When asked what the women's hockey team needed to do differently this time around against Providence after being shut-out 2-0 on Nov. 16, coach Heather Linstad quipped, "We need to score some goals."
The Huskies (18-8-2, 10-5-0 Hockey East) managed to do just that; scoring three times over the weekend and bouncing back from a 5-1 Saturday loss with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win Sunday.
"Well, we finally put our sticks on the ice a little bit," Linstad said. "They were tying us up really well in front, and we were going past a lot of rebounds. Their goalie is great; she covers the puck up well. We had to work hard to create opportunities."
In Sunday's game, the Huskies played tight on defense, allowing the Friars to rack up just nine shots and holding the game scoreless for the first period. The Friars didn't manage to break through until 16:20 in the second period when Laura Veharanta stole the puck from a scrum in front of the net and put a backhanded shot into the bottom right corner past Brittany Wilson.
The teams played back and forth for the remainder of the second period, heading into the locker rooms with Providence up 1-0. The Huskies upped the ante heading into the third period, firing 19 shots on net and maintaining possession inside the Friars' zone.
"We haven't had great success against Providence and I think we were intimidated at first," Linstad said. "But we settled down and played our kind of game and tried to go for it. Ithought we kept our composure, we were down but we kept on grinding it out."
When Providence forward Jean O'Neill was sent to the box at 9:49, UConn's power play unit took the ice for the second time. The Huskies never let up pressure, fore-checking strong in the Providence zone. They tallied more than half a dozen shots in front of the net before Dominque Thibault found the back of the net off of a rebound for her 24th goal of the season, which knotted the game at one.
"I thought we had great puck movement," Linstad said. "We share the puck very well and our defense didn't try to put shots through; everybody they put a lot of shots on the net."
Neither team could find the back of the net for the remainder of regulation, and with the score tied 1-1, the contest headed to overtime. At 18:41 in the third period, Providence's Mari Penhoken was called for a tripping penalty that carried through into overtime.
Heading into overtime with the extra skater, Linstad knew her team had the advantage. However, she made the decision to pull her first line off the ice and played the team's third line of Jennifer Chaisson, Nicole Tritter and Monique Weber.
"I changed the line, we went with [Jennifer] Chaisson's line instead of Thibault's," Linstad said. "I think it was good because we put out fresh legs, and they were ready to pounce on the puck and that was our goal."
The maneuver paid off as, just 50 seconds into overtime, the senior Tritter found the back of the net off a crossing pass from Weber to send the Huskies home with the win in dramatic fashion.
In Saturday's contest at Schneider Arena, the game remained scoreless after the first period with both teams firing 10 shots on goal. A Monique Weber checking penalty late in the first period gave Providence the power play to start the second. Ashley Cottrell took advantage, netting her fifth goal of the season just 41 seconds into the period. The Friars continued to pour it on, scoring twice more in the next seven minutes to build a 3-0 lead. UConn's only tally came from Amy Hollstein on the power play to bring the game within two. The Huskies couldn't hold on though, as Providence added two more goals in the third period, including another power-play tally, to take the 5-1 victory.
Penalties proved to be a factor Saturday, with the Huskies and Friars combining for 14 including a five-minute major charged to UConn's Brittany Murphy for viciously checking a Providence College player into the boards.
After splitting with Providence, the Huskies remain tied in fourth place in Hockey East with Boston University, trailing New Hampshire by three points.
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