By Gordon Weigers, news correspondent
Northeastern junior captain and 2014 United States Olympian Kendall Coyne led the Huskies into battle against Boston University’s (BU) senior captain and 2014 Canadian Olympian Marie-Philip Poulin on Sunday afternoon. Coyne and Poulin each played exceptionally well for their teams in BU’s 4-3 win at Matthews Arena.
The Huskies opened the scoring as Coyne turned on the jets in the neutral zone before sneaking a backhand shot under the arm of BU freshman goalie Erin O’Neill. Coyne’s goal was assisted by sophomore defender Heather Mottau and senior goalie Chloe Desjardins. Mottau’s assist was her 14th of the year. She now leads the team in assists.
BU found the back of the net late in the first period. Junior forward Kayla Tutino buried a rebound with 35 seconds left in the period to even the score at 1-1. A little over three minutes, Poulin caught a perfect pass from Tutino and fired it by Desjardins to put BU ahead 2-1.
Poulin wasn’t done there as she outworked the Huskies’ defense down low to fire home her second goal of the game, giving her 15 goals on the season. During a Northeastern power play, freshman forward Rebecca Leslie picked up a loose puck in front of the net and fired it behind Desjardins on the backhand. Despite allowing four goals, Desjardins made a career-high 45 saves.
Coyne netted her second tally of the game while shorthanded to bring the Huskies within two. This time, Coyne blocked a shot in her own zone, chased the puck down and flew to the net. She sent a quick wrist shot through the legs of O’Neill to cut the Terriers’ lead to 4-2.
In the final four minutes of the game, Coyne picked up the puck in her own zone and picked up speed. She blew past two Terriers in the neutral zone before entering BU’s zone. Approaching the opposing net, Coyne pulled off a filthy toe drag to split the defense and slide the puck underneath O’Neill to complete the hat trick. This was Coyne’s second hat trick of the season against BU and the sixth of her career. Coyne’s three goals tied her for eighth place on the all time goal list at 143.
Northeastern was unable to tie the game late and the Terriers prevailed 4-3. The Huskies are now 6-12-4 overall and will look ahead to two games on the road against the University of Maine next weekend.
Photo by Ethan Kaley
