Women's hockey wins first game of the season

The UConn women’s hockey team picked up their first win of the season against the Maine Black Bears this Saturday in an overtime thriller. The Huskies split two games against the Black Bears, the first game being won and the second game being lost both by scores of 3-2.

The Huskies came out fighting in the first game of the weekend. UConn threw the first punch with a goal by freshman Michela Cava. The goal was assisted by fellow freshman Brittany Berisofa. The Black Bears would hit back with a goal of their own within the first period, tying up the score.

The game wouldn’t be tied for long as Maine would attack with a player down and score a go-ahead goal late in the second period. The Huskies tied the game up shortly after with a game tying goal shot by Michela Cava, her second of the day. Casey Knajdek and freshman Rachel Farrel assisted on the goal. The Huskies and Black Bears were headed to overtime after a third period saw neither team gain an advantage on the scoreboard.

The Huskies would emerge victorious in a short overtime. Assisted by junior Kiana Neuheim, sophomore Kayla Campero scored her first goal of the season to end the game and give UConn their first win of the young season.

Elaine Chulli got the start in goal on Saturday and made 18 saves. She was relieved of her duties after allowing two goals in 2 periods of play. Junior Sarah Moses didn’t allow a goal for the rest of the game and stopped 18 shots.

The Huskies lost 3-2 in the second half of their doubleheader with the Black Bears. The Huskies would once again come out looking to strike first. Sophomore Caitlin Hewes scored the first goal of the game. Unfortunately for UConn, this would turn out to be their only lead of the day. Maine came back with three goals of their own. Brianne Kilgour scored back-to-back goals in the first period. Her teammate, Brittany Dougherty, put the exclamation on the period with a goal of her own, making the score 3-1.

UConn continued to scrap and fight through the game, but could only score one more goal in the effort. Michela Cava scored late in the game for the Huskies. This brought her weekend total to 3 goals. That would be the last score for either team on the weekend as the game ended 3-2 Maine. Junior Sarah Moses was able to stop 34 shots, despite a flurry of goals in the first period.

This weekend brought UConn’s overall record to 1-5-1 and their conference record to 1-1. The Huskies will return home for their next game Friday against conference rival Syracuse.