edition of the Friendship Four as the Huskies, Boston University, Union and Yale will battle for the Belpot Trophy.
- The Huskies will open the tournament on Friday with a Hockey East match-up against the BU Terriers. The two teams met five times last season, spliting the three regular season match-ups, 1-1-1, and the Terriers sweeping the Hockey East Quarterfinal series at home.Â
- Hockey East has won two of the three Belpot Trophies with UMass Lowell (2015) and Vermont (2016) taking the first two and Clarkson (2017) winning last season.
- All four games this weekend will be carried live back in New England by NESN (Friday) and NESNPLUS (Saturday) and on TSN in Canada. They can also be streamed using the ESPN+ service.
- This is the first of two in-season tournament for UConn this year as the Huskies will also take part in the Ice Vegas Invitational in January. The last time the Huskies played in a tournament, the 2017 Desert Hockey Classic in Prescott, Arizona, they took home the trophy, beating St. Cloud State and Brown to win their first regular season tournament trophy under head coach Mike Cavanaugh.
- UConn will face either Union or Yale on Saturday, their fourth match-up against an ECAC opponent this season. The Huskies are 2-1-0 so far this year with wins over RPI and Brown. The remainder of this year's schedule has the Huskies traveling to Yale, hosting RPI and potentially meeting St. Lawrence in the Ice Vegas Invitational. UConn is 20-55-10 all-time against teams from the ECAC and under head coach Mike Cavanaugh, are 7-6-2 against the league.
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik is second in Hockey East and is fifth nationally among rookies in scoring with 11 points on 11 assists. His 11 assists (0.92 pg) is tied for the lead in Hockey East. He has three multi-point games on the year. The UConn freshmen class as a whole leads the team with 30 points (8g/22a) this season.
- Junior Alexander Payusov is the team's leading goal producer with eight goals in 11 games, tying him for second in Hockey East. The junior forward also has three power play goals.Â
- Senior Karl El-Mir has eight points on the season on six goals and two assists, leaving him sixth among Hockey East goal scorers. He has 21 career goals and 22 career assists.
- The Huskies will be road warriors for the first three months of the season, playing just five times at the XL Center in their first 21 games.
Last Season vs. Boston University
The Huskies and Terriers met five times last season including a Hockey East Quarterfinal series in the postseason. During the regular season, the Huskies were 1-1-1 against BU, tying 2-2 on the road and losing 6-3 at home in October. The two teams met a third time in the regular season at the XL Center in February with the Huskies battling back twice from down two goals to come away with a 5-4 overtime win to run their winning streak to seven-straight. Trailing 4-2 in the third, UConn's Kasperi Ojantakanen and Alexander Payusov scored at 10:14 and 14:23 to tie the game and force overtime. In the extra session, Maxim Letunov provided the game-winner at 2:51. The win helped UConn secure the No. 5 seed in the postseason tournament and quarterfinal series at Agganis Arena against the Terriers. In game one, Jordan Greenway scored a pair of goals and Bobo Carpenter scored the game-winner in overtime to give BU a 5-4 overtime win. The Terriers got the sweep in game two, posting a 2-1 win. Goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped 36 of 37 shots while Brady Tkachuk and Logan Cockerill provided the scoring
Last Meeting with Union
Dec. 27, 2014
UConn rookie Spencer Naas scored the game-winner at 10:13 of the third period and sophomore goaltender Rob Nichols made 37 saves as the Huskies knocked-off Union College, 3-2, in the opening game of the Frozen Holiday Classic from Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. UConn jumped out to a 1-0 lead late in the first period as Patrick Kirtland buried a wrist shot top-shelf, stick side past Colin Stevens at 16:35. Union won the special teams battle in the second period, scoring on two-straight power plays just 1:09 apart. The Huskies found the tying goal late in the second as Cody Sharib shoveled a back-hander through Stevens' five-hole to knot the game 2-2 at the 18:03 mark. Nichols kept the Dutchmen off the board in the third as Naas buried a one-timer for the game-winner at 10:13 of the third period.
Last Meeting with Yale
Jan. 7, 2017
The UConn Huskies got 37 saves from freshman Adam Huska but a pair of second period power play goals fueled the Yale Bulldogs to a 4-2 win in their first visit to the XL Center. Yale's Joe Snively opened the scoring at 8:06 with a wrap-around shot that he buried for a 1-0 lead. The Huskies tied it at 13:57 off the stick of Brian Morgan who caught the goaltender leaning and flipped a shot top-shelf. The Huskies took their only lead of the game with a power play goal at 11:28 into the second period as Spencer Naas found Max Kalter's rebound. Justin Howell was called for a five-minute major and game misconduct at 12:23 for hitting from behind and Yale took full advantage, scoring twice on the ensuing power play. The Bulldogs made it three-straight on the scoreboard just 2:14 into the third period when Frankie DiCharia took a pass off the left half boards from Robbie DeMontis and fired a wrist shot from the circle that beat Huska glove side.
