The University of Maine’s youthful women’s ice hockey team had a reason to have some optimism entering Saturday afternoon’s Hockey East quarterfinal game against the nation’s sixth-ranked University of Connecticut Huskies.
The Black Bears, the seventh seed, had lost a pair of evenly-played one-goal games to the second-seeded Huskies in Orono during the regular season.
But the Huskies took care of business at home in Storrs, Connecticut. They received goals from six different players and peppering UMaine sophomore goalie Kiia Lahtinen with 53 shots en route to a 6-1 victory.
The Huskies, now 25-8-2, will advance to the semifinals.
UMaine concluded its season with a 13-19-4 record.
Sophomore Claire Murdoch paced the Huskies with a goal and three assists and graduate student goalie Tia Chan made 20 saves.
Livvy Dewar and Julia Pellerin each had a goal and an assist for the winners, who extended their unbeaten streak vs. UMaine to nine games (8-0-1).
Christina Walker and Kyla Josifovic gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead with goals just 1:51 apart late in the first period. Dewar assisted on Walker’s fifth goal of the season and Murdoch and Julia Stephen assisted on Josifovic’s 12th.
Special teams produced two second-period goals for UConn as Dewar’s ninth goal of the campaign came on the power play 1:22 into the middle frame and Pellerin’s 12th goal was a shorthanded tally.
Murdoch assisted on both goals and Ashley Allard had an assist on Dewar’s goal.
Murdoch and Megan Woodworth extended the lead to 6-0 in the third period. Murdoch’s goal was her 12th and came on the power play. It was assisted by Allard and Meghane Duchense-Chalifoux.
Pellerin and Brooke Campbell had the assists on Woodworth’s 15th goal.
Three freshmen teamed up to ruin Chan’s shutout bid with 6:37 remaining while the Black Bears were on the power play. Isabelle Michaud notched her team-leading 11th goal of the season with Mackenzie Podwell and Lulu Rucinski earning assists.
UMaine sophomore goalie Kiia Lahtinen finished with 47 saves.