New-look UConn squad impresses in season opener

UConn men’s hockey beat the Colgate Raiders in pretty much every possible area in its season opener on Friday night. The Huskies claimed the victory with a 4-2 scoreline, had the edge in shots on goal (38-24), face-offs (27-22) and special teams (1-0), then out-played the visitors in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet.

From start to finish, UConn dictated play, owned possession and beat Colgate to pucks. The Huskies asserted their will from the opening draw and performed like a team that had been together for years, not one with 14 new faces coming off their worst season in recent memory.

“It was just a culmination of our hard work throughout the summer and the offseason, Jake Percival said. “The guys came together.”

They were led by the junior. Percival’s line got the start, he notched the opening goal and then led the team with a career-high nine shots on goal. Percival consistently found the puck and created chances with it all night long.

While it might’ve been a breakout performance for everyone watching UConn play for the first time, it was simply a continuation of his efforts in practice over the last month.

“He's been great all preseason,” Mike Cavanaugh said. “It's confidence, it's maturity, it’s now feeling comfortable here at UConn and being an upperclassman.”

Percival’s score rewarded the Huskies’ strong start in which they seized control from the initial face-off. They took the first five shots of the game and held the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches in the opening minutes.

“We had a great start to the game,” Cavanaugh said. “We came out playing with a lot of pace and energy, and it was great to get that first goal.”

While Colgate tied the game at the end of the first period, UConn wasn’t fazed. It continued to play a heavy, physical game and hounded pucks up and down the ice. The Huskies wore down the Raiders and eventually re-took the lead when Oliver Flynn’s shot from the face-off dot somehow found its way into the net.

They didn’t let up, either. UConn went on the power play a few minutes after going back ahead and converted when freshman Ethan Gardula buried a rebound. Then it was Colgate, not the Huskies, that shot itself in the foot with back-to-back penalties later in the period. While UConn didn’t score, the power play unit operated with purpose and decisiveness — something that has rarely happened in recent years.

“I thought the power play was dangerous all night long,” Cavanaugh said.

The Huskies made it 4-1 just 1:45 into the third period when Jake Richard re-directed a shot from Kai Janviriya, which all but put the game away. Although the Raiders added a consolation goal late, UConn came away with a 4-2 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

“We knew what we could do and the first period, you saw what happened,” Percival said. “We came out, we were ready to go. There's some lapses, which is going to happen with when you're implementing new stuff with a lot of new guys, but the effort was there, the intensity was there, and guys were selling out. So that's all you can ask.”

All of this comes with the caveat that it’s only the first game of the season.

Still, the Huskies looked remarkably competent — something that couldn’t be said much last year. They were physical but didn’t take unnecessary penalties — in fact, they goaded Colgate into a few. They converted puck possession into scoring chances and actually capitalized on them. They were structured and organized in all facets of the game.

UConn impressed, and it did so with a style of play that’s repeatable going forward.

“I thought we played with a lot of pace and a lot of jam,” Cavanaugh said. “Now, we gotta build on it. But that's the type of team that I like to coach.”

There’s a lot of season left. UConn not only has to repeat this performance on Saturday against a Colgate squad that’ll be desperate to avoid starting the new year 0-2, it’ll have to carry it on throughout the year — especially against better competition.

Still, after a miserable 2023-24 campaign and a turbulent, trying offseason, there was a lot to like about this new edition of the Huskies.

“We want to prove it to ourselves,” Percival said. “This is the group we have, we trust each other. Every day, we know what we're gonna do.”