The UConn Fast Break- 5/27/2022

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UConn men’s hockey hires new assistant coach

Mike Cavanaugh has his new assistant coach, and he has a lot in common with the man he’s replacing.

Mike Periera, Joe’s younger brother, has joined UConn hockey as an assistant coach, where he’ll sit on the bench alongside Tyler Helton. This comes less than two weeks after Joe Periera’s departure for his alma mater Boston University.

Like his brother, this will be Periera’s first Division I coaching job. He joins the Huskies from Avon Old Farms, where he was also an assistant coach. He played four years at UMass between 2010 and 2014 before playing 20 games in the AHL and 118 more in the ECHL, hanging up his skates for good in 2017.

Cavanaugh likes to hire young and ambitious coaches, as Brendan Buckley, a former assistant, got his start in coaching with UConn and is now an associate head coach at Boston College, his alma mater. Additionally, Helton has been involved with the program since his freshman year in Storrs, first as a player, then as a student assistant and graduate assistant, before being promoted to assistant coach.

This strategy has worked out for Cavanaugh. Only time will tell whether Mike can elevate the program like his brother was able, but Cavanaugh has had a good track record with assistants. Regardless, he will have big shoes to fill around the men’s hockey program.

Weekly Rewind

Women’s Basketball

UConn WBB Weekly - “It’s the dumbest thing ever.” Geno Auriemma is not a fan of the combined Final Four idea.

Chasing Perfection - A mailbag episode of the podcast.

Huskies to play in Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase - The event will be part of a doubleheader, with UConn playing Florida State.

Men’s Hockey

Mike Cavanaugh supports NCAA Tournament expansion - With just 10 at-large spaces, the head coach wants to see the field expanded, perhaps to 20.

An inside look at the new hockey arena - Daniel Connolly followed the UConn coaching staff around to check out the program’s new digs.

Baseball

Huskies take down Georgetown - The tournament opener went much better for UConn than last weekend, as Austin Peterson fired seven shutout innings to take the win and move to the 1-0 game.

Eight Huskies named to all-conference teams - Five were on the first team, including unanimous selections Austin Peterson and Erik Stock.

Tournament preview - The Huskies are in bubble territory with Selection Monday on the horizon, but Jim Penders’ crew can still take home the Big East’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament.

Hoyas sweep UConn - The Huskies lost their first series of the season and lost a lot of ground in the RPI as a result.

Men’s Basketball

Huskies to play in 2023 Empire Classic - According to Jon Rothstein, UConn will join Indiana, Louisville, and Texas in the two-day event at Madison Square Garden.

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Highlights

After a sweep against Georgetown to end the season, it was not so pleasant to see Georgetown immediately again in the Huskies’ opening matchup of the Big East Tournament. It almost got off to a really bad start, too…

A week after getting shelled by the Hoyas, Austin Peterson surrendered a pair of baserunners in the first inning and the second verse looked to be the same as the first, with Georgetown threatening to strike early.

However, on a deep drive to center field, TC Simmons had other ideas.

Memory Lane

UConn baseball came back to the Big East with a bang, winning the league’s regular-season title and taking the conference tournament crown as well. Last year, Xavier forced a winner-take-all Game 7, but the Huskies exploded for five runs in the fourth and another pair in the following frame, holding off a Musketeer comeback.

Check out the video highlights as Jim Penders’ crew looks to repeat as double champions this weekend.

UConn, Great Pic

Coaches and beer

Cav, Geno, Mags, and Danny at the UConn Coaches Roadshow at 2 Roads Brewery in Stratford. (via @UConnHuskies)

Parting Thoughts

Thanks to the beauty of UConn’s football independence, we have kickoff times for all home games, in May!

As CBS Sports Network doesn’t have to shuffle games across networks like FOX and ESPN do, the majority of its schedule is released at the same time. As of right now, eight of the Huskies’ 12 games now have a kickoff time, including its first four contests.

The slate features a pair of night games at home, including a Friday night matchup against UMass in November and the Huskies’ mid-September bout with Syracuse. Each of those games should be cause for excitement, even if for very different reasons.

The Huskies will also play on network television, as the battle with a highly-ranked (probably) Michigan squad will be at 12 p.m. on ABC.

While the program is likely to continue to take its lumps, hopefully, we’ll see some moments worth watching. The bar is so low.

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