University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Boston College
Huskies Take on BC Friday Night at XL Center
1/31/2019 3:13:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
TV Coverage:Â CW20 |Â Joe D'Ambrosio, Mark Bailey
Radio Coverage: UConn IMG Sports Network -Â 97.9 ESPN Hartford | WILI 1400 AM and 95.3 FM
               Bob Joyce (pxp) Adam Giardino (color)
Audio: TuneIn.com
Video: Huskies All-Access
Live Stats: UConnHuskies.com
Ice Chips
The Huskies will close out the season series with Boston College Friday night at XL Center. The Eagles swept the home-and-home series back in early December, posting a 4-0 shutout in Hartford and a 3-2 win at home. Friday's game will be televised locally throughout Connecticut on CW20.
UConn is looking to put a halt to a pair of streaks on Friday night. The Huskies are currently winless in their last five-straight (0-4-1) and are also winless in their last 11-straight Hockey East contests (0-10-1).
The Huskies closed out their non-conference schedule on Tuesday night, falling to state-rival Sacred Heart, 2-1. UConn finished 5-5-0 in non-league match-ups this season.
With nine Hockey East games left on the slate, the Huskies head into the weekend in 11th place in the standings with six league points. The Huskies are seven points back of Maine in eighth for the final playoff spot. The top-eight teams in Hockey East will qualify for the 2019 league tournament.
The Huskies have struggled to find scoring since December 1st (10gms), averaging just 1.90 goals per game during that span and ranking 56th nationally among 60 teams (10th HEA). During that same stretch, the Huskies are generating 30.7 shots per game, ranking 27th nationally (4th HEA)
Senior Karl El-Mir continued to build on his career-best senior season by scoring his 12th goal on the year in Tuesday's loss to Sacred Heart. The senior forward has 22 points and 12 goals, both career-best marks, and coming into Friday has had at least a point in eight of his last nine and 13 of his last 15 games.
El-Mir has six power play goals this season, tied for second in Hockey East and ninth in the NCAA. Five of El-Mir's power play scores have come with freshman Jachym Kondelik and sophomore Evan Wisocky picking up the assist.
Freshman Jachym Kondelik is among the top freshmen point producers in Hockey East and the country. The rookie has 22 points one three goals and 19 assists. He ranks second in the league and tied for third nationally among first-year players in scoring.
In the UConn freshman record book, Kondelik's 22 points currently rank tied for ninth during the Division I era (1998-present) and tied for 15th overall. His 19 assists is third on the rookie DI list and ninth all-time.
Sophomore Evan Wisocky has piled up 11 assists on the season playing a key role on the UConn power play all year with eight helpers coming with the man advantage.
Alexander Payusov's 13 goals is a career-best mark for the junior, eclipsing his 12 from last season, and is currently ranked third among Hockey East goal scorers.
This Season vs. Boston College
December 6, 2018
Boston College's Julius Mattila finished with a hat trick and goaltender Joseph Woll stopped all 30 UConn shots to lead the Eagles to a 4-0 win over the Huskies in the XL Center to open a Hockey East two-game series. Mattila scored what proved to be the game-winner at 14:53 in the first period. His second came in the second period as part of the Eagles going 2-for-2 on the power play in the period. The junior capped off his hat trick late in the third, scoring on the empty net, shorthanded, to seal a 4-0 BC win. UConn held a 30-27 edge on shots but came up empty on their two power play chances. Junior goaltender Adam Huska stopped 23 shots in taking the loss. BC's Logan Hutsko scored the other Boston College goal. Woll stopped 14 shots in the first period and then 11 in the third to keep the Huskies off the board.
December 7, 2018
UConn seniors Karl El-Mir and Max Kalter each scored but the Huskies came-up short in a late comeback bid falling at Boston College, 3-2, as the Eagles earned the league sweep at home. UConn grabbed the early first period lead as El-Mir scored shorthanded at 6:14 in the first. The Eagles tied it on a David Cotton goal with 15.2 seconds left in the opening stanza and then took a 2-1 lead just 1:26 into the second period on goal from Jack McBain. BC's Oliver Wahlstrom scored at 3:40 in the third to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead before the Huskies looked to mount a comeback. Kalter pulled UConn to within 3-2 with a power play goal at 7:18 of the final period and the Huskies got a final crack on the power play with seven to play to try and tie the game. UConn couldn't establish their offense and pulled goaltender Tomas Vomacka with just over a minute to go but again came up empty in a bid for the tying score. Vomacka finished with 29 saves in taking the loss. BC junior goaltender Joseph Woll stopped 28 shots to earn his second win in the series.
Scouting the Eagles
The Eagles come in off after salvaging a point with a tie on the road in their series with UMass Lowell last weekend. BC is tied with Northeastern for second in the league standings with 19 points. Junior David Cotton is the team's top-scorer with 15 goals and 24 points.  Cotton is tied with UMass's Mitchell Chaffee for the league lead in goals scored. In goal, junior Joseph Woll is fifth in the conference with a 2.28 goals against average and sixth with a .922 save percentage. The Eagles will return to action on Monday night when they take on nationally ranked Harvard in the 67th edition of the Beanpot Tournament.
