By Jason Mastrodonato, News Correspondent

The No. 9 Northeastern women’s hockey team closed out the first half of its season with an overtime loss at Boston College Friday night.
The Huskies (10-4-2, 6-3-2-1 Hockey East) were tied 2-2 with the Eagles (5-6-6, 4-3-3-3 Hockey East) at the end of regulation play but surrendered a goal 49 seconds into overtime. Northeastern remains in first place in Hockey East as it finished off 2009 play.
‘We’re going into the break with 10 wins and four losses,’ senior forward and tri-captain Annie Hogan said. ‘So we’ve put ourselves in a good position.’
A power play opportunity two minutes into the game presented Eagles’ freshman forward Ashley Motherwell with a goal-scoring chance she didn’t miss. It was the second consecutive game in which the Huskies fell behind in the first period.
‘I think the difference is we need to play a better first period,’ said co-interim head coach Linda Lundrigan. ‘We still didn’t play a full 60 minutes of hockey and we haven’t put together a full 60 minutes of hockey that often. We need to score first and take control of the game from the start and we’re going to see more wins.’
Down 2-1 in the second period after freshman forward Casey Pickett netted her fourth goal of the season; a controversial call changed the energy of the game.
‘I had my head faced towards the boards waiting for the puck to pop out,’ said Hogan. ‘I got decked from behind and I never saw it coming. So I flipped out and the refs had to stop me in the corner. ‘hellip; It wasn’t easy for the team to watch. It’s a tough situation.’
Hogan said she and the team expected a five-minute major penalty, but instead the Eagles’ freshman forward Caitlin Walsh was given a two-minute penalty for checking.
‘[The hit from behind] fired both teams up and they became more physical,’ Lundrigan said. ‘Calls weren’t going our way but our team handled it pretty well.’
Hogan struck back in the third period with her second goal of the season to tie the game with less than 10 minutes remaining.
During a 14 minute span in the third period in which the Eagles had five power play chances, sophomore goaltender Florence Schelling, who turned away 29 shots in the game, kept Northeastern in contention.
The Huskies, who were outshot 32-22 in the game, have been outshot in six of their last seven games.
‘I don’t know what the answer is to [why we’ve been outshot],’ Lundrigan said. ‘We have dropped in shot production. It’s nice to see a few kids step up and score, like Pickett and Hogan. When our top guns aren’t scoring, it’s nice to see.’
Despite losing their last two contests, the Huskies entered winter break nationally ranked at No. 9. The team won’t return to the ice until New Years Day.
‘We’re pretty pleased to have ended off in the top 10,’ Lundrigan said. ‘[University of New Hampshire] was a tough loss, even strength we would have won that game. BC was a tough loss too. But the girls did what they needed to do ahead of time and set us up in a good position.’
With three weeks off, Lundrigan said it is the players’ responsibility to remain in shape and not lose momentum, but it’s a good break for them to spend time with their families.
‘Were not professionals,’ Hogan said, ‘We have other things on our mind, schoolwork and finals, so it’s nice to get a break from everything and give our bodies a rest.’
The Huskies will return to action Jan. 1 at Yale and will not play a conference game until they take on New Hampshire at Fenway Park Jan. 8.
Next semester brings a variety of opportunities including the Beanpot and the Hockey East playoffs. Hogan said she isn’t worried about the team losing any momentum.
‘Everyone is ready to get back there,’ she said. ‘Energy won’t be a problem with us. We know where we stand as a team and we know what to expect from ourselves.’