Wildcats Drop 7-4 Game at UConn

Saturday, February 1

Hartford, Conn.

4 PM

University of New Hampshire

13-11-2, 7-8-1HEA

UConn

11-12-4, 8-7-2HEA

New Hampshire

UConn

Patrick Grasso (Photo by Helene Bartsch)

2/1/2020 10:23:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Patrick Grasso scores two goals for the Wildcats.

HARTFORD, Conn. – With the Wildcats leading 2-1, the Huskies then went on to score five straight goals as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team fell to UConn, 7-4, in front of an attendance of 8,211 at the XL Center on Saturday afternoon. Junior forward Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) scored two goals to lead UNH.

The Wildcats are now 13-11-2 (7-8-1 HEA), while the Huskies improve to 11-12-4 (8-7-2 HEA). UConn wins the two-game season series as the Huskies also won 7-4 at the Whittemore Center on Jan. 31.

UP NEXT:

The Wildcats will return to action when they host Vermont for two games at the Whittemore Center on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8 at 7 pm. Both games are on NESNplus. Friday is Heart Health Awareness Night and also the first 1,000 fans will receive the fifth set of trading cards. Then Saturday is 80s Night presented by Eastern Propane & Oil, as the first 1,000 fans will receive a UNH fanny pack. Individual game tickets with affordable options that start as low as $9 and a convenient six-ticket flexible miniplan can be purchased for the season by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.

Score: UConn 7, New Hampshire 4
Records: UNH (13-11-2, 7-8-1 HEA), UConn (11-12-4, 8-7-2 HEA)
Location: Hartford, Conn. (XL Center)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020
Time: 4 p.m.
Attendance: 8,211

HOW IT HAPPENED

UConn took an early 1-0 lead at 4:12 of the first period when Ruslan Iskhakov redirected a pass from Jonny Evans to the back of the net.
The Wildcats respond just 36 seconds later with a power play goal by Grasso at 4:48 as he fired a shot from the slot to the lover glove side of the net off a pass by junior forward Charlie Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.). Sophomore forward Jackson Pierson (Zionsville, Ind.) also posted an assist on the goal.
Grasso then netted his second goal of the game at 14:01 as he scored off a rebound on a shot by junior defenseman Max Gildon (Plano, Texas) as the Wildcats took a 2-1 lead. Freshman Lucas Herrmann (Lancaster, N.Y.) tallied an assist on the goal.
With just 52.6 seconds left in the first period, the Huskies tied the game at 2-2 with a goal by Vladislav Firstov.
UConn took a 3-2 lead at 4:32 of the second period when Alexander Payusov sent a rebound from a shot by Yan Kuznetsov to the lower stick side of the net.
The Huskies then increased their advantage to 4-2 at 15:06 as Zac Robbins scored on a one-timer from the slot.
With just 12.7 seconds remaining in the second period UConn took a 5-2 lead when Payusov sent the puck to the goal which was deflected off a UNH defenseman to the back of the net. The goal was his second of the game.
At 7:06 of the third period, UConn scored its sixth goal of the game as Jachym Kondelik found the back of the net off a rebound to take a 6-2 advantage.
At 10:04, sophomore defenseman Will Plymouth, Mich.) blasted a slap shot that ricocheted off the boards and off goalie Tomas for his third goal of the season. Sophomore forward Eric Esposito (West Haven, Conn.) and junior forward Joe Sacco (Reading, Mass.) each posted assists on the goal.
But Kondelik was able to score his second goal of the game as the Huskies went back up by four goals.
With 1:54 left in the third period, Sacco scored on a one-timer from the slot to the lower stick side of the net. Junior forward Kohei Sato (Nishitokyo, Japan) and Esposito each recorded an assist on the goal.
Neither team scored again for the 7-4 final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UNH outshot UConn by a 42-37 margin.
Sophomore goalie Ty Taylor (Richmond, British Columbia) made 25 saves and allowed five goals, while junior Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) replaced Taylor in net and made five saves and allowed two goals. Vomacka recorded 38 saves to earn the win.
The Wildcats went 1-2 on the power play and the Huskies went 0-2.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE