NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The University of Connecticut women's ice hockey team bested Sacred Heart by a score of 3-1 at the Nutmeg Classic in the consolation game Saturday night. Senior forward Jada Habisch netted two goals to lead the Huskies to victory over the Pioneers.
The Huskies came out firing to start the game with 24 shots on goal by the end of the first period. UConn on the offensive attack continued to search for the executing plays drawn up by a string of passes to get the opening score. With two power play attempts neither working towards UConn's advantage, as Sacred Heart killed both penalties, the Huskies found their chance late in the first period with 2:30 left. From right inside the blue line, graduate student Claire Peterson fired one on target to Sacred Heart's goaltender, Jillian Petruno who bobbled the shot just enough for Habisch to get a stick on it and tap it in for the opening goal.
Sacred Heart evened it up early in the second period, but the Huskies wouldn't go away and unloaded. With another power play and then a 5-on-3 advantage, UConn found the answer with Jada's second goal of the night. As the play got broken up by Claire Peterson defensively, Sacred Heart got in trouble in its own back line and Habisch took the loose puck in open ice and swung around to the center of Sacred Heart's zone nailing the top right corner of the net. Then, sophomore Brooke Campbell contributed to the UConn offense with the third goal of the night at 13:32 in the period. From UConn's back line, junior Ava Rinker connected with graduate student Coryn Tormala who then found the gliding Campbell in the middle of the Sacred Heart zone. Campbell then collected and sent the puck spinning to the bottom right corner of the net for the score. The Huskies held Sacred Heart to only four shots in the period.
The Huskies kept the consistent offensive pressure going, adding 21 shots in the third period. Meanwhile, the UConn defensive line stopped the Pioneer's offense and did not allow a shot on goal. The Huskies stood strong and kept the two-goal lead for the entire period.
Up Next
The Huskies play host to two Hockey East opponents on back-to-back days with Merrimack on Friday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. and Boston College on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. The game on Friday can be streamed live on ESPN+ and the game on Saturday can be seen on NESN.
