UConn opens with a win over Colgate, 4-2

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UConn men’s hockey opened its 2024-25 campaign with a 4-2 win over the Colgate Raiders that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests. The Huskies controlled the game from the beginning, holding the advantage in shots (38-24), face-offs (27-22) and special teams (1-0).

Jake Percival scored the opening goal while Oliver Flynn, Ethan Gardula, and Jake Richard also found the back of the net. Defenseman Kai Janviriya added two assists in his collegiate debut.

Tyler Muszelik started in goal and stopped 22 of 24 shots faced. He allowed a soft goal in the first period but settled in the rest of the way. The other goal came on a puck that bounced off his back from behind the net late in the third period.

UConn came out of the gate strong and held Colgate in its defensive zone for the first few minutes. The Huskies took the game’s first five shots and were eventually rewarded with the first goal. After Percival put an initial attempt on net, Tabor Heaslip threw it back through the crease and Percival cleaned up the loose puck to make it 1-0.

The Huskies had more chances but went into the intermission tied, 1-1. Late in the period, Colgate’s Ryan Spinale skated over the blue line and scored on a shot that Muszelik should’ve stopped.

After UConn killed a penalty early in the second period, the domination resumed. Flynn re-took the lead when a speculative shot from the dots found the back of the net, then Gardula doubled the advantage when he finished a rebound on the power play.

A few minutes later, the Huskies had back-to-back power plays that came up empty — though that was largely due to the effort of Colgate goalie Andrew Takacs.

Joey Muldowney had a wide-open chance on the back door that seemed destined to light the lamp, only for Takacs to turn it away with a phenomenal glove stop. The net-minder later denied UConn on a shorthanded breakaway to keep it a two-goal game entering the second intermission.

It didn’t take long for the Huskies to extend the lead. Just 1:45 into the third period, Richard re-directed a shot from Janviriya to make it a 4-1 game. Colgate cut the deficit to two with 3:15 remaining, but UConn held strong over the final minutes to earn the two-goal victory.

The Huskies will go for the series sweep tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET in Toscano Family Ice Forum.

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