ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The UConn’s men’s hockey team was playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, but performed like a team that had been there before.
And now, the Huskies are a team that has done that. Scoring two first-period goals, UConn staved off battle-tested Quinnipiac, 4-1, Friday to advance to the final of the Allentown Regional at PPL Center on Sunday.
Hugh Larkin, a grad student, and Ethan Gardula, a freshman, scored those early goals for UConn (23-11-4), and Tristan Fraser scored in the second period to keep Huskies on top. Freshman Callum Tung stopped 22 of 23 shots in goal for the Huskies, who will face either Hockey East rival Maine or Penn State for the chance to go to the Frozen Four, the national semifinals, in two weeks.
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Quinnipiac (24-12-2), the national champs in 2023, playing in the tournament for the 11th time, sixth year in a row, made a furious third-period rush, but could not score. Coach Rand Pecknold pulled his goalie, down two with three minutes left, but to no avail. UConn’s leading scorer, Joey Muldowney, wrapped it up with an empty-netter.
Jeremy Wilner scored the Bobcats’ goal in the second period.
When Larkin, a grad transfer, took the ice in Thursday’s practice, UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh noted it was the first time he’d ever coached a 26-year-old. On Friday, Larkin, a veteran of tournament play, scored the first NCAA goal in UConn history. Tabor Heaslip and Nick Carabin assisted on the fourth-line score, with Larkin beating Quinnipiac goalie Dylan Silverstein over the left shoulder to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead with 11:35 left in the first period.
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The Huskies dominated the first period and Quinnipiac did not get a shot on goal until a power-play opportunity in the final three minutes. UConn added to its lead when Gardula stole the puck in the Bobcats’ end and went in on Silverstein, beating him with a backhander to make it 2-0 with 5:32 to go in the period.
With a 7-2 edge in a shots, UConn was keeping the pressure off Tung, who got the start as Cavanaugh stuck to his two-man rotation in net. The Huskies likely got an emotional boost from the return of captain Hudson Schandor from his high ankle sprain, as they showed no sign of first-time jitters.
The Huskies continued to work and generate traffic in front of the net early in the second period, but Quinnipiac staved them off and began to match UConn’s intensity. The Bobcats top line broke through when leading scorer Wilmer cashed in on a breakway, Mason Marcellus and Charlie Leddy assisting, to make it 2-1 with 9:49 left in the period.
UConn responded four minutes later, Tristan Fraser scoring from the top of the slot with an assist from captain John Spetz and Avon’s Jake Percival to restore the lead to two goals.
The Bobcats were pulling even in shots on goal early in the third period, but UConn got a break when a Quinnipiac shot got past Tung, but hit the crossbar and bounced out to hit the goalie in the back of the leg. Huskies defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg alertly dove behind the goalie and cleared the puck from the crease.
Play was stopped with 9:18 left as Tung sustained an injury of some kind and required a look from the training staff, but he continued, and he stonewalled a Bobcat rush half a minute later. The Bobcats were playing with the late-game desperation reminiscent of their dramatic victories during the championship run of 2023, but UConn met the challenge, defensively.
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