By Emily Pagliaroli, news correspondent
Northeastern University (NU) women’s hockey faced Providence College last Friday. At the end of regulation, the teams were tied at 1-1. NU came out with a victory over Providence in overtime making the final score 2-1. The team then took on Boston University (BU) in the consolation game of the 2015 Beanpot on Tuesday. Despite the women’s best efforts, Northeastern lost to BU by a final score of 3-1.
Senior assistant captain Chloe Desjardins started in goal for NU and junior goaltender Allie Morse started for Providence.
The defense for both teams started off strong. Late in the first period, however, senior forward Haley Frade put Providence on the board first. Assisted by freshman forward Brooke Boquist and sophomore defenseman Kendra Goodrich, Frade took the puck up the ice. Desjardins made the initial save, but Frade came back with the rebound to put it just past Desjardins’ left shoulder.
Both goalies prevented any goals in the second period, keeping the score set at 1-0.
Early in the third period, Desjardins made a timely desperation save when she sprawled out in the crease and stuffed a shot with the paddle of her stick. Just minutes later, sophomore forward Melissa Haganey tied up the game. After a scramble in front of the net, Haganey found the loose puck and chipped it home. The third period ended 1-1 as NU and Providence prepared for a five-minute overtime.
Just 38 seconds into overtime, sophomore forward Hayley Masters snuck the puck past Morse to ensure the Huskies’ a 2-1 victory over Providence.
“I think positive energy’s the biggest thing you can control,” Masters said. “So we brought energy. We brought lots of smiles and laughs on the bench and it worked for us.”
This was NU’s first overtime win this season, having lost the previous four games that needed more than three periods.
“I didn’t think we played well, but the positive we’re going to take out of this is we found a way to win when our backs were against the wall,” Head Coach Dave Flint said.
Crosstown rivals NU and BU faced off for the 21st time in the Beanpot. The last time the Huskies lost to the Terriers in the Beanpot was the 2009 consolation game. NU was at a bit of a disadvantage with junior forward and captain Kendall Coyne and sophomore forward Hayley Scamurra out with lower-body injuries.
Sophomore goaltender Sarah Foss started in net for NU and sophomore Victoria Hanson started for BU.
BU made it on the board first when senior forward Marie-Philip Poulin put one past Foss early in the first period. With less than 30 seconds left in the period, junior forward Kayla Tutino snuck one through Foss’ pads putting BU ahead by two.
NU came out flying in the second period. Just 16 seconds in, Masters scored her seventh goal of the season to put NU on the board. This was Masters’ fifth goal in the last six games. With less than two minutes left in the period, sophomore defenseman Heather Mottau was called for tripping.
NU started off the third period by killing off the last few seconds of Mottau’s penalty. Foss made a career-high 38 saves in her best game of the season to keep the score at 2-1. Flint called a timeout with less than two minutes of play left. Foss was pulled and Poulin scored on an empty net with less than a minute left in regulation, making the final score 3-1. Despite Foss’ effort, the Huskies could not pull out another victory.
Freshman forward Denisa Krizova won Pro-Ambitions Rookie of the Month for January in Hockey East. Over six games, Krizova gathered eight points for the month with four goals and four assists. The rookie collected a goal and two assists over two games against Boston College, the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
Krizova has nine goals and 12 assists so far this season. With a total of 21 points, she is ranked fourth in Hockey East amid freshman scorers.
Krizova and the rest of the Huskies will prepare for a weekend in Storrs, Conn. NU will square off against University of Connecticut on Feb. 14 and Feb. 15.
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
