The Daily Campus

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dan Gindraux Goalie Brittany Hunter was named the Hockey East Goalie of the Month for January.

With eight games remaining on its schedule before the Hockey East tournament, the women's hockey team looks to keep their second place spot in the conference as they play a pair of games against third-place Providence this weekend. The first game is home Saturday at 1 p.m. and then the Huskies travel to Providence Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

As the season winds down, each game gets increasingly important, a fact that head coach Heather Linstad is well aware of.

"We need every point we can get if we want to make the tournament and keep our national ranking," said Linstad.

The fact that Providence (12-11-3, 7-4-2 Hockey East) is right behind UConn (17-4-5, 8-2-3), trailing by three points, gives the game added meaning.

"Providence is right on our heels and they would love to take over second place from us," Linstad said. "We have to take care of business."

If the standings remain the same the teams will see each other again in a first round match-up in the Hockey East tournament.

The last time the two teams met was back in October when the Huskies downed the Friars 5-0 in Storrs. Though they beat them fairly handily, Providence has since beat No. 7 Mercyhurst and tied No. 2 New Hampshire. The Friars have been led by senior forward Sarah Feldman, who transferred from conference rival Boston College after her sophomore year. This second half resurgence does not surprise Linstad.

"Providence is always a better second half team and they have had a few big games recently," Lindtad said, "but we have all the tools we need to beat them." Linstad said.

One of these tools that is responsible for not only the Huskies' recent success, but their success all season is goaltender Brittany Wilson.

Wilson, who was recently named Hockey East Goaltender of the Month for January, is coming off a weekend series against Northeastern where she only allowed one goal in two games, stopping 41 shots in the process and recorded her fifth shutout of the season.

"She been able to keep it simple and do a lot of the little things plus our team defense has played really well," Linstad said. "If you don't notice her then she's doing a good job."

Also helping Wilsons success is the fact that her and Jennie Bellonio have been competing for time which, according to Linstad, has made both of them better. Bellonio has started nine games this year, going 6-1-2.

"Having Wilson and JB (Bellonio) has been a bonus and they both have been working hard to contribute," Linstad said.

It is this depth, not just between the pipes but on the whole team, that Linstad thinks is crucial to the team's success not just this weekend, but for the rest of the season.

"We have a lot of depth throughout our whole roster," Linstad said. "I think that is going to be the key for us down the stretch."



Contact Kevin Vellturo
at Kevin.Vellturo@UConn.edu.

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