CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Freshman Dominique Thibault (L’Orignal, Que.) had a goal and an assist as the University of Connecticut women’s hockey team defeated No. 9 Boston College, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at BC’s Kelley Rink at Conte Forum.

With the win, the Huskies establish school records with both 17 wins on the year and 12 victories in league play, standing at 17-11-2 overall and 12-4-1 in Hockey East action, respectively. UConn is now 4-4-1 this year against ranked opposition. The win is UConn’s second of the year in Chestnut Hill representing the Eagles’ only two home losses of the 2006-07 season. The Eagles were denied their 20th win of the year and dip to 19-8-2 overall and 12-6-0 on their conference slate.

UConn head coach Heather Linstad shuffled her lines before the game, putting Thibault and junior Jaclyn Hawkins (Manotick, Ont.) on a line together for the first time since November 4 at Ohio State. The pairing netted dividends almost immediately as Thibault and Hawkins set up freshman Amy Hollstein (Pembroke, Mass.) for the game’s first goal at 3:19 as she roofed a 25-foot wrist shot over the shoulder of BC netminder Molly Schaus. The goal was Hollstein’s 13th of the season, ranking her amongst the league’s freshman leaders but unfortunately another freshman, BC’s Kelli Stack would net her 13th goal of the season at 9:19 to even the score as she used some nifty stick-handling to maneuver through the Husky defense for a tight shot that slipped past Brittany Wilson (Nepean, Ont.).

The Huskies retook the lead at 2-1 12:40 into the second period. With the Huskies applying pressure while a delayed penalty call on the Eagles awaited, junior Britney Chandler (Pickering, Ont.) put in the rebound of a shot by sophomore Kristen Russell (Dauphin, Man.) to cap a flurry of activity around the BC crease. Freshman Michelle Binning (Oshawa, Ont.) also picked up an assist on the goal. The lead was short-lived though as BC knotted the score at 2-2 less than a minute later when Meghan Fardlemann tallied at 13:38.

Thibault made it a 3-2 game on the power play just 1:20 into the third period as she knocked home the rebound of a shot from the point by junior Bridget King (Paxton, Mass.) that had been redirected on net by Russell. Wilson held down the fort from there on out, making a total of 12 third period saves. Wilson made 32 stops in all on the afternoon while Schaus stopped 20 Husky shots.

The Huskies return to action on Friday night, Feb. 16 when they play host to No. 2 New Hampshire at 7:00 p.m. at the Freitas Ice Forum.