Preview: UConn at Vermont
The Huskies open the season on the road against an upstart program.
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How to watch
Date: Saturday, Oct. 1 | Sunday, Oct. 2
Time: 7 p.m. ET | 4 p.m. ET
Location: Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Vermont
Stream: ESPN+
Vermont Catamounts
Record: 0-0-0
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Head coach: Todd Woodcroft (third season)
Pairwise: No. 38 (via Mike McMahon’s 2022-23 projection)
Scouting the Catamounts
Despite finishing 10th in Hockey East last season, Vermont looks to be a program on the rise. The Catamounts were extremely young last season but by the end of the year — i.e when they faced UConn — they were playing some of their best hockey.
Vermont returns second-leading scorer Jacques Bouquot up top after a six-goal, nine-assist season as well as double-digit point-getters William Lemay (5-6—11), Simon Jellus (5-5—10) and Will Zapernick (5-6—11). Isak Walther also had a promising freshman year with three goals and five assists.
On the blue line, the Catamounts bring back just three players: Robbie Stucker (4-9—12), Joe Leahy (2-7—9), and Luca Munzenberger (0-3—3). They also added Eric Gatoz (4-6—10) out the transfer portal from Michigan Tech while bringing in four freshmen blue liners: Ralfs Bergmanis, Xavier Henry, Lucas Jones, and Philip Tornqvist.
In goal, Gabe Carriere is the likely starter. Last season, he had a 2.91 GAA and .902 save percentage despite facing 534 shots.
The biggest question mark for Vermont this year is whether it’ll learn how to win close games. Last season, the Catamounts played 17 one-goal games and lost 12, which shows how competitive they were in most of their contests. That should only continue into this year, except now the talent level is higher and most of the squad has more experience. Combine that with the environment at Gutterson Fieldhouse as well as UConn’s question marks across the roster and this is a series that could go a lot of different ways.
Series history
UVM leads the all-time series 25-9-1, though 15 of those wins came when UConn was still a Division III program. Since the Huskies joined Hockey East, the Catamounts hold a 9-8-0 edge. UVM won five straight games from 2015 to 2017 but since then, UConn has claimed five of the last eight meetings.
Last season at the XL Center, the two teams split the final series of the regular season. The Huskies dropped an ugly 5-3 decision on Friday night but bounced back for a 4-0 win on senior day.
By the numbers
4-2-2 — UConn is 4-2-2 in season openers during its Hockey East Era. Last year, the Huskies defeated Sacred Heart 6-3 in their first game.
1 — Of UConn’s returning players, Roman Kinal is the only one who’s played at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The Huskies haven’t traveled to Burlington since the 2018-19 season after the series in 2020-21 was canceled due to COVID.
1,426 — In the same vein, 1,426 days have passed since UConn last took the ice in Gutterson Fieldhouse.
5 — Vermont has just five juniors and seniors who joined the program as freshmen. The remaining five upperclassmen all transferred in.
Quote of note
“There's no setback in terms of skill on this team (from last season). We have a lot of skill moving forward, these young guys are going to be able to step in and make an impact right away, as well as the older transfers who have looked unbelievable for us so far.” — Hudson Schandor on UConn’s new-look forwards
What to watch for
Who starts in goal
UConn has two high-upside but inexperienced options in goal with sophomore Logan Terness and freshman Arsenii Sergeev. Throughout the preseason, both have performed well but neither have separated themselves to become entrenched as the starter.
Because of that, expect Terness and Sergeev both to earn a start this weekend with the sophomore the favorite to take the ice on Friday night as the more experienced option.
Predicting the lines
Even with so much turnover from last season, UConn doesn’t have too many lineup decisions to make. Assuming the Huskies are at full health — which they appear to be — every non-freshman has a spot in the lineup with the exception of Jake Veilleux and Aidan Metcalfe, as does Matthew Wood. That leaves four openings at forward, one at defensemen, and the extra skater spot.
Up top, Jake Percival and Tabor Heaslip should both get the nod with Tristan Fraser and Veilleux likely the last two on the lineup sheet. On the blue line, it’ll be either Thomas Messineo or Jack Pascucci.
With how much experience UConn has in the defensive corps, the extra skater spot should be a forward. If that’s the case, Jake Black or Ryan Tattle will dress and play.
In terms of what the lines might look like, that’s impossible to predict and they’ll probably change as the game progresses anyways.