HARTFORD, Conn. - The UConn Huskies closed out the regular season with their first shutout win of the season, blanking the University of Vermont, 4-0, Saturday afternoon at the XL Center.
The Huskies notched their 18th win on the season, the most for the program since Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh's first season (2013-14). UConn is now 18-15-0 overall and 14-10-0 in Hockey East. The Catamounts are now 8-24-2 and 6-16-2 in the league with the loss.
UConn scored three in the first and never looked back, putting the clamps on UVM defensively allowing just 12 shots on goal. The Huskies got a power play goal from John Spets (Oak Ridge, N.J.) to start things off in the first and Artem Shlaine (Moscow, Russia) and Carter Turnbull (Nanaimo, British Columbia) both scored for the second-straight night.
The Huskies closed out the scoring in the second period as freshman Jake Veilleux (South Windsor, Conn.) got his first collegiate goal with an assist from senior John Wojciechowski (Mamaroneck, N.Y.), his first career point.
Grad student Darion Hanson (East Bethel, Minn.) needed to make just 12 stops to earn his first shutout as a Husky and the eighth of his career. Hanson also earned his 18th win of the season, tying the UConn Division I record for wins in a season (18 - Marc Senerchia, 1999-00) and putting him one off of tying the all-time mark.
1st period:
UConn got an early offensive opportunity with a 5-on-3 power play chance at 5:58 in the first period. The Huskies were able to capitalize as Spetz scored his fourth of the season at 7:15. Sophomore Ryan Tverberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) fed Spetz who curled in to the slot and snapped a wrister past Gabe Carriere glove side for a 1-0 lead.
UConn made it 2-0 at 9:51 as Tverberg set up the second goal, flying up the ice from deep in his zone and centering a perfect feed to an oncoming Shlaine who finished it off for his seventh and a 2-0 advantage.
Turnbull made it 3-0 at 12:03 with his 11th of the season. Junior Harrison Rees (Oakville, Ontario) threw a shot on net from up top with the rebound finding a crashing Turnbull in the right circle and he slammed it home to send UConn to the locker room up three at the first break.
2nd period:
The Huskies made it 4-0 midway through the second period as a pair of Huskies got their first career points. UConn created a turnover in the UVM zone and Wojciechowski picked-up the puck and circled the net, feeding Veilleux up at the blue line. The freshman found a lane and whipped on net that deflected off a Vermont defensemen and in for a 4-0 lead.
3rd period:
UConn held off UVM in the third, killing off the fourth Catamount power play of the night to preserve the shutout.
Next Up:
UConn will await the results from Hockey East on Saturday night to learn the playoff seed and opponent in the postseason.
