By Gayle Simone
Senior goalie Chanda Gunn made 56 saves this weekend, but her effort wasn’t enough as the women’s hockey team fell to the Providence College Friars 6-0 and 2-0 on Saturday and Sunday.
At Matthews Arena on Sunday, the Friars ended their weekend scoring with an empty net goal with just one second left in regulation. The Huskies pulled Gunn to have the extra attacker on the ice but Providence netminder Jana Bugden held her own in the crease to earn her second shut out of the weekend. Karen Thatcher had the unassisted goal.
The Friars got on the board 13:51 into the first period when Katelynn Laffin scored a power play goal.
Laffin circled around behind the net and skated in on Gunn uncontested and slipped the puck under Gunn’s legs to give Providence a 1-0 lead. Sonny Watrous and Darlene Stephens assisted on the play.
The only good scoring opportunity the Huskies had came on the penalty kill.
Freshman Amy Goodney skated over the blue line for the shorthanded attempt but didn’t get a good shot off and Bugden made the easy stick save.
Although Gunn made a valiant effort in net, the Northeastern team hasn’t been skating with the intensity they have become accustomed to.
Coach Joy Woog said the team needs to come up with the answers to get out of the slump, not the coaching staff.
“We are not playing impassioned hockey,” Woog said. “We’ve tried everything as a staff. I don’t have the answers. The answers have to come from them. They have to want it.”
Woog is referring to the Huskies recent record of 0-4-1, earning just one point out of a possible 10. The recent skid has put the Huskies in fourth place in the Hockey East playoff hunt.
“Our problem right now is work ethic. We’re struggling with it and it is curable,” Woog said. “It’s just the attitude of the team right now and I don’t know when it will change. We haven’t snapped out of it for four weeks.”
DiGiacomo agrees with her coach that the recent slide is curable if the team settles down and focuses.
“We have basically two weeks left. There is no sense in giving up now,” DiGiacomo said. “I think we need to come together and unite. We want our season to be a success, we need to keep trying.”
Gunn, senior co-captain, is normally the quiet one, the one who leads the team on the ice, but was visibly aggravated.
“It’s frustrating when it’s your last two games and no one wants to be here,” Gunn said. “Hopefully, they’ll start to think about that, but if someone doesn’t want to be here there is nothing we can do to change that.”
Gunn also explained she thinks spring break had a little to do with the funk the Huskies have been in.
“It’s hard when everyone else is gone and we have to be here because we have a game to play,” she said.
Before spring break, the Huskies faced Connecticut in a home-and-home series and came out with just one point. NU lost at home 4-2 with goals coming from Marie Desrosiers and Susannah Brokl.
Northeastern then traveled to Storrs in the rematch and were able to salvage a point with a 2-2 tie.
Northeastern hosts Hockey East points leader New Hampshire in their final regular season game on Senior Day, Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Huskies have lost the three previous meeting this year with the Wildcats, 4-2, 5-0 and 9-2. Being able to pull out a win against the Hockey East points leader may give the Huskies the jolt they need before heading into the tournament that is being held at Matthews Arena March 20 and 21.
