Spring Break
Women's Hockey passes its entrance exams
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Sports
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Friday night, UConn beat Colgate, 4-1, and Saturday they tied No. 7 St. Lawrence, 4-4.
For UConn, the weekend really started during the third period of the Colgate game, with the score tied at 1-1.
The Huskies had been in penalty trouble throughout the first two periods and had a hard time getting the puck out of the their zone.
Then, the floodgates opened. Michelle Binning scored five minutes into the third period on a power-play goal. Dominique Thibault, who had three goals on the weekend, scored less than two minutes later. Four minutes later, Brittany Murphy followed up to make it 4-1.
"I think we knew we were a better team, we talked about some things in between periods and then they went out there and executed," head coach Heather Linstad said.
Freshman goalie Alexandra Garcia complemented the offensive outburst with 25 saves.
Saturday afternoon, a very talented - and highly ranked - St. Lawrence team came to the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. The Huskies were able to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead after just 17 seconds when Thibault put the puck behind St. Lawrence goalie Brittony Chartier.
Speed was seen on both sides of the ice in what proved to be a back-and-forth game. After allowing a pair of St. Lawrence goals, the Huskies responded with three straight to take a 4-2 lead into the third period.
"We just went into the third period thinking the game was over," Binning said. "We came out a little slow and penalties at the end of the game killed us. We had momentum and then we got stupid penalties, and we lost it quick."
St. Lawrence jumped on a laid-back UConn team and scored two goals in the first three minutes of the third period. With the lead gone, UConn appeared to wake up, though they could not produce a game-winner in regulation.
In the overtime, each team had several close calls, but could not break through for the goal. Linstad opted to take the tie rather than decide the game on penalty shots, a new rule twist in the Hockey East Conference.
Defensively the Huskies played well, but Linstad noted that both teams had some bounces go their ways. Getting the puck out of the zone when the Huskies are pressured continues to be an issue that the coaching staff and players are addressing, Linstad said.
Despite the uninspired play in the beginning of the third period Saturday, Linstad felt her team passed its first two home tests.
"If I was going to grade us I would say that we were around a B for the weekend," Linstad said. "We scored a lot of goals and we definitely have to work on our defensive zone and coverage. We give up too many opportunities to start scoring chances for the other team."
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