By Madeline Sattler, News Correspondent
The success of the women’s hockey team continued this weekend as the Huskies swept a two-game series against the University of Maine Black Bears. The United State College Hockey Online (USCHO) No. 7 Huskies shutout the Black Bears 4-0 Saturday and then came out with a 3-1 win Sunday.
Sunday’s win marked the season’s 21st, but the Black Bears came out Sunday with force, putting four quick shots on Schelling. Gavronsky was sent to the penalty box for hooking and the Bears got their first power play of the game early at 2:24. The first period ended scoreless.
At 9:32 into the second period, Coyne and Maine senior forward Danielle Ward got into a physical altercation and received matching penalties. Despite being down a player, Northeastern still came up with its first point of the game. Junior forward Rachel Llanes passed the puck back to Murphy who sent it flying into the upper left corner of the goal.
“They (Maine) are really dirty,” DiMasi said. “I’m just happy we came out and fought through.”
In the third period, DiMasi got her second goal in the series. The sophomore took the puck from NU’s goal line all the way down the ice where she put the puck in the net for the sixth time this season.
The Black Bears broke the shutout later on in the period. Junior defender Chloe Tinker sent a shot that Schelling deflected, but junior forward Brittany Dougherty was there for the rebound. Dougherty shot the puck over Schelling’s shoulder, cutting the Northeastern lead in half.
“They are always tough to play against,” Flint said. “They play hard.”
Coyne added a third goal that sealed the Huskies 21st win of the season by slipping the puck under the legs of Ott for her 26th goal of the season. Coyne now leads the Women’s Hockey East Association (WHEA) in goals scored.
Saturday’s secured a first round bye in the WHEA’s playoffs at the end of the month.
“Those were two of our goals at the beginning of the year,” head coach Dave Flint said of hitting 20 wins and avoiding the first round.
Saturday’s shutout started with a goal from graduate forward Dani Rylan off a pass from freshman forward Lucie Povova. The puck bounced off Maine junior goalie Brittany Ott’s glove and landed in the goal.
“My linemates were working hard,” Rylan said. “The puck squirted out of the slot for me and found the back of the net.”
Late in the first period senior forward Myriam Croussette broke away from the defense and had a one-on-one opportunity against Husky senior goalie Florence Schelling. Schelling deflected the puck then quickly reset as senior forward Dominique Goutsis came in for the rebound. Schelling made another quick save to preserve the shutout.
“I like when I get a lot of shots,” Schelling said.
Schelling made 35 saves in the game. The Switzerland native now leads the nation with seven shutouts on the season.
The second period began well for the Black Bears. Husky sophomore defender Sonia St. Martin headed to the penalty box for body checking. St. Martin had three of the six Husky penalties in the game. The No. 1 penalty kill unit – which has only allowe 14 power play goals this season – was resilient and kept Maine off the score board.
With Coyne in the penalty box for holding, senior defender Stephanie Gavronsky carried the puck down towards the goal. She fired the puck across the to where junior forward Casey Pickett was waiting. Pickett, who scored the game-winning goal in the Beanpot Championship game, pushed the puck past Ott for her 18th goal of the season.
“It’s awesome that we can take advantage of short handed opportunities,” Rylan said.
With 3:10 to play in the game, Maine pulled Ott for an extra attacker. This proved to be costly for the Black Bears as Northeastern added two late goals. Just seconds after Ott left the ice, freshman forward Kendall Coyne hit an empty-netter from out wide. Sophomore defender Maggie DiMasi followed suit with another from the other side of the ice.
“As long as we’re winning, I’m happy,” Coyne said.
Northeastern closes out the season with a home-and-home series against the Providence College Friars next weekend. Friday night the puck drops at 7 p.m. in Providence and again Sunday at Matthews Arena at 2 p.m.
“The next two games are huge,” Pickett said. “Two wins and we have Hockey East locked.”
