The University of New Haven’s Club Hockey team lost to the University of Connecticut 4-3 on Friday, Nov. 3 in their home opener.

UNH Puck, as they like to be called, struggled early against a tough UConn team as they allowed a goal 30 seconds into the game. It looked like it was going to be a rocky game for New Haven, but they battled the whole first period and held UConn from scoring for the remainder of the period.

The Chargers offense struggled in the first period, as they were continuously not finishing their chances. It was a combination of good goalie play and poor shot finishing.

The second period was pretty much the same – UConn scored twice, including a breakaway goal with 12 and a half minutes left in the period. Things were looking quite bleak for the Chargers as it was 3-0 and they showed no signs of getting anything past the UConn goalie.

Defensemen captain Dan Kurtz changed the game and five holed the goalie for the first goal for the Chargers with 1:34 left in the second period. The goal gave the Chargers the momentum going into the locker room for the third period.

The second intermission didn’t break the Chargers’ momentum. They kept fighting hard to try to get back into the game. Eventually, Chargers center Charlie Ricard found the back of the net. With 17:29 to go, Ricard scored a couple seconds into the power play. This was a huge goal for the Chargers as now they were only down by one.

UNH Puck hustled and outworked UConn, and this allowed them to get back into the game. With 7:35 left, the Chargers were on the power play again Dominic Derosa scored. New Haven came back from being down 3-0 to being tied at 3-3.

Sadly, however, the comeback would not turn into a win as UConn scored with 2:22 to go to make it 4-3. The Chargers obviously still had time to score, but didn’t even get a shot as UConn shut down their offense after the fourth goal.

Overall, this game had plenty of positives for the Chargers. First off, they are gritty and as one of the Kurtz said, they are “a quick team who isn’t afraid to get their noses dirty.”

They showed that when they made their comeback. Also Kurtz he was probably the best player on the ice. Knowing that Kurtz is one of the best players in the conference should help the Chargers offense, which needs a little work. Another positive is Derosa was clearly the fastest player on the ice all night, which will help create goals and draw penalties in the future as he is going to be tough to stop all year.

Another positive was the crowd for the Chargers was incredible. UNH Puck has the most electric atmosphere for sports at the university, and they are only a club team. The next home game is Nov. 10 against MIT.