UConn women's hockey is ranked, poised to make noise in Hockey East

UConn women’s hockey entered this season returning most of its production from last year, including leading goal-scorer Jada Habisch (13 goals, 8 assists) and Coryn Tormala (10 g, 11 a), who tied Habisch for the team lead with 21 points, as well as Claire Peterson (6 g, 8 a), Riley Grimley (4 g, 10 a), and Brooke Campbell (8 g, 5 a).

“We're raising our expectations,” head coach Chris MacKenzie said before the season. His team went 18-13-4 in 2022-2023 and returns six of the top eight scorers from that team.

“[Last year], we had a young team. We were happy with the outcome…I think now raising the expectations, is the expectation,” MacKenzie added. “We're excited at what we have in the room. We're excited at where we are potentially going to place in the league…our younger players are now a little older, we’re returning some veteran leadership, we look really solid.”

The team is enjoying the added veteran experience from graduate students and fifth-year players, who MacKenzie said “can really facilitate between the coach and the younger players.”

He also shared a relatable note on his returning super-seniors: “I think we'd all want to go back to college for a fifth year if we could, so they're taking advantage of that and we're happy they're here.”

The Huskies’ 2023-2024 season has already gotten off to a promising start. In two games at Penn State, they left with a win and a tie against a team that was ranked No. 11 in the country.

Goaltender Tia Chan made 33 saves while Grimley and Kathryn Stockdale scored goals in the 2-0 season-opening win while Campbell had the lone goal in a 1-1 tie where Chan made 38 saves.

As a result of its unbeaten weekend in State College, UConn moved into the national rankings for the first time in program history, coming in at 14th in last week’s USCHO Poll and 15th in this week’s poll after a weekend off.

This weekend, MacKenzie’s squad hosts Boston College for its home opener on Saturday at 2 p.m., a night after the Huskies visit the Eagles to start the weekend. The series is their first in league play and will also be a rematch of last season’s final game, a 4-3 overtime loss in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

UConn was picked fourth in this year’s Hockey East preseason poll, behind Providence, Vermont, and first-place Northeastern. They kick off a UConn hockey doubleheader to start the first full season at Toscano Family Ice Forum this Saturday and have two home dates against New Hampshire next weekend.

“It's a little bit surreal at times,” MacKenzie said. “I was excited to go to Freitas every day and this this place has just elevated that and it's fun…You're kind of pinching yourself. Like wow, this is our home…There's an excitement and novelty to it still, you can still smell the fresh paint. It's great.”

While MacKenzie and his men’s hockey counterpart Mike Cavanaugh are no doubt enjoying working in a nicer place, they’re also expecting a boon in recruiting from the newest arena in Storrs.

“You can see the parents’ and the recruits’ eyes light up when they see it,” MacKenzie said. “It's an impressive building, that's starting to make a recruiting presentation a little bit easier and have a lot more energy behind it.”

At end the month, the Huskies host Providence on Friday, October 27th for one of the first big matchups of the season. The next weekend, they have a home-and-home with Northeastern. Then we’ll see where they stand.