UConn closes regular season with 4-1 win over Vermont

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UConn men’s hockey wrapped up the regular season with a 4-1 victory over the Vermont Catamounts at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Thursday night. The Huskies clinch fourth place in the Hockey East standings and secure 20 wins for the third time in the last four years and just the fifth time in program history.

Joey Muldowney and Jake Richard each scored a pair of goals while Hudson Schandor recorded three assists to become the first player in UConn’s Division I Era with 30 helpers in a single season. Callum Tung started in goal and stopped 31 of 32 shots while making a few spectacular saves as well.

Despite how it ended up, the Huskies didn’t look great in the early going. They struggled to get the puck out of their own zone and didn’t even generate an attempt on net in the opening eight minutes.

So naturally, UConn scored first. On their second shot of the day, Muldowney buried a rebound to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead against the run of the play. A few minutes later, they got the first power play of the night and converted. Richard blasted a one-timer from the dot to double the advantage which extended the unit’s scoring streak to 10 straight games.

Despite a sub-part performance, UConn went into the first intermission leading 2-0.

Midway through the middle stanza, Richard added another. Schandor dished it to the junior, who took it across the face of goal and scored as he fell to the ice to make it 3-0.

Even with the big lead, the Huskies gave the hosts a lifeline back into the contest when they went to the box twice in a span of 3:56 but the penalty kill stepped up to preserve the shutout.

In the final period, UConn had plenty of chances to extend the gap but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Huskies had a power play where they did everything but score, then Schandor had a shorthanded chance that seemed to hit an invisible wall on the goal line and somehow stayed out.

The Catamounts made it interesting by scoring with 3:53 left but UConn slammed the door with an empty-netter courtesy of Muldowney. In the end, the Huskies walked out with a 4-1 victory.

UConn finishes the regular season 20-10-4 overall and 12-8-4 in Hockey East play. The Huskies will begin the postseason at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday in the quarterfinals against the 5-seed, which will likely be Providence.

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