University of Connecticut
3-4-0, 1-2-0
Merrimack College
5-1-1, 1-0-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UConn | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Merrimack | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
10/30/2026 10:00:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The UConn men's ice hockey team dropped the first game of a two-game series Friday night against No. 16 Merrimack, 5-4. The Huskies' special teams carried the night, but a late goal by the Warriors sealed the win.
The Huskies came out strong, pressuring the Warriors' defense and battling for pucks. That pressure paid off when UConn drew a penalty. On the power play, Joey Muldowney found Ethan Gardula for a one-timer to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Merrimack responded shortly afterward to tie it at 1-1. Both teams battled back and forth the rest of the period, but neither found the back of the net again, and they went to the intermission tied 1-1.
Merrimack jumped on the Huskies in the second period, taking a 2-1 lead three minutes in. UConn answered immediately when Muldowney collected a loose puck in front of the net and tipped it home to make it 2-2. The Huskies' intensity picked up after that, and they drew another penalty. On the power play, Jeremy Loranger fired a one-timer past Merrimack goaltender Linards Feldbergs to give UConn a 3-2 lead. With just under two minutes left in the period, Merrimack converted on an odd-man rush to tie it, and the teams headed to the second intermission knotted at 3-3.
The Huskies came out on the attack in the third period, pressuring the Merrimack defense and winning puck battles. Three minutes in, that pressure paid off. Anthony Allain-Samake kept the puck in the offensive zone and fired it toward the net, and after a bounce off the end boards, junior Mike Murtagh collected the loose puck and scored on a wraparound attempt to give UConn a 4-3 lead. The Huskies continued to press, but Merrimack found the equalizer again when a shot toward the net bounced off a defenseman's skate and into the goal. Late in the period, Merrimack took the lead when the Huskies were unable to clear the zone and a shot from the blue line beat Hendrickson. UConn pulled Hendrickson for an extra skater, but the Huskies could not tie the game.
UP NEXT: UConn will wrap up the weekend road trip against the Warriors on Saturday, Oct. 31. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., and the game can be streamed live on NESN.
