It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Connecticut, but coach Mike Cavanaugh is confident his team has what it takes to be in the Hockey East title hunt as the calendar turns to 2024.
“We were pretty consistent, we just struggled scoring goals early on,” Cavanaugh said, assessing his team’s play before the holiday break. “And that was why we didn’t win a lot of hockey games early on.”
Indeed, it was a rocky start for the Huskies (8-9-1 overall, 4-6-0 Hockey East), which was held to one goal or fewer in each of its four losses in October. Scoring improved in November and December, which UConn capped with a New Year’s Eve win 4-2 win over Harvard (ECAC Hockey) in its first game back from the holiday hiatus.
The Huskies are certainly hoping the win will serve as a catalyst to find the consistency needed to be part of the postseason conversation.
“I’ve been very happy with the overall structure of how we’ve been playing and (our) compete level,” Cavanaugh said. “For the most part, our defense has been pretty good. Our power play started horrifically, and it started to get better. (I) thought our power play was definitely better and more dangerous. We were gaining momentum off our power play.”
UConn now dives head-first into the meat of its conference schedule, with five straight games against teams ranked in the USCHO.com men’s D-I poll, starting Friday at No. 13 Massachusetts (7 p.m., NESN).
Cavanaugh said one key to competing with the Minutemen will be staying out of the penalty box, which the Huskies failed to do in the third period vs. Harvard as the Crimson were battling back.
“I thought that took us out of our rhythm,” Cavanaugh said. “I thought we were playing really well. When you can roll four lines and put a lot of pressure on an opponent, (then) you start taking some penalties (and) it takes you out of that rhythm. I thought we lost a little bit of that energy and attack mentality because of that. I’d like to see us continue to play that way, but certainly (we) know we can’t be taking unnecessary penalties.
“And most of the time when you take a penalty in the offensive zone, it can be avoided,” he continued. “You don’t want to be giving that (UMass) power play too many opportunities.”
The winning goal vs. Harvard was scored by Jake Percival, the sixth of the season for the sophomore forward. Percival’s goal was one-third of what the UConn sports-information department affectionately referred to as a “Jake Trick”, as the first three goals were all scored by players named Jake — freshman forward Jake Richard and sophomore forward Jake Black also joined in the fun.
For Percival, the New Year’s Eve goal was part of a season of continued improvement, according to Cavanaugh.
“He just keeps getting better,” Cavanaugh said. “He was a really good player for us last year. He got off to a hot start with us, then was a little snake-bitten in the second half of the season. And that kind of carried over into a little bit of this year.”
Cavanaugh made clear he was talking only about Percival’s offensive production, not his overall quality of play.
“His value to the team goes much beyond that,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s an outstanding penalty killer. He’s a guy we’re going to have out there 5-on-6. He brings so much energy. He’s a tenacious forechecker. He’s just really become an integral part of our team.”
Cavanaugh also had high praise for senior transfer Andrew Lucas, whom UConn tried to recruit before the defenseman committed to Vermont. Currently Lucas is the team’s top scoring defenseman with four goals and five assists.
“He does so many things,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s known for his offensive capabilities, but I think his defensive play is very underrated. He’s got an excellent stick. He’s in position all the time. He competes. He’s certainly been a kid that is invaluable to our program.”
Following the one-game weekend vs. UMass, the Huskies will host No. 7 Maine on Jan. 12-13, followed by a home-and-home series vs. No. 17 New Hampshire on Jan. 19-20.
