UConn falls to Vermont, 4-2

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UConn men’s hockey dropped a 4-2 decision to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday at Toscano Family Ice Forum. Not much went well for the Huskies — they piled up the mistakes while UVM dictated play throughout the contest.

Jake Richard and Tristan Fraser scored the goals for UConn. In net, Tyler Muszelik stopped 29 of 33 shots. Neither team had a power play.

After starting fast on Friday night, the Huskies struggled out of the gates on Saturday. UVM dominated possession from the start and jumped out to a 1-0 lead four minutes in. Colin Kessler’s point-blank shot was turned away by Muszelik but the puck bounced off Anthony Allain-Samaké and went in.

UConn didn’t manage a single shot through the first 10 minutes. Richard changed that when he sprung free on a breakaway but he couldn’t beat the goalie with a deke. The Huskies went into the first intermission down 1-0.

It didn’t stay that way long, though. 35 seconds into the new period, Richard blasted home a one-timer to pull his side even at 1-1. Three minutes later, Fraser buried a rebound to give the hosts their first lead of the day, 2-1.

The Catamounts answered quickly. 56 seconds onward, Daniel Sambuco flew past Trey Scott and fired a shot that bounced up and over Muszelik. Viking Gustafsson Nyberg tried to swat the floating puck away but ended up helping it into the net.

At the tail end of the period, the visitors went back ahead. Kai Janviriya sent an ill-advised pass that Kessler easily picked off at the blue line. The Vermont forward took it the length of the ice and scored on the breakaway to make it a 3-2 game.

Despite trailing, UConn couldn’t generate much offense and only put up three shots during 5-on-5 play. Meanwhile, the Catamounts extended their lead to 4-2 on a 2v1 rush with 8:40 to play.

The Huskies pulled the goalie for the extra skater with 4:26 left but it didn’t make a difference.

With the loss, UConn drops to 13-7-3 overall and 9-5-1 in Hockey East. Next, the Huskies will look to defend their Connecticut Ice crown when they open the tournament against Yale. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Ingalls Rink.

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