By: Julianne Desjardins, news staff

Last weekend, the Northeastern University (NU) women’s hockey team suffered two overtime losses at the hands of the University of Vermont Catamounts, closing out the first half of the season.

On Saturday afternoon, the Huskies started off scoring a goal in the first period from senior defense Heather Mottau with assists from senior forward Paige Savage and sophomore defenseman Maddie Hartman.

Sophomore goalie Brittany Bugalski was able to hold Vermont off until they broke through at the end of the third period and sent the game into overtime.

Overtime lasted less than two minutes, as Vermont was able to break through with a goal from Alyssa Gorecki to win the game.

After the game, head coach Dave Flint said that, after a tough loss like this, Sunday’s contest would be crucial to close out the first half of the season.

“Let’s be ready to win tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a must-win situation for us.”

Unfortunately, they were unable to collect a win against Vermont.

The Catamounts started off the scoring in the first period with a goal from senior defenseman Rachael Ade. The Huskies were quick to answer with a goal of their own in the first period from Hartman.

Vermont regained the lead in the second period with a goal from sophomore forward Bella Webster. The Huskies were unable to tie the game up until the middle of the third period with a goal from junior forward McKenna Brand to send the game to overtime for the second consecutive day.

Again, overtime lasted just under two minutes as Vermont scored another win on a goal from freshman forward Eve-Audrey Picard.

The loss was tough for Flint and the team to come to terms with.

“From the drop of the puck we were flat,” he said. “I told them before the game I wanted to treat it like a championship game, and we didn’t get that effort.”

The Huskies’ next game will not come until Jan. 2, when they travel to Storrs, Connecticut, to face the University of Connecticut. Between now and then, Flint said the team has a lot to work on.

“We got to be a lot better in our own end,” he said. “Until we commit to playing hard in our own end we’re going to struggle.”

The Huskies will close out the first half of the season with a record of 11-6-3 and currently sit at second place in Hockey East standings.

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics