UConn women’s hockey hosting Northeastern in Hockey East finals
· Yahoo Sports
Chris MacKenzie’s UConn Huskies are in the Hockey East tournament final after beating Holy Cross, 6-1, in the semis, and beating Maine by the same score last week in the quarters. This will be a rematch of the last two Hockey East tournament finals, with both teams winning one.
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We had a chance to catch up with Coach MacKenzie and team captains Kyla Josifovic and Emma Eryou before this huge matchup!
MacKenzie emphasized the excitement around this matchup and the surprise to be hosting as the 2-seed going against a top-seeded opponent. But Northeastern just demolished its on-campus arena to make room for a new one after the end of their regular season. The initial thinking was that a different school would host, but Hockey East went with Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, and what a venue it is.
The Huskies’ coach and captains shared that they’re feeling the extra excitement around their sport thanks to the Olympics, and locally with in-state teams from Yale and Quinnipiac also likely to be in the 11-team NCAA Tournament field when that is announced.
Eryou and Josifovic went on to heap praise on their fifth-year goalie Tia Chan, saying she’s been the backbone of the program in her time there. They also said they’ve enjoyed the fan support within Toscano during the season, saying it’s the best it’s been since they arrived in Storrs.
The Huskies have lost three times to Northeastern already this season. But the last two were incredibly close. NU has been UConn’s main rival in the league the last few years, and of course represent a sharp challenge.
MacKenzie pointed to the balance and depth of his team, and its propensity for finding the back of the net. They emphasized that they need to play mistake-free hockey and lockdown defense in order to prevail.