The UConn women's hockey team will play their final home game of the year Saturday against Northeastern. However, this game will be unlike any other UConn has ever played; be it home or away.
For the first time in their five year history UConn is ranked in the two national women's hockey polls.
It was announced earlier this week that UConn made their way into the top 10 of the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. The Huskies have reached this platform after two weeks of impressive play against ranked opponents Providence and New Hampshire. The Huskies went 3-0-1 and made their mark in the division that they are for real.
Perhaps it is fitting that the first time UConn will play as a ranked team will be Saturday, which also happens to be Senior Day. The seniors on the team have spent the last four years building this program and getting it to where it stands today. Nine seniors, including captains Shannon Connolly, Tiffany Owens and assistant captain Megan McLeod deserve to go out with such distinction.
The two people, beyond the players, who built up the program are coach Heather Linstad and her assistant coach Jaime Totten. Both coaches have been here since the program's inception five years ago and have taken UConn from rough beginnings to brand new heights. To think that just five years ago the team was 3-10-0 and now they have recorded a school best 12 wins is a true testament to the hard work and dedication Linstad and Totten have put in to make UConn one of the best.
It is also fitting for the coaches that this game is happening this weekend versus Northeastern. Totten was an All-American at Northeastern and Linstad spent eight years there as coach where she recorded 161 of her 207 career wins.
Not to be forgotten are the underclassmen who have been very important to UConn's success. Jaclyn Hawkins, Natalie Vibert and Kaitlyn Shain, just to name a few, have been big contributors this year.
With all that said, UConn still have two games to play this weekend and this is where those "letdown" games usually come. UConn is coming off a great home stand and will now play the last-place Northeastern. UConn is 1-0-1 against Northeastern this year and you can bet that their opponents will come ready to play. With that in mind, Linstad surely went over this throughout the week and has the team focused and ready to play just another game.
Saturday, being Senior Day, will be a time to celebrate all of the team's accomplishments and they certainly have earned that right. UConn still has a chance to claim second place in the division, so there is also plenty to play for. It will be surely be a historic weekend for UConn starting with their home game, Saturday at 2 p.m. They will finish the weekend on Sunday in Boston as they play their final game of the year versus Northeastern
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