By Gayle Simone
The Huskies looked to end their four game losing skid but a tough University of Maine team got in the way. The team skated hard, but to no avail; NU could not pull victories. Saturday’s game brought the two teams to overtime but Maine was the one that came out on top at 3-2.
The Huskies struck first when Captain Lori DiGiacomo netted her second goal of the season at 6:14 of the first on the power play.
Nikki Petrich retrieved the loose puck behind the net and sent a crisp pass to Crystal Rochon. DiGiacomo skated towards the crease and Rochon hit the captain in time for DiGiacomo to nail the backhander past Maine net minder Rachel Gettings.
“I’m a very offensive-minded player by nature,” DiGiacomo said. “When your team has control of the puck you want to score. I went in hoping to be a part of the offense, and I was.”
Goalie Marisa Hourihan, with 45 saves, held the Black Bears scoreless through almost two periods of play until Maine scored a power play goal with 25.7 seconds remaining in the period.
A pile in the crease left Hourihan on her stomach, with 28 seconds remaining but the whistle didn’t blow and Tristan Desmet, who kept swiping at the puck, finally got under Hourihan’s glove and slid the puck over the goal line.
As the players skated to center ice for the face off, Hourihan yelled at the referee Thomas DiFusco, “I had it covered.”
The goal counted and the two teams skated into their respective locker rooms tied at one.
“You can’t give a team like [Maine] a spark like that,” Hourihan said. “I had the puck covered, but unfortunately they got the call.”
Prior to Maine capitalizing on the play, defenseman Jennifer Beaudoin went down with a shoulder injury and would not return for the rest of the game.
Beaudoin going down left the Huskies with one defenseman on the ice. Coach Laura Schuler called forward Marie Desrosiers to join DiGiacomo on defense.
NU took the lead back with a goal by Jessica Coppney assisted by DiGiacomo. Maine thought they cleared the puck but DiGiacomo kept it in the offensive end and passed the puck across the zone to a waiting Coppney who lifted the puck above Gettings shoulder for the goal.
NU’s lead would stick for just four minutes.
Skating a man down due to a cross checking penalty to Melissa Wigmore, Desrosiers was the lone defenseman back when Sonia Corriveau beat Hourihan on the glove side to tie the game at two. Corriveau would net her second goal of the game at the two-minute mark of OT.
“One thing we have to credit Maine for is they outshot us every period,” Schuler said. “You are going to capitalize when you put the puck on net.”
The loss brought the Huskies to 2-12-1 on the season and 1-4-0 in Hockey East.
After making 87 saves on the weekend, Hourihan is trying to stay focused on the ice.
“It’s very frustrating and I wanna keep a very positive attitude and I want to keep my head on straight and not lose it but it takes a lot not to lose it.”
Whether she’s frustrated or not, the coach knows where they’d be without her.
“She’s just a phenomenal player and person,” Schuler said. “She’s not letting it affect her game at all and the kids are feeding off of that. She’s been the savior of our program right now.”
On Friday, Petrich had the lone Husky goal in the 3-1 loss. Her line with Amy Goodney and Rochon has 29 of the Huskies 51 points this season.
Overall the Huskies were outshot on the weekend 93-37.
The Huskies will host Hockey East opponent University of New Hampshire Thursday night at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. and host Princeton University Saturday at 1 p.m. for the last game before the winter break. The Huskies won’t return to the ice until Jan. 15 when they start a two month stretch of strictly conference play.
“Every Hockey East point counts,” Schuler said. “And that’s what matters, our conference games.”
