University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Maine
Huskies Hosting Maine in Home Opener
10/25/2018 2:57:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Radio Coverage: UConn IMG Sports Network (Friday): 97.9 ESPN Hartford
           Bob Joyce (pxp), Adam Giardino (color)
Audio Stream:Â TuneIn.com
Video: Huskies All-Access (UConnHuskies.com)
Live Stats: UConn.Statbroadcast.com
Ice Chips…
- The Huskies will play their first games of the season at home in the XL Center as they are set to host the Maine Black Bears for a weekend Hockey East set. The Huskies opened the season going 2-2-0 on a four-game road swing, capped last week with a loss at No. 5 ranked Providence and a win at RPI.
- The all-time series with Maine is all tied up at 4-4-3 with the Huskies holding a 4-2-2 edge over the Black Bears since joining Hockey East in 2014-15. This just the second trip to the XL Center for Maine, and their first since February 1, 2015, a 2-2 tie.
- The Huskies will be road warriors for the first three months of the season, playing just five times at the XL Center in their first 21 games.
- Junior Alexander Payusov scored three goals in last weekend's action, including a pair to fuel the Huskies 3-1 win at RPI. Payusov has four goals and an assist on the season, sharing the early season Hockey East goal lead with UMass's Mitchell Chaffee.
- Freshman goaltender Tomas Vomacka made his first career start and posted 23 saves in earning a 3-1 win over the Engineers. Vomacka took home this week's Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week award.
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik has collected five assists through four games, sharing the conference lead, averaging 1.25 per game. The rookie twice has collected two assists in a game this season (at Army & Providence).
- Through the first four games, eight different Huskies have scored goals while 11 of the team's 12 rookies have made their collegiate debuts. The UConn freshmen have collected 13 points (3g/10a) in four games with six rookies recording their first collegiate points.
- UConn is coming off their best season in Hockey East, tied for fifth with an 11-12-1 record and spot in the tournament quarterfinals, and were tabbed to finish eighth in this year's Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll. In three of their first four years in the league, UConn has outplayed their preseason prediction.
- UConn senior defenseman Miles Gendron will captain the Huskies this season with senior forward Max Kalter and junior forward Benjamin Freeman serving as the squad's alternate captains.
Last Season vs. Maine (Oct. 7&8, 2017)
The Huskies traveled up to Maine to open the 2017-18 season and came away with a weekend split. In the Friday night season opener, the Huskies were down 2-1 after the first and 3-2 after the second. On a 6-on-4 power play late in the third, Jeff Wight scored off a rebound with 15.9 seconds left to force overtime. Maine's Nolan Vesey came-up with the game-winner just 28 seconds into overtime giving Maine a 4-3 win. UConn's Adam Huska made 29 saves in the loss while Kasperi Ojantakanen and Benjamin Freeman each scored a goal and had an assist. On Saturday, Derek Pratt, Karl El-Mir, Alexander Payusov, Maxim Letunov and Corey Ronan each put one in the net to give UConn a 5-1 win over the Black Bears earning a split on the weekend. The Husky special teams played a key role as UConn had one shorthanded goal and scored twice on the power play. The Black Bears were scoreless until 1:12 into the third when Brendan Robins buried a wrist shot from the slot in the top-shelf. The Huskies quickly answered back 26 seconds later on Ronan's shorty to move their lead back to three en route to the win.
Scouting the Black Bears
The Black Bears come to Hartford this weekend coming off of a weekend series loss at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Maine fell to the defending national champion Bulldogs 8-2 on Friday night and 3-2 Saturday night. The Black Bears, 2-2-0 overall, open their Hockey East schedule against the Huskies. Maine was picked to finish fifth in the league's preseason coaches' poll. Junior Chase Pearson and freshman Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup are tied for 13th in the Hockey East rankings with four points on the season coming off of two goals and two assists. Pearson was second on the club last season with 27 points on seven goals and a team-leading 20 assists. Mitchell Fossier returns this year after a 34 point season as a sophomore where he scored 12 goals. Sophomore goaltender Jeremy Swayman comes in 10th among Hockey East goaltenders with a 3.30 goals against average and a .892 save percentage through four games. As a rookie, Swayman posted a 2.72 goals against and a .921 save percentage while winning 15 games.b
