Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Huskies Roundup – 11/9/14

UConn Huskies Daily Roundup

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

What a difference a week makes at UConn [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn;s bowl-less drought stretches to four years [jim fuller – new haven register]

Whitmer shouldering the blame for UConn loss [jim fuller – new haven register]

Postgame: Anatomy of a final play [john silver – sny uconn]

UConn Drops Close Game To Army, 35-21 [uconn huskies]

UConn Football: Army Post Game Wrap [uconn huskies youtube]

Interception Seals Huskies’ Fate In Loss To Army [hartford courant]

A Horrible Loss For The Huskies Against Army [hartford courant]

Huskies Say Army Offense Disrupted Their Plans [hartford courant]

UConn surrenders to Army at Yankee Stadium [new haven register]

Army beats UConn at Yankee Stadium [the day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Milford’s Schuler excited to meet up with UConn, Auriemma [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn’s Stewart, Stokes still getting acclimated to each other [jim fuller – new haven register]

Slow learning curve for UConn freshmen [jim fuller – new haven register]

Huskies Relying More On Stokes [hartford courant]

UConn senior Kiah Stokes ready to patrol the post [new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Ollie Expects Everyone To Put In Extra Work [hartford courant]

UConn men look to stay on the rebound vs. Assumption [new haven register]

Ollie hopes the strong rebounding continues [the day]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Five Huskies Register Goals In UConn’s 5-0 Conference Quarterfinal Win Over Temple Saturday [uconn huskies]

M. Soccer. UConn Soccer Shuts Out Temple to Advance to Semi-final [uconn huskies youtube]

M. Ice Hockey. Gerling and Pauly Lead Huskies to 4-4 Tie at #5 Boston University [uconn huskies]

M. Ice Hockey. Pauly’s Second Goal Gives UConn Tie With No. 5 BU [hartford courant]

W. Soccer. UConn Set To Battle USF For American Championship On ESPNU [uconn huskies]

Field Hockey. No. 3 Field Hockey Set for Big East Tournament Final on Sunday [uconn huskies]

M. & W. Swimming. UConn Continues Dual Meet Schedule Sunday Against Pennsylvania [uconn huskies]

Four In Third Gives Bears 4-2 Win Over Wolf Pack

Hershey, PA, November 8, 2014 – The Hershey Bears scored four third-period goals Saturday night at Giant Center, erasing a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-2, in the first of back-to-back games between the two teams.

Hartford Wolf PackFormer Wolf Pack Kris Newbury had the game-winning goal with 3:18 left in the third, and added an empty-netter, and Chris Brown and Connor Carrick also scored in Hershey’s third-period burst.  Oscar Lindberg and J.T. Miller had the Wolf Pack goals, and Jesper Fast assisted on both.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Wolf Pack, who fell to 7-3-1-0 on the season.

“Obviously it’s tough to lose that game, I thought we outplayed them for 50 minutes,” Miller said.  It’s just a matter of how it works, you’ve got to find ways to win that hockey game.”

The Wolf Pack carried a 2-0 lead into the third, and that held up until Brown got the Bears on the board at the 10:07 mark, with Hartford’s Dallas Jackson off for tripping.  Brown’s shot from the top of the left-wing circle hit Wolf Pack defenseman Dylan McIlrath’s leg and deflected past goaltender Cedrick Desjardins (4-1-0), who suffered his first Wolf Pack loss despite making 29 saves.

Carrick then tied the score only 1:06 later, at 11:13, on a shot from high in the slot that squeezed through Desjardins’ pads.

That set the stage for Newbury’s game-winner, which came on a deflection at 16:42.  Ex-Connecticut Whale Casey Wellman fired the puck at the net from the left-wing boards and Newbury, left alone in front of the goal, tipped it perfectly past Desjardins and into the net.

Newbury’s eighth goal of the season with 7.8 seconds remaining sealed the comeback victory for Hershey, after the Wolf Pack had pulled Desjardins for an extra attacker.

After killing a pair of penalties in the first period, the Wolf Pack grabbed the game’s first lead on a power play of their own at 13:40.

With former Wolf Pack Dane Byers off for roughing, Lindberg increased his team-leading goal total to six, taking a pass from Mat Bodie on the left-wing side, cutting to the middle and beating Hershey goaltender Philipp Grubauer (28 saves) over the catching glove.

The Wolf Pack were outshot 12-9 in the second period, but were able to double their lead, with Miller scoring his third goal of the year at 8:16.

Miller handed the puck to Fast and headed up the middle, and Fast beat Byers’ check on right wing, before centering back to Miller for the finish.

The Wolf Pack and Bears tangle again at Giant Center Sunday, with faceoff at 5:00 PM.  All of the action of that battle can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1410, and on-line at www.foxsportsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio.  Video streaming is available at www.ahllive.com.

The Pack’s next home game at the XL Center is this Friday, November 14, with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers making their first visit of the year to Hartford.  Once again this season every Friday night home game features $1 hot dogs and $2 beers through the start of the second period.

Tickets for all 2014-15 Wolf Pack home games are now on sale at the XL Center ticket office, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Wolf Pack tickets start as low as $12 for youth 12 years old or younger.

To speak with a Wolf Pack representative about season or group tickets, or any of the Wolf Pack’s many ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451, or click here to request more info.

Hartford Wolf Pack 2 at Hershey Bears 4
Saturday, November 8, 2014 – Giant Center

Hartford 1 1 0 – 2
Hershey 0 0 4 – 4

1st Period-1, Hartford, Lindberg 6 (Bodie, Fast), 13:40 (PP). Penalties-Bodie Hfd (hooking), 2:46; Hughes Hfd (tripping), 8:54; Byers Her (roughing), 11:52.

2nd Period-2, Hartford, Miller 4 (Fast), 8:16. Penalties-Stamler Hfd (slashing), 12:09; McIlrath Hfd (boarding), 19:16.

3rd Period-3, Hershey, Brown 2 (Kundratek, Kennedy), 10:07 (PP). 4, Hershey, Carrick 1 (Gazley, Schilling), 11:13. 5, Hershey, Newbury 7 (Wellman, Schilling), 16:42. 6, Hershey, Newbury 8 (Gazley), 19:52 (EN). Penalties-Oleksy Her (tripping), 3:04; Jackson Hfd (tripping), 9:00; Landry Her (tripping), 13:20.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 11-9-10-30. Hershey 7-12-14-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 3; Hershey 1 / 5.
Goalies-Hartford, Desjardins 4-1-0 (32 shots-29 saves). Hershey, Grubauer 4-3-0 (30 shots-28 saves).
A-8,971
Referees-Ryan Murphy (5).
Linesmen-Tom George (61), Scott Pomento (25).

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco on Challenges Of Army’s Triple Option Offense

The Army Black Knights will be like no other football team the UConn Huskies have played this year.

Sure UConn has faced running quarterbacks in their games against BYU and Boise State earlier this season. But they haven’t faced an offense like the one Army uses since the 2011 season, the dreaded triple-option.

UConn head coach Bob Diaco has more experience against the triple-option because when he coached at Notre Dame, the Irish played the service academies a little more frequently. But that doesn’t make Diaco’s job nor that of defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter or co-defensive coordinator Vincent Brown’s jobs any easier.

Watch and listen below as Diaco talks about what it’s like to prepare for and face the triple-option of Army.

Paw Prints – The Daily UConn Huskies Roundup – 11/8/14

UConn Huskies Daily Roundup

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a DAILY basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they are in the Bronx for a matchup with the Army Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. If you missed our UConn vs Army preview, be sure to check it out.

Also, I’ll have posts at around 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. going up on what head coach Bob Diaco expects from the Army offense and defense in today’s game. If you follow on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll see the links or just come back around 9:30 a.m.

I’m not sure when it’ll be but we’ll have a full recap of the game as well as photos either late tonight or tomorrow morning as I will be in attendance for the game.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Video: “We’re Not Going To Out Tough The United States Army” [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco & Players on Yankee Stadium [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn’s Offensive Line Improvement Continues [sox & dawgs]

Video: Noel Thomas Emerging Into a Threat For UConn [sox & dawgs]

UConn football: Playing for the future [john silver – sny uconn]

Army, Yankee Stadium: A Big Opportunity For UConn Football [hartford courant]

Army Football Has Rich, Successful History At Yankee Stadium [hartford courant]

Army’s triple option a triple threat for UConn [new haven register]

Army’s option presents a challenge for UConn [the day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Learning To Play The Piano One Of Auriemma’s Ambitions [rich elliott – ct post]

Mosqueda-Lewis Eyeing A Captain’s Role [rich elliott – ct post]

Wrapping up Friday’s practice at UConn [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn’s Auriemma still bitten by the coaching bug [jim fuller – new haven register]

No. 1 UConn Rounds Out Exhibition Play Against Post on Sunday [uconn huskies]

Geno Auriemma: Coaching, In General, Has Gotten Harder [hartford courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Kevin Ollie: ‘We’re Going To Fall In Love With The Process’ [dom amore – hartford courant]

UConn returns to work, prepares for final exhibition game [william paxton – ct post]

No. 17 UConn Concludes Preseason Play Against Assumption On Sunday [uconn huskies]

Young UConn frontcourt off to promising start [ct post]

Facey Vows To Be A Force On Boards For UConn [hartford courant]

Ollie out to harness Hamilton’s energy [the day]

Other UConn related links

M. Ice Hockey. Enough Celebrating: UConn Hockey Faces No. 5 BU Saturday [hartford courant]

M. Soccer. UConn Soccer Team Responds To Reid’s Softer Approach [hartford courant]

W. Soccer. UConn Upsets Top-Seed UCF, 1-0, Advances To American Title Game [uconn huskies]

Field Hockey. UConn Advances to 13th-Straight Big East Tournament Final with 3-1 Win Over Providence [uconn huskies]

W. Volleyball. UConn Drops 3-1 Match To UCF Friday Night At Home [uconn huskies]

Video: Noel Thomas Emerging Into a Threat For UConn

UConn WR #5 Noel Thomas breaks a tackle on his way to scoring his second touchdown of the day at Rentschler Field on Saturday, November 1, 2014.

UConn WR #5 Noel Thomas breaks a tackle on his way to scoring his second touchdown of the day at Rentschler Field on Saturday, November 1, 2014.

If UConn Huskies WR Noel Thomas, a Norwalk, CT native, can continue to keep the off the field distractions to a minimum or even nothing at all, there’s no telling how good he can be for the team.

This is something that head coach Bob Diaco talked about during the preseason. And as Thomas has done his best to do just that along with an injury to Geremy Davis, he’s starting to be a feature target for Chandler Whitmer.

In the loss to the East Carolina Pirates, Thomas had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. In last Saturday’s win over the Central Florida Knights, Thomas had four catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

In his previous six games, he had just three catches for 40 yards and no touchdowns. His three receiving touchdowns ties him with Davis for the team lead. Thomas has a long way to go catch Davis in catches and yards.

Watch and listen below as Diaco and Whitmer talk about the improvement of Thomas:

Video: UConn’s Offensive Line Improvement Continues

Something happened to the UConn Huskies offensive line during those bye weeks they had. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Oh wait, I can. It’s like the woes of the early season never happened. Seriously.

The offensive line was one of the biggest worries coming into the season. Now it’s one of the Huskies bigger strengths.

Over the past few games, you’ll have noticed that QB Chandler Whitmer has had more time to pass the ball and doesn’t have a big defensive end or tackle in his face all the time. Even the running game is starting to see bigger holes, which means more rushing yards for the running back flavor of the game and/or Deshon Foxx when he’s in at quarterback.

Watch below and listen as Alex Mateas and Richard Levy talk about the improved play of the offensive line.

Video: UConn Football Coach Bob Diaco & Players on Yankee Stadium

It won’t be the first time that UConn Huskies football coach Bob Diaco has coached a game at Yankee Stadium as he’s done that as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame.

However, it will be the first time for everyone on the team playing there and it should be a special time for the eight New York natives on the team.

They are RJr. John-Luke Bogue (New Rochelle), RFr. DL Folorunso Fatukasi (Far Rockaway), RSr. LB Reuben Frank (Poughkeppesie), RFr., OL Thomas Hopkins (Hawthrone), RJr. S Junior Lee (Brooklyn), RJr. DS Dominick Manco (Lagrangeville), RSo. DT Mikal Myers (Newburg) and RFr. LB Cameron Stapleton (Staten Island).

Watch and listen below as Diaco, Myers, QB Chandler Whitmer, WR Noel Thomas, S Andrew Adams and C Alex Mateas talk about playing Army at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.