UConn cost itself a trophy on Saturday. Mike Cavanaugh hopes it'll be a valuable lesson down the line

UConn men’s hockey came into this season with a chance to play for six trophies: The Ice Breaker Tournament, the Friendship Four, CT Ice, the Hockey East regular season, the Hockey East tournament and the national championship.

The Huskies put themselves in a position to go after the first by beating Penn State in their opener on Friday night, setting up a winner-take-all showdown with Bowling Green on Saturday.

Through 40 minutes, the two teams were knotted at 2-2. With one strong period, UConn could capture its fourth trophy under Mike Cavanaugh. Instead, the Huskies spent the final stanza shooting themselves squarely in the foot.

The problems began moments after the second period ended when Ethan Gardula took a roughing penalty after the buzzer sounded. The Falcons effectively scored on the ensuing power play, finding the back of the net one second after it expired to go up 3-2.

UConn had a chance to claw back with its own man advantage soon after, only to end it early with a back-breaking mistake from Ethan Whitcomb. The junior skated along Bowling Green’s bench and hit an opposing player below the belt with his stick. The visitors challenged for a major penalty and won, which handed Whitcomb five minutes for spearing and a game misconduct.

The Huskies tied the game on a shorthanded goal from Carter Sproule, but coughed up another power play goal to fall back behind, 3-2. They trailed the rest of the way en route to a 5-2 defeat.

Those penalties — along with a penalty kill unit that effectively gave up three goals on five chances — proved fatal in a trophy game. Cavanaugh, although disappointed in his team’s performance in crunch time, hopes it can be a learning experience the next time hardware is on the line.

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