Spring Break
Women's Hockey: Weekend sweep puts UConn in deep hole
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Sports
The UConn women's ice hockey team suffered two disappointing losses this weekend to Boston University, which crippled their chances to finish atop the Hockey East standings.
The Huskies (18-9-3, 10-6-1 Hockey East) lost 3-2, after seven rounds of shootout, to the Terriers at home Friday night. The following afternoon, the Terriers (14-10-6, 12-6-0 Hockey East) defeated the Huskies again, by the score of 3-1.
Boston University scored a goal in each of the opening periods Friday and held UConn's offense to only 14 shots during the first two periods.
Five minutes into the third period, UConn defender Sami Evelyn sent a puck down to BU's goalie in order to switch UConn's line. After a couple strange bounces the puck jumped up, hit BU's goalie's Melissa Haber's stick, and went into the net.
The goal rejuvenated UConn's spirit for considerably better. Five minutes after their first goal Michelle Binning was able to score her 16th goal of the season and tie the game up.
"We had to try to get a spark going and it helped but a fluke goal also helps," said head coach Heather Linstad. "I don't know how much the line changes actually helped."
After a stalemate in overtime, the two teams went into a shootout. After seven rounds, BU defender Caroline Bourdeau was able to put the puck behind Brittany Wilson and win the game for BU.
"We were a better team than that, it shouldn't have to come down to us having to score that much in a period," Linstad said. "We played poorly the first two periods and obviously that cost us the game."
Linstad pointed to poor fore-check, sloppy handling of the puck and a weak power-play as some of the little things the Huskies didn't accomplish during the game. The game differed from recent play by the team, where their fore-check has been extremely pesky for opposing teams to deal with.
The Huskies could not afford to lose both games in a very competitive Hockey East conference and now find themselves sitting in fifth place in the division. They will most likely have to win the Hockey East tournament in order to make the NCAA Tournament.
"Every game is huge, we were supposed to be winning these games, we aren't supposed to be giving games away or having to come back from that far down," Linstad said. "They (the players) have to make up their minds about how good they want to be."
The Huskies suffered some of the same fate in the second half of the home and home, giving up two goals in the second period. They were only able to find the net once during the game when Monique Weber scored during the second period.
The Huskies outshot the Terriers 24-22 but weren't able find the back of the net enough. Hockey East's leading scorer, Dominique Thibault, was able to fire seven shots, but the Terriers held Thibault scoreless all weekend.
The Huskies (18-9-3, 10-6-1 Hockey East) lost 3-2, after seven rounds of shootout, to the Terriers at home Friday night. The following afternoon, the Terriers (14-10-6, 12-6-0 Hockey East) defeated the Huskies again, by the score of 3-1.
Boston University scored a goal in each of the opening periods Friday and held UConn's offense to only 14 shots during the first two periods.
Five minutes into the third period, UConn defender Sami Evelyn sent a puck down to BU's goalie in order to switch UConn's line. After a couple strange bounces the puck jumped up, hit BU's goalie's Melissa Haber's stick, and went into the net.
The goal rejuvenated UConn's spirit for considerably better. Five minutes after their first goal Michelle Binning was able to score her 16th goal of the season and tie the game up.
"We had to try to get a spark going and it helped but a fluke goal also helps," said head coach Heather Linstad. "I don't know how much the line changes actually helped."
After a stalemate in overtime, the two teams went into a shootout. After seven rounds, BU defender Caroline Bourdeau was able to put the puck behind Brittany Wilson and win the game for BU.
"We were a better team than that, it shouldn't have to come down to us having to score that much in a period," Linstad said. "We played poorly the first two periods and obviously that cost us the game."
Linstad pointed to poor fore-check, sloppy handling of the puck and a weak power-play as some of the little things the Huskies didn't accomplish during the game. The game differed from recent play by the team, where their fore-check has been extremely pesky for opposing teams to deal with.
The Huskies could not afford to lose both games in a very competitive Hockey East conference and now find themselves sitting in fifth place in the division. They will most likely have to win the Hockey East tournament in order to make the NCAA Tournament.
"Every game is huge, we were supposed to be winning these games, we aren't supposed to be giving games away or having to come back from that far down," Linstad said. "They (the players) have to make up their minds about how good they want to be."
The Huskies suffered some of the same fate in the second half of the home and home, giving up two goals in the second period. They were only able to find the net once during the game when Monique Weber scored during the second period.
The Huskies outshot the Terriers 24-22 but weren't able find the back of the net enough. Hockey East's leading scorer, Dominique Thibault, was able to fire seven shots, but the Terriers held Thibault scoreless all weekend.
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