UConn turning the page towards NCAA Tournament

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On Sunday, UConn men’s hockey gathered in the Blue Line Club to watch the NCAA Selection Show. The Huskies already knew they’d be in the field as the final at-large bid, so there was little drama.

Still, the disappointment from the previous night’s loss to Merrimack in the Hockey East championship lingered as their name came up on the screen for the Worcester Regional against Michigan State. UConn continued to reflect on and discuss the defeat as the bracket was slowly revealed over the course of 45 minutes.

Once the special wrapped up, the Huskies returned to the locker room for a team meeting. At that point, they officially turned the page towards the NCAA Tournament.

“We flushed it right there. It was obviously a tough pill to swallow Saturday night. I mean, it was so new, but it's all flushed, it's gone,” Mike Murtagh said. “We can't control the past. I think we just gotta focus on Thursday.”

It helps that this isn’t uncharted territory for UConn. One year ago, the Huskies lost in the Hockey East championship but still earned an at-large bid into the field of 16.

“We went through it last year,” Ryan Tattle said. “The reality is, there's no time to dwell on it. You could be a sad sack all you want, but it's going to affect your game Thursday. So the end goal for every team that plays college hockey is to win a national championship. So we're lucky to be one of the 16 that has a chance to do it.”

Entering last season, UConn had never been to the NCAA Tournament in the 64-year history of the program. The Huskies made it for the first time in 2025 and will now return for the second straight year. That’s a significant achievement and should be treated as such.

“When I came here to build this program, I wanted it to be a program that's consistently going to national tournaments, not just every now and then,” Cavanaugh said.

UConn did well in its first appearance. The Huskies thrashed in-state rival Quinnipiac in the opening round 4-1, then pushed Penn State to overtime of the regional final. While their path to the Frozen Four is significantly more difficult this season considering they start with Michigan State, the No. 3 overall seed, they at least know what to expect.

“When something's new, you're a little more nervous. It's the same with going to the [TD] Garden,” Tattle said. “I think our team this year was a lot more comfortable being there, less nervous. You're so excited, but you're not really scared.”

Michigan State is one of the most successful programs in the sport, winning three national championships (1966, 1986, 2007) while reaching the Frozen Four on 11 occasions. Adam Nightingale has revived the Spartans, bringing them back to three straight NCAA Tournaments after they’d missed out every year since 2012.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Michigan State. Despite that, the Spartans aren’t a complete mystery to UConn’s staff.

“We watch a lot of games throughout the year as a staff. You're always watching the top teams in the country. What are they doing? What do they do? Because if you're going to be a good coach, you're going to be a thief. You gotta steal from other programs sometimes,” Cavanaugh said.

Michigan State owns a 25-8-2 record and won the Big Ten regular season title. However, the Spartans were knocked out in the conference tournament semifinals by Ohio State and have just one win in their last five games. Still, they spent much of the year as the No. 1 team in the country and will be the best team the Huskies face this season by a wide margin.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons. They play a very honest brand of hockey,” Cavanaugh said. “They transition well. They play good defense, and they're tenacious on the forecheck. So they do things really well, and we're going to have to be at our best.”

While UConn’s season has felt disappointing at times, it’s still the second-best campaign in program history behind only 2024-25. While the Huskies couldn’t claim their first Hockey East championship over the weekend, they still have a chance to make more history.

“Let's go attack another tournament,” Cavanaugh said. “Let's go attack the next opponent and try to win another trophy.”

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