By: Kathryn Uggerholt, News Correspondent
In the first round of the Beanpot, Sophomore forward and point leader Rachel Llanes buried a power play goal in the women’s hockey team’s 4-3 overtime loss against No. 10 Harvard. But Llanes wasn’t the only one on the scorecard: Seven other skaters notched points in the thrilling rematch of last year’s title game.
Senior goaltender Leah Sulyma stopped 32 shots, five of which were in overtime, to force a shootout where the Huskies lost 2-1.
Sophomore forward Casey Pickett and senior Lori Antflick scored in regulation and senior Alyssa Wohlfeiler was the only Huskies’ skater to score in the shootout.
Northeastern took a 2-0 lead in the first period when Harvard forward Josephine Pucci took a checking penalty 8:56 into the game which put the Huskies on the power play. Llanes, who leads the team with 22 points, lit the lamp 35 seconds later.
“I joked with my assistants that I think Nixon was in the White House the last time we scored on the power play,” Northeastern head coach Dave Flint said after the game.
The next goal came just two minutes later when freshman forward Claire Santostefano forced a turnover at the blue line, skated hard into the offensive zone and put a shot on Harvard goalie Laura Bellamy. Bellamy made the save, but Pickett blasted the rebound into the net.
In the second period, the Crimson outshot the Huskies 10-1. Harvard had its best scoring chance early in the period when Sulyma came way out of the net to make a save and ended up almost completely behind it. Freshman defender Maggie DiMasi knocked the goal off its pegs in order to stop the play, but had to take a delay of game penalty her efforts.
Despite the Huskies only getting one shot the entire period, it turned out to be a goal. Sophomore forward Siena Falino set up to the right of the goal behind the line and fed the puck to Antflick, who beat Bellamy to cushion the Huskies’ lead.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Huskies had killed their last 18 power plays, but the streak was broken 12:21 into the second period when forward Kate Buesser’s wrist shot got past Sulyma to make it 3-1.
In the final period, Sulyma made a lot of big saves despite some anxiety.
“I was a little scared because our team tends to panic even when we’re winning,” she said.
However, the levees broke when Harvard forward Ashley Wheeler scored at 15:46 and cut the deficit to 3-2. Just under a minute later, forward Marissa Gedman tied up the game for the Crimson, which prompted Flint to call a time out.
Harvard head coach Katey Stone said she was surprised with the way her team played, both pleasantly and unpleasantly.
“We put ourselves in a big hole and I didn’t know how we would get out of it but we did,” she said.
Neither team scored for the rest of regulation, which was followed by a scoreless overtime as well. The Huskies recorded no shots in the extra minutes of play, while the Crimson took five at Sulyma, who saved them all to force a shootout.
Both coaches said they practice shootouts regularly in game day practices.
“It’s a tough thing, but in a tournament like this, somebody’s going to be the winner or loser,” Flint said. “We don’t want to be here until midnight trying to play a game and figure out who’s going to win.”
Pickett, Llanes and Wohlfeiler were the shooters in the shootout for the Huskies and only Wohlfeiler managed to get one against Bellamy. Pucci, who had taken the penalty allowing Northeastern to score on the power play, was the fourth shooter for Harvard.
“Just another shot,” she said. “When I say ‘just another shot’ I’m really just saying ‘Don’t let the pressure get to you.’”
Pucci’s shot put the Crimson up 3-1 in the shootout and allowed them to move on to the Beanpot title game. If they win it, they will be tied with Northeastern for most titles.
Going into the Beanpot the Huskies were fresh off a 2-2 tie against the University of Connecticut this past Sunday. Senior Kristi Kehoe and graduate student Dani Rylan scored for Northeastern and Sulyma made 20 saves in the draw.
The Huskies will now play Boston University in Tuesday’s consolation game, as Harvard takes on Boston College in the title game. But, before the Huskies can go after the Terriers, they will face-off two more times this weekend. The first game takes place Friday at 7 p.m. at BU, then again Saturday at 2 p.m. at Matthews Arena.
