University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Boston College
First Half Closes with Boston College Series
12/5/2018 12:25:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
TV Coverage: CW20 (Thursday) - Joe D'Ambrosio, Rich Coppola | ESPN3 (Friday)
Radio Coverage: UConn IMG Sports Network -Â 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FMÂ - Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)
Audio: TuneIn.com
Video: Huskies All-Access (Thursday)
Live Stats: UConnHuskies.com
Ice Chips
- The UConn Huskies will close out the first half of the season with a home-and-home Hockey East series with the Boston College Eagles starting Thursday night at the XL Center.Â
- Thursday night's game also marks the Huskies debut on CW20 throughout the state of Connecticut. Before the season, UConn Athletics, FOX61 and CW20 agreed to broadcast six UConn hockey games, all Hockey East match-ups, from the XL Center during 2018-19 season.
- The Huskies are in the midst of a season-long five-game slide and have also dropped their last six-straight Hockey East contests as they welcome the Eagles to Hartford.
- UConn is coming off a 7-4 loss at then No. 3 nationally ranked UMass on Friday night. Freshman Kale Howarth scored his first two collegiate goals while fellow rookie Ruslan Iskhakov passed out a season-high three assists in the loss.
- UConn and Boston College have met nine times since the Huskies joined Hockey East in 2014-15 with the Eagles holding a 6-2-1 lead in the series. The Huskies ended a seven-game winless streak against the Eagles in their last meeting, a 5-3 win at home last February.
- UConn-BC Connections: Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh spent 18 seasons at Boston College as an assistant coach, helping guide the Eagles to four national titles (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012). Current Eagles assistant and program alum Brendan Buckley is in the midst of his first year on head coach Jerry York's staff at Boston College. Buckley began his coaching career serving as a UConn assistant coach for three seasons (2015-2018).
- Junior Alexander Payusov is the team's leading goal producer with nine goals in 15 games, tying him for third in Hockey East and 10th nationally. The junior forward also has four power play goals, tied for first in the conference.
- Freshman Jachym Kondelik is second in Hockey East and is eighth nationally among rookies in scoring with 13 points on a goal and 12 assists. His 12 assists (0.80 pg) is tied for the lead in Hockey East. He has three multi-point games on the year. The UConn freshmen class as a whole leads the team with 39 points (11g/28a) this season.
- Senior Karl El-Mir has 12 points on the season on eight goals and four assists, leaving him fifth among Hockey East goal scorers. He shares the team lead with Payusov with four power play goals. El-Mir carries a three-game point streak into Thursday's match-up.
- 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. UConn will pick-up play in the second half with a New Year's Eve return match-up at Yale University before heading out west for the Ice Vegas Invitational.
Last Season vs. Boston College
Nov. 7, 2017
The Boston College Eagles too the first to three meetings last season with a 2-1 win at home in early November. After a scoreless first period, UConn's Jeff Wight gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 5:01 in the second period. The Eagles would tie it at 10:10 on a Julias Mattila shorthanded goal followed by Michael Kim's game-winner at 16:34 in the second, coming on the power play. BC goaltender Ryan Edquist made 27 saves to earn the win. The Eagles held a 36-28 edge on shots and were 1-for-5 on the power play while the Huskies finished 1-for-6 on the power play. UConn goaltender Adam Huska stopped 34 shots in the loss.
Dec. 30, 2017
The only goal BC would need came in the first period on the power play as the Eagles skated to a 2-0 shutout win at Conte Forum. David Cotton provided the game-winner at 12:43 in the first. The Huskies had a 5-on-3 power play chance in the second period but came up empty looking for the tying goal. UConn finished the game 0-for-4 with the extra skater. BC tacked on their second goal in the third period as Ron Greco put home a rebound in front of the net for a two-goal cushion. The Eagles finished the afternoon with a 29-23 edge on the shot chart. UConn's Huska made 27 saves in taking the loss.
Feb. 2, 2018
The Huskies ended a seven-game winless streak in the all-time series thanks to a 5-3 win at home in XL Center in the season finale for the two teams. All three first period goals came in a 47 second span and off the heels of a 5-on-3 chance for BC. Corey Ronan scored a shorthanded goal to put the Huskies up 1-0 at the six minute mark and 30 seconds later, Spencer Naas found the back of the net. The Eagles got one back at 6:59 making it 2-1. Boston College tied it up at 2-2 with a power play goal at 6:27 in the second, marking Julius Mattila's second on the night. The Huskies pulled back in front late in the second on a Maxim Letunov goal and pushed their lead to 4-2 thanks to Ronan's second of the night coming on a 4-on-4 at 5:39. BC pulled back within a goal at 13:29, making it 4-3 and pulled their goaltender for the extra skater with just under two to play but the Huskies ended the comeback bid as Brian Rigali beat the Eagles back for the empty netter.
Scouting the Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are coming off a weekend series with rival Boston University where they defeated the Terriers, 4-1 on Friday night and tied them, 0-0, at home on Saturday night. The Eagles are sitting at 4-6-2 overall and 4-2-1 in Hockey East. BC was on a five-game winless streak from mid-October to early November when they defeated Merrimack, 4-1, and since then, have gone 4-1-1. Leading their offense is junior David Cotton (10g/5a) who is tied for the league lead in goals and is fifth in points. Cotton also has three power play goals and one assist on the season. Junior goaltender Joseph Woll holds the fourth spot in goals against average (2.17) and save percentage (.925) among all Hockey East netminders. Coming into the season, the Eagles were picked to finish first in the Hockey East preseason poll.
Kondelik Selected for Czech U20 National Team IIHF World Juniors
Freshman Jáchym Kondelík was named to the Czech Republic U20 national preliminary roster for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship. The team will announce its final roster prior to their first game vs. Switzerland on December 26.
Kondelík has had playing experience with his home country playing internationally dating back to the 2015-16 season. He helped the Czech national team to the Hlinka Memorial gold medal in 2016-17 for the U18 team.
The 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship is scheduled for December 26 to January 5 in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.Â
