HAMDEN, Conn. - The UConn Huskies took down the Yale Bulldogs in the opening game of the CT Ice tournament to advance to the championship game. Justin Pearson scored one goal and added an assist vs. his former team while freshman Matthew Wood finished with one goal and two assists in the win.
UConn opened the scoring early in the first as the former Yale Bulldog Justin Pearson was left in front on the power play and was able to muscle home the puck for the Huskies first goal. UConn didn't stop there as Ryan Tverberg took a pass at center ice and turned on the jets skating past the Yale defense before beating Bulldogs netminder Luke Pearson bar down for the goal. Freshman Arsenii Sergeev only made one save in the first period as the Huskies took a two goal lead into the period break.
The Huskies would not let up in the second period as they tacked on two more power play goals back-to-back to give UConn the 4-0 lead. Freshman Matthew Wood scored the first goal followed by fellow freshman Samu Salminen. UConn added two goals late, scored by Roman Kinal and Jake Veilleux to give UConn the 6-0 lead heading into the final frame.
Yale would add a goal in the third period but UConn denied the bulldogs the rest of the way to come away with the win. Freshman Arsenii Sergeev made 24 saves in the win to improve to 8-3-1 on the season. With the win, UConn will play the winner of Sacred Heart vs. Quinnipiac in the Championship game Saturday January 28 at 7pm.
