Hockey East Monthly Recap: October 2025

Is it that time of the month already? And by 'that time,' I mean has another month gone by so quickly in NCAA action? I guess it has, because the calendar has already flipped to November. Which can only mean one thing: it’s time for another monthly recap of Hockey East. 

Not much happened in October… I’m just messing around. Of course a lot happened over the course of the month. We saw the start to the conference slate, a rematch of the 2025 tournament championship game, and some pretty exciting wins for all 10 teams in the conference.

No use delaying this further, so here’s what you need to know from October. 

Featured Series: UConn continues hot start with a 1-0-1 weekend against No. 15 Mercyhurst 

You could throw a dart at UConn’s schedule and would probably end up picking a solid weekend for the Huskies, which is expected considering they’re 7-2-1 to start the season overall. 

But if we’re looking at strength of schedule, and in weekend performances, and frankly in series we haven’t talked about in the monthly recaps yet, then the weekend against Mercyhurst stands out the most. 

After giving up a goal within the first five minutes of the game on Friday, the Huskies battled back to tie the game in the opening minutes of the third thanks to a power play goal from Maya Serdachny. After outshooting the Lakers 38-28, the contest ended up going into a shootout, in which Claire Murdoch and Julia Pellerin found the back of the net while Tia Chan stood strong to lift the Huskies to a quote-unquote 2-0 win in the shootout. 

It was another gritty performance for Connecticut the next day, as they prevailed 4-3. Again, the Huskies outshot their opponents, this time by a 34-27 margin. Serdachny had herself a weekend, by assisting on the opening goal and then scoring her second of the season to put the visitors up 2-0 through the first 16 minutes of action. 

Mercyhurst wouldn’t go quietly, as they managed to tie the game back up just 5:33 into the second period. Murdoch, who has had a relatively quiet start to the year compared to her Rookie of the Year performance a season ago, scored just her second goal of the season 63 seconds after the Lakers tied it to put UConn back ahead. 

Pellerin also scored her second of the season, a power play strike, with 1.1 seconds remaining in the middle period. The goal eventually stood as the game winner, even as Mercyhurst closed the gap to one once more thanks to a Jessica Ciarrochi tally 5:35 into the final frame. Fifteen of the Lakers' 27 shots were taken in the third period, and it came down to crucial saves from Chan, plus blocks from Serdachny and Julia Stephen in the final five minutes to keep the score 4-3 in favor of the Huskies. 

The win improved UConn to 5-2-1 on the season, with all eight of those games having been played against top-15 ranked opponents. There wasn’t much the Huskies had to prove coming into the season, especially considering how their last two seasons have gone. And yet, they might honestly be even better than expected coming into the year. 

The next few weeks become a little lighter, before a game against No. 7 Quinnipiac over Thanksgiving helps close out November. If the Huskies perform well against Boston College and Vermont, and then continue that hot stretch into the matchup with the Bobcats, it could be a very fruitful first semester for the team from Storrs.

Players of the Month – Emma's Version: 

I’m going to challenge myself here and go off-script. Since the league also puts out their own monthly awards, I’ve decided to do my own as well — the caveat being that they can’t be the same as the players from the league release. 

Not because the players listed by Hockey East are undeserving: they all are. More so that more players see their contributions highlighted. 

If you’re looking for the Hockey East list — and I suggest you take a peek — that can be found here.

Now onto my list. 

Player of the Month: Lily Shannon, F, Northeastern 

Yes, Shannon was named the runner-up for forward of the month for the conference behind BC freshman Ava Thomas, but there’s a damn good reason for it. 

Through her first eight games, the Northeastern captain has already scored 13 points, including nine assists, matching her season high set in 2023-24. Not only are her offensive totals good for second best in the conference behind Thomas, she leads HEA in points per game, is fourth in power play goals with two, and is 10th in total faceoff wins with 78. 

On a NU team that has often struggled to score the last few years, and after losing Skylar Irving this past offseason, having an influx of scoring from Shannon is a much needed boon for the Huskies. She’s a difference maker all over the ice, and it’s reflected by how well her team is performing to this point.

Goaltender of the Month: Sedona Blair, UNH

Throughout the month of October, Blair was a force for the Wildcats. Across five games, she finished with a .943 save percentage, allowing just nine goals in said contests. While her record wasn’t outstanding — 2-2-1 — she performed when she needed to, and it’s helping get UNH back on their feet after a lackluster 2024-25 season. 

Though Blair and Noemi Martinez have been splitting the net thus far this year, the junior’s been the main starter at UNH since she first joined as a freshman. If her numbers stay steady throughout the rest of the way, that could come in handy for UNH. 

Defender of the Month: Maya Serdachny, D, UConn 

Serdachny has been a staple on UConn’s blue line since she started as a rookie two years ago. Though she missed a considerable amount of games last season, her impact has been felt early to start the newest season. 

In the Huskies' eight games this month, Serdachny registered four points, including a power play tally to tie the game against Mercyhurst in the aforementioned 1-1 finish. Her 27 blocks in October led the entire UConn squad, and are actually more than anyone has throughout all 10 games the team has played to this point. 

While having Tia Chan in net is a cheat code on any given day, her defense in front of her is also integral to how well UConn has performed thus far this year. Serdachny is making her name known in that defensive core, and against some of the toughest teams in the country as well. 

Rookie of the Month: Naemi Herzig, F, Holy Cross 

While her teammate Violet Carroll has been getting a lot of love thus far, Herzig has also played a key role for the Crusaders in their success to open the year. Her eight points, including four goals, are good for second-most this past month on the entire team. With 71 faceoff wins, and a winning percentage of 61.7%, Herzig is proving herself in all facets of her game. 

That could grow as the year goes on, and if it does, that bodes well for both the player and her squad. It’ll be exciting to see what she can do as HC plays more in conference opponents moving forward. 

Milestones: 

After a strong September, Merrimack took a step back in October, though they did find one win against Lindenwood. In the contest, junior Emma Pfeffer recorded her first career game winning goal, and she now leads the Warriors in total goals with four. 

Reichen Kirchmair of Providence put up a hat trick and then some against St. Thomas on the 24th, capped off by an impressive overtime winner. The four goals in the single game make up half of her current season total, and have her atop the Hockey East leaderboard in the stat. 

In her first contest against her former team, Sage Babey recorded her first goals as a member of the Eagles on the 25th. The goals tied, and then won the game for BC, as they sit at 3-1-1 in conference action to open the year.

Multiple freshmen recorded their first career goals this month, including but not limited to: Lexie Bertelsen (BU), Nina Rossi (UNH), Lulu Rucinski (Maine), Madelyn Murphy (BC), Ella Lloyd (Northeastern), True Thompson (UConn), and Makena Lloyd-Howe (Vermont).

Vermont netminder Ellie Simmons registered her first and second shutouts of the season this month, including one against conference foe Boston College to round out the slate. The second shutout surpasses her career high in a single season, and helped secure Vermont a point in the Hockey East standings. 

One of the newest Wildcats, Addison Spitz, started slow in her first games with UNH. However, with three goals and two assists across two games versus Merrimack over the last weekend of the month, she helped lead her team to a sweep — and won HEA player of the week honors as well. The five points surpasses her career total set last season while playing with Colgate (3-1-4).

With 28.4 seconds remaining in the third period, Allie Lalonde scored one of the latest game-winning goals in recent Northeastern history. Playing on Halloween, her second tally of the year helped defeat BU 3-1 in the two team’s first meeting since last year’s championship game. 

Looking Forward: C’mon, it’s Gotta be the Battle of Comm Ave

Thursday, Nov. 13th at 6 PM EST – at BC | Friday, Nov. 14th at 7 PM EST – At BU’s Agganis Arena 

It’s the easy way out, but at some point you have to play the classics. And here, there’s nothing more classic than Boston College vs. Boston University. 

After a brief look at both teams' respective records, it’s easy to say that one has been outperforming the other, and for good reason. Boston College finds themselves at 4-5-1 through the first 10 games of the year, and has three wins thus far in conference. BU also has a win in conference, a 4-2 victory over UNH. 

It’s their only win so far, conference play or otherwise, through their first eight matchups. 

Things are not going well for the Terriers, as they cannot seem to find a consistent rhythm to open the season. And in some ways that parallels what the Eagles have been doing as well, as they’ve gone 1-3-1 in their last five games, including a tie (and subsequent shootout win in said tie) against Vermont just last week. It’s not entirely comparable to the Terriers, but things could be better for both squads. 

Statistically speaking, defensively these teams are practically the same, with a 3.9 GAA for BU, and a 3.8 GAA for BC. Offensively things are similar as well, even if BC’s 2.3 goals per game is a step above BU’s 1.9 so far. 

Now, you may be thinking, well surely their special teams are similar if their numbers are so even. And that is where things start to differ. 

BC’s 14.3% on the power play isn’t ideal, and is certainly a step back from their 20%+ mark a season ago, but it looks superb when compared with BU’s absolutely abysmal 1-for-29 (3.4%) rate. Only Maine, who has yet to score a PPG thus far, has a worse advantage than the Terriers — and this from a team that finished with the fourth best power play in the conference a year ago. 

What I’d say to expect from this game is more than a few chances for both teams on the power play, but maybe not too many goals in either direction. Although, neither penalty kill has been particularly strong to open the year either. 

If Michelle Pasiechnyk starts against Grace Campbell, at the very least it could be an interesting goaltending duo on either end of the ice. With Anežka Čabelová out – the freshman is going to play in the Euro Hockey Tour with the Czechia national team – we could see another forward group shakeup for BU, which might finally kick start their offense. Plus I’m interested to see if Ava Thomas continues her hot start into the second month of the season.

And of course, it’s always fun to see the two teams play at Agganis, especially after BU set an attendance record against the same Eagles in the building this time last year when the two teams met. 

Schedule Highlights: 

Full Hockey East Schedule for 2025-26

BC and UConn start the month with a home-and-home in their first meetings of the year. The teams went 1-1-1 last year against one another, and will look to improve upon that in 2025-26 — Friday, Nov. 7th at 6 PM EST, at BC | Saturday, Nov. 8th at 3 PM EST, at UConn

Providence continues their non-conference slate as they head to Princeton to take on the Tigers — Friday, Nov. 14th at 6 PM EST | Saturday, Nov. 15th at 2 PM EST 

Over Thanksgiving Weekend, there are a variety of good matchups, including UConn’s hosting of the Nutmeg Classic, which starts with a contest against Quinnipiac — Friday, Nov. 28th at 3 PM EST 

From there the Huskies will play either Sacred Heart, or Yale on Saturday, time TBD.

Northeastern will also play host to a top-15 opponent in Penn State, with a contest at Matthews Arena, followed by one at Talbot Rink in Gloucester, Massachusetts — Friday, Nov. 28th at 3:30 PM EST | Saturday, Nov. 29th at 3 PM EST 

Two squads will play host to their city rivals, starting with Providence who will play in the annual Mayor’s Cup against Brown at Meehan Auditorium — Saturday, Nov. 29th at 1 PM EST 

Then Holy Cross will host fellow Worcester school Assumption — Saturday, Nov. 29th at 6 PM EST

Standings Update (Through Games on Nov. 2nd): 

1. Boston College — 11 points (3-1-1 in 5 games) 

1. 4-5-1 overall record

2. Northeastern — 9 points (3-0-0 in 3 games)

1. 6-2-0 overall record

3. UNH — 6 points (2-1-0 in 3 games) 

1. 5-4-1 overall record

4. UConn — 5 points (2-0-0 in 2 games) 

1. 7-2-1 overall record

T5. Providence — 4 points (1-2-1 in 4 games)

1. 3-6-1 overall record 

T5. Vermont — 4 points (1-0-1 in 2 games) 

1. 4-4-2 overall record 

7. Boston University — 3 points (1-2-0 in 3 games)

1. 1-7-0 overall record 

8. Maine — 2 points (0-1-1 in 2 games) 

1. 2-6-1 overall record

9. Holy Cross — 1 point (0-3-0 in 3 games)

1. 7-4-1 overall record 

10. Merrimack — 0 points (0-3-0 in 3 games) 

1. 2-7-1 overall record