UConn swept BC, and Northeastern finally has company at the top
The No. 13 Huskies took both ends of a home-and-home from No. 15 Boston College, outshooting the Eagles 50-38 on Friday in Storrs.
UConn just swept Boston College in two nights, and it's time to say it plainly: the team chasing Northeastern in Hockey East wears Huskies blue, not maroon and gold.
The No. 13 Huskies won 4-1 in Boston on Thursday and 2-1 in Storrs on Friday. That's a 6-2 aggregate over No. 15 BC by our count, and UConn is still unbeaten in Hockey East play at 6-4-2 overall.
Northeastern, No. 4 in the USCHO poll, got held to a 3-3 tie at Vermont the same night. The conference race just became considerably more interesting.
Friday was a siege
The final was 2-1, but the game wasn't close in the way the score suggests. UConn outshot BC 50-38, a season high, and put 19 shots on goal in the first period alone while trailing 1-0.
Grace Bickett gave the Eagles that lead at 7:54 of the first, her third goal in four games. Then Avah Sedore did everything a goaltender possibly can to steal a road point. She made 48 saves, a career high, including 20 in the second period.
Freshman Addison Stewart finally beat her in the second for her first college goal. The winner came with 1:56 left in regulation, with Claire Murdoch setting it up. Taylor Belchetz made 37 saves at the other end, and the Huskies killed all five BC power plays.
Why the sweep matters
Thursday was the cleaner statement. Livvy Dewar scored twice, and the Ellie Markakis, Caileigh Tiller and Claire Murdoch line combined on two goals in a 4-1 win on BC's ice.
That line is the story of the weekend. When your top unit wins the matchup in both buildings, that isn't luck; it's evidence of a genuinely dangerous team.
BC is a better team than its 6-5-0 record says, and Sedore just proved she can win a game by herself. But Hockey East is a long weekend-to-weekend grind, and the Eagles just gave four points to the team they'll be fighting for a top-two seed.
The W read
UConn is the second-best team in Hockey East right now, and it isn't a coin flip. The Huskies host Providence in a home-and-home on Nov. 13-14, while BC plays Boston University the same weekend.
My call: UConn takes at least three of four points from Providence and is tied with or ahead of Northeastern in the standings by the end of November.
