Everything to know about UConn women's hockey ahead of its home opener

UConn women’s hockey did not get off to the start it hoped. The Huskies traveled to play St. Cloud State and returned to Storrs with a pair of 4-2 losses. The underlying numbers weren’t all that bad — they out-shot the other Huskies 29-22 on Friday, won 55.1 percent of face-offs across the weekend and killed all four penalties they faced — but were sunk by goaltending troubles and an inability to find the back of the net.

The path won’t get easier going forward. UConn will open its home slate with a weekend series against No. 9 Clarkson (Friday at 6 p.m. ET, Saturday at 3 p.m. ET), followed by a trip to No. 8 Princeton the next weekend and a two-game set with Mercyhurst (the first team outside the USCHO top 15) after that.

Since the Huskies’ first two games were stuck behind the B1G+ paywall, this weekend will be the first chance to see them play for most. Here’s everything you need to know about UConn’s 2026-27 team.

Last season

The last three seasons have marked the best stretch in UConn’s history. The Huskies have captured four Hockey East championships (two regular season, two tournament), reached a pair of NCAA Tournaments and even won a game there this past year.

That success can’t be written off as one strong class or a few special players. UConn has finally established itself as a championship program. Last season cemented that.

In 2023-24, the Huskies won the Hockey East regular season and tournament championships and then reached the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24 — all of which were program-firsts. The following year, they repeated as the league’s regular season winners but fell in the conference tournament and failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Last year, UConn bounced back by going farther than ever before. It finished second in the standings but captured the Hockey East tournament championship. That earned the Huskies an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, though they would’ve earned an at-large bid anyways.

UConn won its first game in the big dance with a 4-1 victory over Princeton before losing to Penn State in the regional final, 3-0.

Along the way, Kyla Josifovic became the first player under Chris MacKenzie to reach 40 points in a single season, Claire Murdoch set a program record with 27 assists and Tia Chan won HCA National Goaltender of the Year — becoming the first Husky to win a national honor — thanks to a 1.55 goals against average and .951 save percentage to go along with five shutouts.

Expectations for 2026-27

UConn lost some key pieces — Josifovic, Chan as well as a few other key skaters — but should contend for more Hockey East hardware and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. That’s the standard the Huskies have established over the last three years.

In the Hockey East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, UConn was picked to finish second behind Northeastern. The Huskies also landed at No. 7 in the USCHO Preseason Poll, though they fell to No. 12 after being swept by St. Cloud State.

Even with UConn’s recent success, Northeastern remains the team to beat in the league, though it’ll have to manage without a rink for the foreseeable future and only has nine “home” games on the schedule. Boston College and Boston University could also push the two Huskies.

To earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, UConn will need to finish at least in the top 10 of the NPI, though a top-six finish guarantees a spot in the event of bid-stealers.

Players to know

Claire Murdoch: Through her first two seasons, Murdoch has won Hockey East Rookie of the Year and been named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star. Murdoch is on her way to becoming one of the best players ever to come through Storrs — and she’s only at the halfway point of her career. She put up 39 points last season and already has 68 in her career, which is good for 19th-most in program history. Murdoch wear the captain’s “C” on her jersey this season.

Julia Pellerin: The top sidekick to Murdoch, Pellerin also earned a Hockey East Second Team All Star nod with a 14-goal, 16-assist campaign last season. A skilled speedster, she’s primed for a big leap in her second season at UConn after transferring in from Boston College last year.

Chelsea and Caileigh Tiller: The latest set of twins to come through the program arrived with impressive resumes already. Caileigh, a forward, has represented Canada at the U18 World Championships twice and won gold in 2025. During her juniors career, she recorded 102 points with the Burlington Barracudas of the OWHL — good for fourth-most in franchise history. Meanwhile, Chelsea is a self-described stay-and-home defender but set the Barracudas’ all-time record for points by a blue liner with 75. She joined Chelsea on Canada’s 2026 U18 World Championship team, which took home bronze.

The twins are already off to a fast start, too. Both scored in the opening weekend at St. Cloud State, while Caileigh also added an assist.

The coaching staff

Chris MacKenzie enters his 14th season at the helm. The second head coach in program history has comfortably established himself as the best with four Hockey East titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances to his name.

MacKenzie’s right-hand man is Casey Handrahan, who has been on staff since the beginning but has served as associate head coach since 2021-22. Despite being a defenseman during his playing days at Niagara as well as various minor leagues in the early 2000s, Handrahan taught himself the ins and outs of the goaltender position and now serves as UConn’s coach for the position.

Joining the pair on staff is Ainsley Svetek, a former blue liner for the Huskies from 2019-24. She came in as a volunteer assistant midway through last season after previous assistant Elizabeth Wulf left to become the head coach of Division III St. Joseph’s. Svetek is now a full-time assistant, though she’s also pursing a PhD in Kinesiology at UConn.

The rink

UConn is entering its fifth season at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs. The 2,513-seat rink replaced Freitas Ice Forum, which is now the UConn Volleyball Center. This is the first season the Huskies don’t have a single player who once played at Freitas.

Toscano serves as both the team’s practice facility and game arena. Since it opened in January 2022, UConn is 43-18-4 at home.

Top storyline

During her five seasons at UConn, Tia Chan established herself as the best goaltender in program history. She owned a career 1.52 GAA and .946 save percentage, won 70 games and led the Huskies to four Hockey East championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. In their two conference tournament title games, Chan put up 58. Now she’s gone, off to the PWHL as a third-round pick of San Jose.

UConn has to figure out how to replace her.

Taylor Belchetz started both games at St. Cloud State but allowed eight goals on 67 shots, which works out to a 4.08 GAA and .860 save percentage. The Huskies also have Amelia Wilkinson, a top-rated freshman, as well as senior Shannon Moran.