UConn, QU score semifinal victories
HARTFORD — It might’ve been the longest scoring drought of Samu Salminen’s life, 11 games without a goal since Veterans Day.
“All the time I’m talking to coaches, like, ‘let’s try to keep it simple. Try to shoot from everywhere. It’ll go in,’” Salminen said.
The UConn sophomore men’s hockey player had to laugh, because he broke that drought with a shot that, well, when coaches talk about shooting from everywhere, this is not usually the spot they mean.
Salminen scored on a lacrosse-style goal 2:35 into the opener at the Connecticut Ice tournament at the XL Center, and the Huskies went on to beat Sacred Heart 6-2 Friday afternoon.
“That wasn’t what I expected,” Salminen said.
UConn faced Quinnipiac in the tournament final for the third year in a row on Saturday night at the XL Center. The defending national champions defeated Yale on Friday in the first 1-0 game in the all-time series between the neighborly rivals.
In Friday’s opener, after the Huskies’ Jake Percival of Avon won a battle in the corner and moved the puck behind the net, Salminen
shrugged off a Sacred Heart defender to give himself space, scooped the puck up on his left-handed blade, came out from goalie Chase Clark’s right and flicked the puck around the post and under the crossbar.
He said he has scored goals like that – often called the “Michigan,” because Wolverines forward Mike Legg scored one in a 1996 NCAA Tournament game — in roller hockey, where it’s a little easier.
“Those are things that I think every single hockey player, you play with your friends when you’re young,” Salminen said, “you go through highlights you see on YouTube . ... You don’t practice it, like, every single day.”
UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said that after the bench went wild for the goal, he tried to remind the Huskies (11-11-2) they had 57 minutes to play. Sure enough, the Pioneers (11-13-2) came back and scored 61 seconds later.
Hudson Schandor scored two goals later in the first period to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead. East Haven’s Nick Capone made it 4-2 on a secondperiod power play, and UConn was on to Saturday night’s final at 7 p.m.
Quinnipiac (16-6-2, 102-1 ECAC), ranked seventh in one national poll and eighth in the other, scored 12:24 into the game when Travis Treloar set up Mason Marcellus at the front of the net.
Freshman goalie Jack Stark (35 saves) and the defense for Yale (7-13-0, 59-0) managed to contain the Bobcats the rest of the night.
“I don’t know the guy, but I stopped him at the end of the line and said, like, ‘hell of a game. That was crazy,’” Marcellus said.
“It was hard to get anything by him. It felt like a brick wall back there, so kudos to him.”
The Bulldogs, though, mustered just 14 shots on Quinnipiac’s Vinny Duplessis as the Bobcats kept their foot on the gas.
“I thought it was a really good college hockey game. Lots of chances; both goalies played great,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.
“I thought we played really well, but Yale gave us everything we could handle. They were fighting and clawing and scratching all game, blocking shots, doing little things, winning puck battles. I was really impressed with their compete.”
Attendance was 4,693, and coaches complimented the atmosphere.