University of Connecticut Athletics
Team goals first for Huskies' goalie
12/21/2023 12:35:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
STORRS, Conn. – If not for one disappointing gymnastics session and a sick teammate, the UConn women's ice hockey team might not have the top-ranked goaltender in the country.
One incident directed Megan Warrener into hockey.
"There was one year I quit hockey to do gymnastics when I was little, because it was the popular thing to do," Warrener explained. "But after one gymnastics session, my dad looked at me and said, 'We're also going to put you in hockey,' and I said 'OK.' "
The other put her between the pipes.
"I was a (regular) player until about Atom Hockey, which is U11s, and my dad was coaching and we had one goalie and one day he was sick and I needed to step in and I said, 'I'm ready.' " Warrener said. "My dad was always very against it, but finally he let me do it. He found me some equipment and I just stuck with it."
Years of hard work and perseverance later, Warrener finds herself as the 2023-24 national goaltending leader with a 6-0-1 record and a 0.72 goals-against average, leading UConn to an 11-4-2 record after the first half of the season and a tie with Boston College for first place in the Hockey East standings at 9-3-1.
"We have a lot of solid people in the program who provide leadership in their own way," UConn Coach Chris MacKenzie said. "Megan has been someone who has set just an awesome example of performing at the right time, doing a great job. It's been a solid season so far, but we know every game will get tougher and tougher. We just have to stick with it."
Warrener, a junior from Stoney Creek, Ontario, boasts three shutouts and a glittering .961 save percentage, but modestly credits the Huskies' team defense for her 2023-24 success.
"Our defense structure is the best of any team I've played on," she said. "I'm in net and all I can think of is, 'Wow, our defense is so easy to play behind.' We communicate so well. We just have a solid structure that I don't think many other teams have. We have very little breakdowns in our defensive structure and the communication of it all is the reason. Our entire coaching staff has been amazing."
So have UConn's goaltending statistics. Despite having the No. 1-ranked goalie in Warrener, she alternates as a starter with junior teammate Tia Chan (Hamilton, Ontario), who is currently ranked No. 11 nationally with a 1.48 goals against average and a .948 save percentage.
"Would they each want to play all the games? Probably," MacKenzie said. "But I think they acknowledge that they're both having a great year. Megan was on the All-Rookie Team her freshman year, she had injuries last year and now she's kind of just continuing from where she was. Tia was on the All-Rookie Team. So we really have two No. 1 goalies.
"I think there's a lot of people who would love to have that problem. There's times when we really have to have some conversations about how we're going to manage this and it's a good problem to have, I'm not complaining, some teams have no option. They've been great. They have bought into UConn, they have bought into our program. Both of them have had options to go other places, but they chose UConn and we're happy about that and like a lot of our players, there's a good connection with what we're all about."
"I think it makes us both better," Warrener added. "I think we push each other every single day. We have such a good relationship, that we're able to push each other and still have the fun."
From that first goalie experience with her father's team, Warrener knew that was where she belonged on the ice.
"It's a very different skill set, but I loved it," she said. "I'd always played in-house league, where you switched like every month and there was a new goalie in the net every game or practice, and I always wanted to do it. I was playing defense, so I was always around the goalies, so I just became one and stuck with it. My second year of Atoms (age 12), and ever since, it's all I played."
It also didn't take Warrener long to realize where she belonged when it came to choosing a college, either.
"I knew a bunch of players from Stoney Creek who had played at UConn," she said. "We were doing a Boston tournament with my Bantam team and we stopped by UConn and got a tour from Coach Mac, and as soon as I stepped on campus, I kind of knew this was the place. So, I reached out to Coach Mac in my recruiting year and really just told him this was where I wanted to be. He said, 'Let's do it.' "
Warrener's freshman year couldn't have gone much better as she appeared in 18 games, starting 15, and posted a 12-3-1 record with a 1.29 goals against average and a .944 save percentage. She led UConn to the Hockey East championship game, where she had a school-record 37 saves in a loss to Northeastern.
"My freshman year was absolutely amazing," Warrener said. "I came in with zero expectations, which I think was the best part. I was just so happy to be here. I still am, to this day. Every time I walk into this beautiful rink (Toscano Family Ice Forum) or even walking into Freitas, it was a great place to be ... great atmosphere and culture. I'm just happy to be in here every day. And I knew that all I needed to do was put the work in, so that came with a little bit of confidence."
While battling injuries last season, she still managed a 6-3-0 record with a 1.91 goals against average and tied her own record with a 37-save game against RIT.
Coming back injury-free as a junior for 2023-24, Warrener has been a leader on a UConn team that has produced an outstanding first half.
"I think it took a little more confidence this year than last year," she said. "I think I figured out my role, being an upperclassman and helping the younger players kind of fit into the program and the way that we do things here, basically leading by example. I try to get my work in every single day, try to recover my best. The leading by example has really put me in a place to do that."
"I think it's just maturity," Coach MacKenzie said about his team success. "Last year, we had a pretty young team. Everyone had a positive experience last year and I think they were motivated and can see, 'All right, we have a pretty good shot at doing well this year,' and they've applied it on the ice. There's a few games that could have gone either way, but we've found a way and I think the learning curve from last year has helped us get a few things done. Our upperclassmen have been tremendous and our freshmen have come in and helped out, too. It's a nice combination and what you're seeing is good results on the ice."
Whatever the reasons, the Huskies are looking forward to the second half of the season, which begins with two games at Minnesota on Jan. 5 and 6. Clearly, their first-half success has fueled expectations.
"I feel like we always expected to win," Warrener said. "Not very much has changed. Our practices are still the exact same as they have always been, we work out with the same intensity, there's really no stepping off the gas. We know what we're capable of and I think we can truly do it this year. Our expectations are very high. They always have been, but I feel like if we fall short, we're the first ones to be hard on ourselves and Coach Mac knows that. He knows when to push and he also knows when to let us be frustrated with ourselves, because we'll be the first ones to tell ourselves that we can do better. I'm more excited than I've ever been."
