HARTFORD, Conn. - The UConn Huskies scored three unanswered goals in the third period to come away with a 6-4 win over visiting Miami University in a non-conference match-up at the XL Center Friday afternoon. UConn freshmen Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) scored two goals and added an assist to pace the Huskies.
UConn takes the opening game of the two-game set and improves to 4-6-3 overall while grabbing their first win at home in the XL Center this season. The RedHawks drop to 4-7-3 with the loss.
Firstov recorded his first career multi-goal game and had a season-best three points. Junior Brian Rigali (Libertyville, Ill.) posted a career-high three points, all assists, for his third career multi-goal game. Senior Benjamin Freeman (Falmouth, Maine) and sophomores Ruslan Iskhakov (Moscow, Russia) and Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice, Czech Repbulic) each had a goal and an assist in the win.
UConn senior Justin Howell (Saint Paul, Minn.) scored his first goal on the season. Junior Zac Robbins (Glenview, Ill.) had a career-high two assists, his first career multi-point game.
The UConn power play had a pair of goals while the Huskies rang up a season-high 48 shots. Sophomore goaltender Tomas Vomacka (Trutnov, Czech Republic) made 26 saves to earn the win.
For Miami, Gordie Green and Casey Gilling each had a goal and an assist for the RedHawks. Goaltender Ryan Larkin made 42 saves in taking the loss.
1st Period:
The Huskies got a great early opportunity as Miami went to the box twice, a second a pair to give UConn a 5-on-3 chance just 1:50 in. UConn made it 1-0 at 2:51 as Iskhakov buried a one-timer chance from the right circle off a feed from Firstov.
The RedHawks answered with three-straight the rest of the way in the first. Miami got a 5-on-3 chance of their own at 10:36 and they got a power play goal at the 10:43 mark. Karch Bachman got a redirect on a shot form the high point by Rourke Russell to tie it at 1-1.
Miami went up 2-1 at 16:08 as Green scored his seventh of the season, getting a second chance rebound in front and stuffing it home. Just 1:18 later the RedHawks went up 3-1 as Gilling buried a wrist shot past Vomacka, top-shelf, stick side for his third of the year.
2nd Period:
UConn came storming out of the locker room and cut it to a one-goal lead for Miami just 19 seconds into the game. On rush into the zone, Rigali got to the front of the net but was stopped by Larking with a sprawling save. Robbins got a stick on the puck but Freeman stayed with the play, found the loose puck and buried it on an open net as Larkin couldn't recover, pulling UConn within 3-2.
With 15:09 left, the Huskies tied it up at 3-3 as Firstov buried his first on the night. Rigali sent Firstov into the zone and up the right wing. The frosh made a nice move to beat the defense to the slot and buried a shot in the top-right corner, bar-down, for his third on the season.
The RedHawks took the lead back with under two minutes to play in the second period. Miami got a 3-on-2 break-out chance as Scott Corbett fed Monte Graham on the right wing and he left it for a trailing Daschke in the slot who snapped a shot past Vomacka for a 4-3 lead at 18:18.
3rd Period:
UConn used another early goal to tie the game up a second time. Just 1:21 into the final period, UConn's Gatcomb collected a rebound and shot around the back of the net, finding some room out front and shoveling a backhand shot through traffic for his fourth on the year, pulling the Huskies even at 4-4.
The Huskies took their first lead since early in the first as Firstov buried his second of the night. He took a feed from Iskhakov and cut to the slot area, deked the D and buried it for a 5-4 lead on his fourth of the season at 13:46.
UConn quickly tacked on another, just 27 seconds later, as Howell came up with his first goal on the season. On a break-out up ice, Rigali took a feed from Robbins and put a pass through his legs to an oncoming Howell who buried it on the right post.
Up Next:
UConn and Miami will close out their weekend series at the XL Center on Saturday afternoon. Opening face-off is scheduled for 4:05 pm and the game will be broadcast around the state on CW20.
