LOWELL, Mass. - The UConn Huskies won their first Hockey East game of the 2023-24 season Friday night at the Tsongas center. Chase Bradley scored the equalizing goal with under 1 minute remaining in the game, and senior Andrew Lucas scored the overtime winner.
In the Hockey East opener, both teams showed up ready for a battle. The Huskies and Riverhawks traded blows early as both teams looked to find the back of the net first. UMass Lowell was able to take the 1-0 lead late in the first period as Mitchell Becker of UMass Lowell fired a puck over the shoulder of Arsenii Sergeev. The Huskies were held scoreless as Luke Pavichich saved all eight shots faced.
The second period was a defensive battle as neither team found the back of the net. Sophomore Arsenii Sergeev made 10 saves to hold the Riverhawks scoreless while Luke Pavicich of UMass Lowell made 13 saves. The Huskies continued to struggle on the power play, going 0-2 in the second period.
Despite outshooting the Riverhawks in the second period, and throughout the third period, the Huskies were unable to find the back of the net early in the final period. With time running down in the third period, the Huskies pulled sophomore goaltender Arsenii Sergeev from net for an extra skater. While playing with the extra skater, the Huskies were able to pressure the UMass Lowell defense, maintaining possession of the puck and forcing errors by the River Hawks. With less than two minutes remaining, a UMass Lowell penalty put the Huskies on the power play, and with the goaltender pulled, the Huskies were playing with a two-man advantage. While on the power play, UConn finally broke through as Chase Bradley put home the rebound following an Andrew Lucas shot to tie the game and force overtime.
In the overtime period, it was all UConn as the Huskies overpowered UMass Lowell and continuosly put pressure on their puck handlers. The Huskies had multiple scoring chances early and had the momentum on their side from the late goal. UMass Lowell had a chance to end the game on a three on one break, but senior Andrew Lucas made a great stick play to knock the puck away and allow the Huskies to counter. Following a UMass Lowell turnover, Hudson Schandor collected the loose puck, and found a streaking Andrew Lucas who tipped in the puck to give UConn the victory.
UConn and UMass Lowell will wrap up the two-game series tomorrow at the XL Center in Hartford. Puck drop is scheduled for 4pm and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
