HARTFORD, Conn. - The UConn Huskies earned their 13 victory of the season Saturday afternoon, posting a 5-3 win and sweeping the season series with LIU.
With the win, UConn improves to 13-5-3 and maintains pace with Merrimack at the top of Hockey East Standings.
The UConn offense once again featured a balance attack with five different Huskies finding the back of the net. John Spetz kicked off the scoring as he took a pass from Andrew Lucas and fired a backhand shot right past LIU netminder Vinnie Purpura for the goal. The Huskies did not stop their as later in the first period the UConn forecheck forced the Sharks into turning the puck over. Junior Ryan Tverberg would steal the puck and find freshman Jake Percival who quickly found fellow freshman Samu Salminen for the goal. LIU would not go away easily as the sharks would score before the period ended to cut the UConn lead in half heading into the break.
In the second period, UConn capitalized on the first penalty of the game as Chase Bradley scored on the backhand to give UConn the two-goal lead once again. Sophomore Logan Terness blanked the sharks in the second period making 12 saves to preserve the two-goal lead.
Long Island would score 6 minutes into the start of the third period on the power play making it a one goal game. The Huskies speed showed late in the third period as freshman Matthew Wood took a pass from Andrew Lucas and fired a shot bar down to preserve the Huskies lead. After LIU scored to make it a one goal game, Justin Pearson sealed the game on a breakaway as he lifted the puck over the glove of the goaltender.
Sophomore goaltender Logan Terness finished with 35 saves and improved to 7-3-2 on the season while UConn closes out 2022 with a win and improves to 13-5-3.
Up Next
UConn will travel to Fenway Park to take on Northeastern University January 7 as part of Hockey East Frozen Fenway.
