The Forecheck: UConn women's hockey to face Boston College in Hockey East quarterfinals

Meanwhile, UConn men's hockey can finish anywhere between first and eighth in the league standings.

Feb 21, 2023

Welcome to the UConn Hockey Hub newsletter, which catches you up on all the stories, trends, and anything else you might have missed, along with some quick takes and leftover notes from the weekend.

UConn women’s hockey to face Boston College in Hockey East quarterfinals

This past weekend, UConn women’s hockey closed out the regular season with a convincing sweep over Holy Cross. The Huskies won both contests 3-0 to enter the postseason with an 18-12-4 overall record and 12-11-4 mark in Hockey East. With 44 points, UConn is the fifth seed in the tournament, which means it’ll travel to 4-seed Boston College for the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The Huskies swept the Eagles in three games this season. They won 1-0 at Freitas Ice Forum on Nov. 4, then added a pair of 3-1 victories at Kelley Rink on Nov. 5 and Jan. 17. Boston College went 16-11-0 in Hockey East play, finishing three points above UConn.

The two wins over Holy Cross in the final weekend were the Huskies’ first wins since beating the Eagles on Jan. 17. They tied Providence on Jan. 20 and Boston University on Feb. 3, then lost four times to Maine, UNH, Northeastern and Holy Cross.

Captain Coryn Tormala leads the squad with 21 points on 10 goals and 11 assists while Jada Habisch’s 12 goals were the team-high. Those two are UConn’s only double-digit goal scorers. Nobody else has more than seven.

Luckily, both goaltenders have been stellar. Megan Warrener has a 1.90 GAA and .916 save percentage while Tia Chan owns a 1.58 GAA and .938 save percentage — which ranks sixth and fourth in the nation, respectively.

Chris MacKenzie’s teams have historically thrived in the postseason. The Huskies have made the Hockey East finals in three of the last five years, though they’ve never been able to topple Northeastern in the championship game. The other Huskies remain the team to beat, having won the Hockey East regular season title by 16 points with a 24-2-1 record in the league.

Hockey East standings still wide-open on men’s side

UConn men’s hockey still has two weekends left in its regular season — and a lot can still be decided. The Huskies can finish anywhere between first place and eighth place in the league, with fourth or fifth being the most likely.

With 35 points and three league games left, UConn is seven points behind Northeastern in first place and three points head of Providence in sixth place with a game in hand. The top five teams secure a bye into the quarterfinals while the top four earn home ice in the round.

The Huskies will clinch a first round bye with five points over their final three games. Providence, Boston College and Maine are all still in contention, but the maximum number of points any of those teams can earn is 39. UConn currently has 35 points.

To get into fourth place, the Huskies need to at least pass UMass Lowell, though the schedule works out in their favor. The River Hawks have to play Merrimack and Northeastern in its final four games, which won’t be an easy task. Everyone else in the top three has an easier slate. Northeastern will face 10th-place UMass twice while both BU and Merrimack each play last-place UVM.

There’s still a lot that can change. With how much help UConn will need from other teams to move up, it’ll have a much better idea of where it stands entering the final weekend.

Week in review

Elsewhere:

UConn men’s fell to No. 16 in the USCHO Poll despite not playing this past week.
Puck drop for UConn-UNH on Saturday has been moved up to 3:05 p.m. ET at Toscano Family Ice Forum.