The Forecheck: It's a good week to be a UConn goalie

Three of the Huskies' net-minders landed on national watch lists while another brought home a weekly honor.

Author

Daniel Connolly
January 17, 2024

Photo: Ian Bethune

Welcome to the UConn Hockey Hub newsletter, which catches you up on all the stories, trends, and anything else you might have missed, along with some quick takes and leftover notes from the weekend.

Big honors for UConn’s goalies

It’s a good week to be a goaltender at UConn.

On Friday, three of them landed on a national award watch list. Ethan Haider was one of 32 net-minders named to the Mike Richard Award watch list, which is given annually to the best goalie in Division I men’s hockey. On the women’s side, Tia Chan and Megan Warrener were included on the creatively named Women’s Goalie of the Year watch list.

The two watch lists will be cut down in the next few weeks before the winners are announced at each side’s respective Frozen Four.

Haider has been UConn men’s hockey’s top goalie for most of the season. After splitting time with Arsenii Sergeev to start the year, he started nine straight games at the end of the first half and the start of the second half. Haider has a 2.55 goals against average and .912 save percentage along with a pair of shutouts on the year.

As for Chan and Warrener, they’ve split time between the pipes. Chan has 12 starts with a 1.91 GAA and a .936 save percentage while generally playing against the Huskies’ tougher opponents. For example, she started both games at No. 2 Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Warrener has dominated the weaker competition. She has a 0.91 GAA and .955 save percentage which ranks second and third, respectively, in the nation and also holds a perfect 9-0-1 record.

Sergeev didn’t end up on a watch list but still earned some recognition. He recorded his first collegiate shutout to earn Co-Hockey East Goaltender of the Week honors in a 2-0 win over Maine.

As good as all three goalies have been across the season, Sergeev’s award might’ve been the most impressive considering the circumstances. While he led UConn’s rotation in net to start the year, he began to struggle in November and fell apart in a Nov. 10 loss to Merrimack. Sergeev wouldn’t play again for nearly two months until he got the nod in the second game against Maine this past weekend.

Sergeev dominated by shutting out the Black Bears to stop their nine-game win streak. He also played one of his cleanest games of the season by limiting rebounds and maintaining his positioning in the crease.

“It happens sometimes with goaltenders, they go through some slumps,” head coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “I think [Sergeev] just worked on some details of his game, some fundamentals of setting his feet and not sliding and drifting. He did a very, very well on Saturday afternoon.”

As the stretch run begins for both teams, UConn knows it has a solid option in goal — regardless of who’s in there.

Headlines

Last week’s Forecheck

Three stars

First star: Arsenii Sergeev

Sergeev’s resiliency to step in after being benched for two months and then play the best game of his career is impressive — especially considering how badly UConn needed that win after Friday night’s collapse.

Second star: Chase Bradley

The junior had a goal and assist on Friday to become UConn’s leader in both goals (eight) and points (15) despite playing two games fewer than most of his teammates.

Third star: Ashley Allard

Allard had a three-point weekend with a goal on Friday followed by a pair of assists on Saturday. She’s now up to 10 points during her rookie campaign and is the fifth-highest scorer on the roster.

Play of the Week

Best of social media

The week ahead

The two teams will play a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Both are at Toscano on Friday — the women at 2 p.m. ET against Maine, the men at 7 p.m. ET against New Hampshire — and at UNH on Sunday — noon ET for the women, 4 p.m. ET for the men.