By Caroline Ingram, news staff
The Northeastern women’s hockey team opened up its regular season by going 1-0-1 in a weekend series against their rivals from Boston University.
The Huskies traveled to BU’s Walter Brown Arena for the series due to ongoing renovations at Matthews Arena. In Friday night’s matchup the Huskies dominated for the entirety of the game with a solid offensive outing, coming out on top 5-0.
Second-year goalie Aerin Frankel got the start in net for the Huskies, making a 28-save effort to earn her fourth collegiate shutout. The Huskies got on the board about halfway through the first period with a rebound goal on the powerplay by fourth-year forward Kasidy Anderson. Later in the period, with the clock dwindling down and the Huskies again on the man advantage, second-year forward Veronika Pettey deflected a shot from the point by first-year defenseman Gillian Foote into the goal.
NU head coach Dave Flint is happy so far with his strong powerplay unit that has started the season 4-for-9.
“We’ve been moving the puck quick on the powerplay and outnumbering [opponents] down around the net. It’s all about winning those net-front battles and making good decisions with the puck, which we’ve done a good job of so far,” Flint said.
In the second period, first-year forward Chloe Aurard stretched the NU lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal. Aurard picked off a pass in the BU zone and fired it right back on net, beating BU goalie Corinne Schroeder with a low shot.
Anderson added another goal at 15:58 of the second period. She gained possession of the puck right outside her offensive blue line and entered the zone alone on a one-on-two. Anderson was able to split the defenders and fire a high shot that slid in under the crossbar to make it 4-0 for NU.
In the final period, the Huskies capped their scoring with a goal by second-year defender Skylar Fontaine with Frankel getting the assist on the play.
After putting up an impressive offensive effort on Friday, the Huskies were not able to keep the momentum going Saturday. The Terriers got on the board first with a rebound goal by Jesse Compher just 2:40 into the opening period.
About two minutes later, the Huskies answered with a score of their own by way of a powerful one-timer by second-year forward Brooke Hobson. Despite the answer, by the end of the first period BU scored two more goals and jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
Flint expressed his thoughts on his team’s efforts in Saturday’s game, including their will-power to battle back being in a deficit.
“Obviously we did not get off to the start we were looking for by spotting [BU] them 3 goals in the first period. But I liked how we battled back and showed some resiliency,” Flint said.
About midway through the second period, the Huskies cut the deficit in half after first-year forward Alina Mueller’s first collegiate goal. Mueller made herself available at the top of the left circle and received a pass from fourth-year defender Maddie Hartman before firing a slap shot.
The Huskies completed their comeback, evening the score at three with 13:20 left in the second period as Pettey buried a rebound after a high shot by third-year defenseman Codie Cross. Brittany Bugalski was up to the task in net down the stretch as BU had numerous scoring chances. Bugalski faced a whopping 19 shots in the last 25 minutes but stood firm and confident in goal.
“Bugalski was rock solid late in the game for us. She was making those big saves look easy which was great to see and gives the rest of the team a tremendous amount of confidence,” noted Flint.
Looking ahead to next weekend, the Huskies will face last season’s national championship runner-up, Colgate, for a two-game series at Matthews Arena. Flint expressed how the team will need to clean up their defensive zone and come out ready to play next weekend.
“Tonight we played well on the penalty kill late in the game, but I am still disappointed in how we started the game. We need to learn how to be ready to start the game. I knew [BU was] going to come out flying and they did. We have to be ready for that because next weekend [against Colgate] will be no different,” Flint said.
