UConn women's hockey enters final weekend with Hockey East title on the line

UConn women’s hockey enters the final weekend of the regular season in control of its own destiny. The second-place Huskies are set to take on leaders Boston University in a home-and-home, starting at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday at 3 p.m. ET before finishing at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.

If UConn claims all six possible points, it’ll repeat as Hockey East regular season champions. Anything less and the Terriers will come way with the trophy. It’s that simple.

The Huskies certainly face an uphill climb to the title. They have to win both contests in regulation — they can’t afford to go to overtime and give an extra point to BU.

There’s nobody to blame but themselves, though. UConn entered last weekend just a single point back of the Terriers, only to be swept in a home-and-home with Providence. On Friday, the Huskies took a 1-0 lead into the third period then gave up the tying goal four minutes and went behind with 3:52 remaining en route to a 3-1 defeat. The next day, UConn pulled ahead 2-1 in the third before allowing three unanswered from the Friars.

The Huskies still have a chance because BU also faltered last weekend. The Terriers went into their Saturday matchup with UNH knowing they needed a regular victory to claim the league championship outright. With two points, they could’ve at least clinched a share of the title.

Instead, BU tied the seventh-place Wildcats 2-2 at Walter Brown Arena then fell in shootout, leaving the door open for UConn.

The Huskies enter the weekend with a 17-6-2 record in Hockey East. They’ve dominated the bottom of the league with a 14-0-1 record against teams 6-10 in the standings but have gone just 3-6-1 versus the other teams in the top five. UConn did beat BU 3-1 on the road in their first meeting earlier this month.

Even if the Huskies don’t come out on top this weekend, they’ve still positioned themselves well for the Hockey East Tournament. They clinched home ice in the first round and need just a single point on the weekend (or for both Boston College and Providence to drop points) to secure second place — which would guarantee home ice throughout the playoffs since Toscano Family Ice Forum is set to host the Hockey East championship game.

That’ll prove valuable — UConn needs the league’s auto-bid to make its second trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies are currently 15th in Pairwise, well outside the 10-team field.

While this year’s team isn’t the same juggernaut that won the Hockey East regular season and tournament titles and reached NCAAs last season — all of which were firsts in program history — UConn has kept itself in contention for trophies despite losing some significant pieces.

Freshman Claire Murdoch has made an impact from day one, leading the team in goals (13), assists (13), points (26), plus/minus (+15) while staying out of the box entirely. Fifth-year Jada Habisch remains a threat with 12 goals and she’s especially caught fire in February with five goals in as many games. Ashley Allard (7-16—23) and Kyla Josifovic (6-11—17) have chipped in as well.

Still, the Huskies remain a defense-first team with just 55 goals allowed this season, sixth-best in the country. Much of that is thanks to their standout goaltender tandem of Tia Chan and Megan Warrener. Chan is the No. 1 with 21 starts, owning a 1.56 goals against average and .942 save percentage — good for seventh and fourth nationally. Meanwhile, Warrener has a 1.65 GAA and .931 save percentage in 11 starts.

Even if UConn has taken a small step back from last year, it still enters the final series of the regular season with a chance to claim another Hockey East title. The Huskies need a perfect weekend to do so, but their fate lies in their own hands.