By Sara Shaker, news staff
The Northeastern women’s hockey team made two comebacks while away against Robert Morris University (RMU) but still fell short in a 3-2 loss on Friday and a 2-2 tie on Saturday. On Tuesday, the team was defeated by Boston University (BU) 3-2 on the Terriers’ home turf. In the game against BU, the Huskies almost overcame a three-goal deficit, scoring two goals in the third period.
“On Friday, we played a great 50 minutes,” junior captain forward Kendall Coyne said. “We all bought into the new system that we were handed and played well.”
Coyne said that after falling behind, the team couldn’t recover.
“I think we had ten bad minutes of hockey, and they took advantage of those minutes and went up 3-0,” she said. “And I think when it came time for a comeback, it was too late.”
Northeastern’s goals came from two newcomers, freshman defenseman Lauren Kelly and freshman forward Denisa Krizova, who scored her first collegiate goal and had an assist.
The first period of Friday’s game was scoreless, with no goals from either team. However, RMU, scoring two goals in less than a minute, took the lead in the second period.
At the 13:47 mark, junior forward Paige Savage received a penalty for holding and the opposing team pounced on the opportunity. Junior forward Ashley Vesci scored the power play goal for RMU at 14:33.
Sophomore forward Maeve Garvey kept the team’s momentum going, scoring another goal 55 seconds later.
“I think there was a tough call made on [Savage],” Coyne said. “And based off the call, we had a little mental lapse, and they took advantage of that and scored two quick ones.”
Up 2-0, RMU did not stop there, scoring another goal early in the third period. Vesci scored her second goal at the 2:07 mark, pushing the Colonials’ lead to 3-0.
With a three-goal deficit, the Huskies began to rally.
Two minutes after RMU’s goal, Kelly put up a point for Northeastern. Krizova battled in the corner to gain possession, giving it to Kelly who was in the left circle. The freshman ripped a shot, scoring her third goal with Northeastern and making the score 3-1.
With just over five minutes left in regulation, Coyne attempted a wrap-around shot. After Coyne’s attempt was stopped by sophomore goaltender Jessica Dodds, Krizova was there for the rebound, scoring the Huskies’ second goal.
Now at a one-goal deficit in the last few minutes of regulation, Northeastern fought for another point but was unable to tie up the game. The final score was 3-2.
Looking for redemption, the Huskies hoped to find more luck on Saturday but once again found themselves in another goal deficit. This time, they were able to tie things up at the end.
“We didn’t put together a complete 60 minutes, which we still need to work on. But we did come back, which was exciting,” Coyne said.
RMU was the first to score again. Sophomore forward Rikki Meilleur put her team up 1-0 by throwing a loose puck past senior captain goaltender Chloe Desjardins 11 minutes into the first period.
Starting the second period, Meilleur kept things going on an RMU power play, taking the lead further at the 2:15 mark.
Down 2-0 going into the third period, the Huskies knew something had to change.
“We knew we should be playing better,” Coyne said.
Wasting no time, sophomore forward Hayley Masters scored 32 seconds into the period for Northeastern. Coyne saw Masters rushing into the offensive zone and threw her a pass. With Colonials defenseman in front of the net, Masters was able to use her as a screen and put the puck in the back of the net to make the score 2-1.
With time running out in the last few minutes of regulation, the Huskies battled hard to score. Northeastern pulled Desjardins to gain a 6-on-5 man advantage, and with 16.3 seconds remaining, Coyne put one in to tie the game at 2-2.
“Colleen Murphy got the puck to [sophomore defenseman Heather Mottau]. I was in front in the slot and got a pass from Mottau,” Coyne said. “I was facing her, and I turned toward the net and put it in the five-hole.”
The teams went into overtime, both hoping for a victory. Freshman forward Shelby Herrington nearly scored the game winner for Northeastern, getting a shot through the RMU goalie, but it went just wide of the post. Neither team was able to put a goal in, and the game ended in a tie.
On Tuesday, the Huskies faced another loss against BU in the team’s Hockey East opener. Junior defenseman Jordan Krause scored her first goal for Northeastern with assists from Mottau and Coyne. Shooting from the left point at the 8:02 mark in the first period, Krause was able to get her shot past traffic and into the net. Less than four minutes later, BU followed with two goals of its own to take the lead, but Coyne responded with a goal for Northeastern in the final minute of the first period, making the score 2-2.
After back-and-forth action from both teams, the Terriers made a final statement with a goal at the 10:54 mark in the second period, scoring the last goal of the game and making the final score 3-2.
The Huskies are back at it on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. against the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Then they face the University of Maine on Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. for their regular season home opener at Matthews Arena.
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
