By Bailey Putnam, deputy sports editor

The Northeastern women’s hockey team went through a tough stretch in Boston over winter break, losing three games and tying one.

The Huskies knotted a 3-3 decision to the University of Connecticut (UConn) at Matthews Arena and dropped games to Dartmouth College and Boston College (BC) at home before losing again to BC in Chestnut Hill.

The Huskies (6-11-4) struggled to find the back of the net in the three-week span, only averaging two goals per game. Their opponents, on the other hand, netted 24 total goals on the women.

NU ended the month of December with a 5-1 loss to Dartmouth (9-7-1). The Huskies scored first with a first-period power-play goal from sophomore forward Hayley Scamurra. Dartmouth struck back with a late second-period goal and four unanswered tallies early in the third.

The Huskies fared better in the new year opener, tying the UConn (6-11-6) women at home. NU battled back from a 3-2 deficit to knot the score in the third period. Junior forward Kendall Coyne netted two in the come back including the tying goal, a coast-to-coast breakaway bid.

The following weekend the Huskies were no match for the high-powered BC offense. BC (20-0-1) outscored NU 16-4 in the back-to-back home-and-home tilts.

On Saturday at home, the Huskies managed to net three on the no. 1 ranked Eagles with goals from Coyne and freshmen forwards Halle Silva and McKenna Brand. However, the goals were not enough to keep up with BC’s seven goals. Coyne’s goal was the former-Olympian’s 15th of the season and 27th point, which puts her 8th overall in the nation.

NU had similar results the following day at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill where the Eagles handed them a 9-1 loss. Freshman forward Denisa Krizova scored the lone goal for the Huskies, her sixth of the season.

Head Coach Dave Flint said the team needs to start putting together full effort games, pointing to the Dartmouth and UConn tilts where the Huskies allowed their opponents back into the games.

“The thing the team needs to understand is if you take your foot off the gas and let teams get momentum they’ll take it to you,” Flint said. “They just have to learn to play 60 minutes and get a complete effort and we need some players to step up. “

Flint pointed to the nine freshmen on the roster as players who need to start playing a bigger role.

“We’re in the second half now,” he said. “We had some freshmen early on that were trying to get their feet wet. Everyone has experience now,so now it’s time for somebody to step up.”

Looking ahead, the Huskies have a game against Boston University at Matthews this Sunday at 2 p.m. The game is just the beginning of a string of crucial games that Flint says are must-wins to end the season strong.

“Every game from here on out is important so we have to be ready to go,” he said.

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics