Spring Break
Home-and-home battle with Boston
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Sports
This weekend will feature a pivotal home-and-home series for the women's hockey team. The Huskies (18-8-2 10-5-0 Hockey East) take on the Boston University Terriers (13-10-5 10-6-0 Hockey East) for a vital position atop the Hockey East standings.
The Huskies defeated BU on Jan. 10 3-0 and it looks like they'll have repeated success. Brittany Wilson was able to gain a shutout on the strength of 31 saves. Monique Weber was able to put in two goals, and Hockey East's leading scorer Dominque Thibault also found the back of the net.
"It was an up-and-done game last time; we were able to use our speed and come out on top of it," said coach Heather Linstad.
Wilson was awarded the ITECH goaltender of the month award for leading the Huskies to a 6-2 record during the month of January. She has been a rock in the net for the Huskies late in the season, and has kept the Huskies alive in most games that they play.
The Huskies have gone 7-2 in 2009, which is in large part due to the speed of the team. The Huskies' aggressive style of play enables them to pursue the puck with speed and get after slower defensemen who are trying to get the puck up ice.
UConn's speed is demonstrated best when the team is shorthanded. When playing four on five, the team's aggressive nature really shows. In the last game against Providence College, PC had a few power plays where they were not able to get off a shot on goal.
When playing short-handed, the Huskies send a woman up ice to disrupt the flow of the opposing team. They also have a player floating in the neutral zone, and finally, two defenders that play tough on the top of the defensive zone.
It makes the team have to work extra hard to gain the offensive zone and be able to set up their attack. You have to be on target with all your passes or the UConn defenders will take the puck and attack. UConn has four shorthanded goals on the season thus far.
"We have forwards that are strong on defense which really helps when it comes to special teams," Linstad said. "We have also done a very good job of blocking shots in front of the net."
The Huskies currently stand fourth in the conference and will need to take at least one of the games against Boston University if they wish to remain in title contention. If the Huskies can take these games against BU and the following week's games against Maine who they have already defeated, it sets up a very interesting show-down with the conference leader New Hampshire, who they tied 3-3 early in the season.
Hope for a conference title is still alive and the Huskies know that they still need to work on a few things.
"We have been working on the little things in practice, the spread of our game," Linstad said. " We need to be able to work the width of the ice."
The Huskies defeated BU on Jan. 10 3-0 and it looks like they'll have repeated success. Brittany Wilson was able to gain a shutout on the strength of 31 saves. Monique Weber was able to put in two goals, and Hockey East's leading scorer Dominque Thibault also found the back of the net.
"It was an up-and-done game last time; we were able to use our speed and come out on top of it," said coach Heather Linstad.
Wilson was awarded the ITECH goaltender of the month award for leading the Huskies to a 6-2 record during the month of January. She has been a rock in the net for the Huskies late in the season, and has kept the Huskies alive in most games that they play.
The Huskies have gone 7-2 in 2009, which is in large part due to the speed of the team. The Huskies' aggressive style of play enables them to pursue the puck with speed and get after slower defensemen who are trying to get the puck up ice.
UConn's speed is demonstrated best when the team is shorthanded. When playing four on five, the team's aggressive nature really shows. In the last game against Providence College, PC had a few power plays where they were not able to get off a shot on goal.
When playing short-handed, the Huskies send a woman up ice to disrupt the flow of the opposing team. They also have a player floating in the neutral zone, and finally, two defenders that play tough on the top of the defensive zone.
It makes the team have to work extra hard to gain the offensive zone and be able to set up their attack. You have to be on target with all your passes or the UConn defenders will take the puck and attack. UConn has four shorthanded goals on the season thus far.
"We have forwards that are strong on defense which really helps when it comes to special teams," Linstad said. "We have also done a very good job of blocking shots in front of the net."
The Huskies currently stand fourth in the conference and will need to take at least one of the games against Boston University if they wish to remain in title contention. If the Huskies can take these games against BU and the following week's games against Maine who they have already defeated, it sets up a very interesting show-down with the conference leader New Hampshire, who they tied 3-3 early in the season.
Hope for a conference title is still alive and the Huskies know that they still need to work on a few things.
"We have been working on the little things in practice, the spread of our game," Linstad said. " We need to be able to work the width of the ice."
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