The UConn Fast Break - 11/1/2023

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What’s ailing UConn men’s hockey?

UConn men’s hockey is 3-4-1 after one month of the season, after experiencing three kinds of weekends.

The first was highly encouraging, as the Huskies finished 1-0-1 on the road against Colgate.

The second was a disaster, with Holy Cross sweeping UConn in a home-and-home.

The last two weekends were split decisions. Two weeks ago, Mike Cavanaugh’s team split Union in two road games and then split UMass Lowell in a home-and-home last weekend.

The Huskies are ninth in the nation in goals allowed per game, with the goaltender duo of Arsenii Sergeev and Ethan Haider proving solid thus far. Sergeev owns a .927 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average. Haider, who transferred from Clarkson, has been even better, at .946 and 1.23, respectively. Both of Haider’s marks are top-10 in the nation.

UConn is eighth in the country in killing penalties, at 93.5 percent (31-for-33), and has been solid at limiting time in the penalty box, with 8.25 PIMs per game, which is in the top 15. The Huskies also are at .500 with regard to face-offs and are fourth in even-strength Corsi, which measures a team’s share of shot attempts and serves as a proxy for possession.

Why are they just 3-4-1 after four weeks of play? The power play.

UConn hasn’t been scoring much at all, with just 16 goals in eight games, but the power play has especially had its trouble in 2023-24. The Huskies have lit the lamp just twice in 34 opportunities, which is a 5.9 percent rate that is tied for fifth-worst in the country, despite being tied for third in power play opportunities.

There are many sources of a poorly performing power play. Teams may struggle to get set up and don’t have solid possession, or they may have all their shots from the perimeter, and the defense isn’t challenged from the slot. Neither one of those is the issue for UConn, which is a top-10 team in Corsi on the power play, with a 66.3 percent share of shot attempts that are coming from quality areas.

For the Huskies, it’s a brutal combination of bad luck and a lack of finishing. They’re getting plenty of rubber on goaltenders, they’re doing it from the danger areas, but haven’t put the biscuit in the basket.

Against UMass Lowell on Saturday, UConn had a full two minutes with a two-man advantage in the third period down a goal. However, River Hawks goaltender Henry Welsch made a few tremendous saves, the dangerous Matthew Wood hit the post instead of the net and the Huskies were unable to score.

Fortunately for UConn, bad luck tends to come in cycles. It’s important to have a good process and it seems as though the power play is effective, but the finishing isn’t there. The team just has to hope the defense holds up until the scoring touch comes around.

Weekly Rewind

Football

Podcast – The latest episode previews the Boston College matchup and UConn’s conference situation.

Boston College Scouting Report - An in-depth look at the Eagles ahead of their match-up against the Huskies.

Eagles defeat the Huskies – UConn struggled offensively in the loss.

Future Opponents – A look at the Huskies’ opponents’ week 9 performances.

Men’s Basketball

Big East Media Day – The Huskies are projected to end up third in the Big East while Stephon Castle was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year.

More highlights from BE Media Day below

Women’s Basketball 

Bueckers Earns Preseason Award – Paige Bueckers earned the Big East Preseason Player of the Year award with the Huskies being predicted to end up first in their conference on Big East Media Day.

Opponent Preview: Middle Tier – The Huskies’ schedule features matchups with top-caliber teams with NCAA Tournament potential. 

Huskies reflect on last year’s struggles ($) – Taking a look back at last year’s disappointing end to the season, UConn admits that its struggles were more than just injuries.

Azzi Fudd will return for senior season – Despite being eligible for the WNBA Draft, Fudd said she plans to stay with the Huskies for her senior year.

Ice Brady’s Role ($) – Geno Auriemma is ready to use the redshirt freshman in the frontcourt alongside Aaliyah Edwards.

Men’s Hockey 

The Forecheck – A round-up of the latest news surrounding the men’s hockey team.

UConn’s OT Victory – The Huskies defeated UMass Lowell in an exciting overtime 2-1 win.

Huskies fall to River Hawks – Despite beating UMass Lowell in a thrilling overtime victory on Friday, the Huskies lost on Saturday. | Photos

Huskies’ Unlikely Win ($) – An in-depth look at how UConn defied the odds to defeat UMass Lowell.

Huskies’ Scoring Struggles ($) – An analysis of the Huskies’ loss against UMass Lowell and how their shooting woes are losing them games.

Soccer

UConn’s Postseason Chances – Both soccer teams earned their place in the Big East Tournament, but a chance at the NCAA Tournament remains unlikely. 

Photos  – Photo gallery for the women’s soccer team Big East Tournament matchup against the Bulldogs. 

Baseball

UConn’s 2024 Schedule – A breakdown and in-depth look at the Huskies’ schedule for the upcoming season.

Check out our football newsletter, featuring the only UConn football podcast in the world!

Highlights

Some clips from Big East Media Day interviews:

Alex Karaban said Azzi Fudd had the best shooting form on campus. Fudd agreed and offered her thoughts on Karaban’s unconventional form.

@uconnblog

Does Azzi think she has the best shooting form at UConn?👀 #uconnhuskies #uconnmbb #uconnwbb #bigeastmediaday #azzifudd #alexkaraban

Hurley helps us understand what five-star prospect Stephon Castle is bringing to the team.

Hurley on Tristen Newton having a new role this year.

Hurley on the validation of last season’s championship.

And, finally, we hear from Rick Pitino, who mentioned that he recruited or coached against lots of the current Big East coaches as Big East players, including Dan Hurley, Shaheen Holloway, and Sean Miller.

He also gave a hat tip to Shabazz Napier for moving him forward on the issue of athlete compensation.

Memory Lane

While UConn football came up short at Boston College this past weekend, let’s revisit last year’s meeting of this matchup, a 13-3 Husky triumph for the program’s first-ever win over BC.

In a game where the Eagles committed five turnovers, including a red zone interception, and missed a field goal, UConn got on the board first after a 62-yard Justin Joly touchdown catch and run for a TD and that would be all the points it needed.

The Huskies added a field goal and a game that was 10-3 at halftime was fairly uneventful as the visiting Eagles tried to tie the game. After a late fumble recovered by UConn, the Huskies added one more field goal to put this low-scoring affair out of reach.

Relish in the game recap, post-game thoughts, box score, and highlights from this groundbreaking game for the UConn football program.

UConn, Great Pic

Some shots from Ian Bethune at women’s soccer and men’s hockey.

Parting Thoughts

Cooper Flagg, the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2024, just committed to Duke, with UConn coming second in his recruitment.

It’s important to keep some perspective on this news, including withholding any vitriol toward Flagg himself.

UConn had some positives going for it in this recruiting battle, including its status as reigning national champions, proximity to Maine relative to Duke, and Donovan Clingan’s presence — the sophomore center’s late mother played basketball at the University of Maine with Flagg’s mom. Hurley’s also all about ball whereas the “Duke experience” includes a lot more, for better and worse.

However, Duke was always considered the strong favorite for the 6-foot-8 forward who is going to be one of the hottest prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft.

That Dan Hurley and his staff made a serious push for Flagg as much as he did should be considered a victory. Losing any sleep over this is unnecessary.

Flagg opted to visit UConn first and in the days following his time in Storrs, he canceled his visit to Kansas, indicating a two-horse race. Thanks to some commentary from random corners of the sports media world, it seemed like UConn had a chance.

Despite missing out on this recruit, Hurley showed that he can compete with the best of them. Anonymous college basketball insider Trilly Donovan wrote that Hurley earned a lot of respect around the game for his efforts.

Anyway, Flagg to UConn was always a longshot and so far Hurley and staff are doing well in the Class of 2024, with a pair of top-75 players in Ahmad Nowell and Isaiah Abraham already committed. The future remains bright and, always remember, do not tweet at recruits.

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