BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The UConn men's hockey team outshot Yale, 44-24 on Sunday afternoon at the Connecticut Ice tournament but came up one goal short for the second-straight day, falling to the Bulldogs 3-2 at Webster Bank Arena.
The Huskies fall to 9-12-4 overall with their second-straight loss and close out non-conference play with the remaining Hockey East slate on deck. The Bulldogs improved to 9-10-0 on the year as they got a 42-save night from senior goaltender Corbin Kaczperski to lead the way.
Marc Gatcomb (Woburn, Mass.) gave UConn a 1-0 lead in the second but Yale would answer with three-straight. Sophomore Carter Turnbull (Nanaimo, Bristih Columbia) scored his second goal on the weekend, pulling the Huskies within 3-2 in the third period.
UConn outshot Yale 17-4 in the first period and 17-6 in the third and were able to get a power play with 1:31 left in the third for a two-man advantage with an empty net, but couldn't find the tying goal. The Huskies finished 0-for-2 on the power play.
Yale got goals from Curtis Hall, Luke Stevens and Justin Pearson while both Jack St. Ivany and Tyler Welsh had two assist nights.
1st Period:
UConn was dominated on the stat sheet in the first 20 minutes, outshooting the Bulldogs 17-4, but couldn't crack Kaczperski. The Huskies got the only power play chance of the first but came up empty.
2nd Period:
The Huskies struck for the game's first goal, coming at the 8:40 mark. Senior Wyatt Newpower (Hugo, Minn.) chipped the puck up the boards to clear the zone where sophomore Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice, Czech Repbulic) who carried up the left wing. Kondelik centered a pass to on oncoming Gatcomb who redirected it past Kaczperski for a 1-0 lead on his sixth of the year.
Yale answered back with a pair to take a 2-1 lead into the break. Hall tied it at 1-1 at the 11:22 mark, his 13th on the season. Hall took a feed into the zone from Tyler Welsh and fired on Vomacka, collecting the rebound and putting it home
The Bulldogs went up 2-1 at 16:01, scoring on their first power play chance of the night. Kevin O'Neil teed-up a shot from the high point and Stevens got a tip in front of Vomacka to grab his seventh on the season and give his a team a two-goal lead heading to the third.
3rd Period:
Yale pushed to 3-1 at the 9:59 mark as Pearson found a juicy rebound sitting in front of the net. Matt Foley sent one on net from the right circle and Vomacka made the stop but the rebound came out front and Pearson was there to bury it.
UConn cut it back to a goal as Turnbull came up with his second goal on the week and ninth on the year at 13:57. Junior Adam Karashik (Ridgefield, Conn.) carried the puck in deep behind the net, shoveling it back to Turnbull in front who one-timed it, top-shelf.
Up Next:
The Huskies will begin the stretch run of Hockey East games next weekend with a home-and-home series with the New Hampshire Wildcats. UConn heads to UNH on Friday, January 31 and host the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at the XL Center.
