The shootout is a mysterious presence in the women’s Beanpot. No one seems to know why it’s there, but it is, and it sent Northeastern home Monday night. The Huskies fell after four shootout rounds to Boston University, with regulation and overtime ending 3-3.

Northeastern was looking to break a five-year drought in the Beanpot. Their opening opponent was No. 8 BU, as luck would have it.

Northeastern struck first via sophomore defender Skylar Fontaine at 11:28 of the opening period. The play came through Mia Brown, who ripped a shot at Corrine Schroeder, but was denied by the BU keeper. Fontaine was the first to react to the loose puck, slapping it home and giving NU the first goal of the tournament.

The goal marked Fontaine’s sixth straight game with a point, and her second straight with a goal. She scored the winner against UConn in overtime Friday (and supplied the assist on the tying goal in the third period), she had two assists against Vermont Jan. 26 and the tying goal against the same Vermont team the night before.

Netminder Aerin Frankel did her part in the first period, stopping all 14 BU shots on net.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Albert Tamura

Goalkeeper Aerin Frankel clears the puck with her stick during a BU attack.

But at the start of the second, BU hit back. Mackenna Parker hit a redirect on a shot from Breanna Scarpaci on the left wing. Parker’s tip made its way past Frankel, and the Terriers found themselves tied off of their first shot of the period.

The Huskies got a great opportunity when they went on a 5-on-3 for a short time. First, Natasza Tarnowski went to the box for cross-checking, and a little over a minute later Parker went off for tripping.

Northeastern would not let the opportunity go by, as they composed a beautiful play that was finished off in front by Veronika Pettey after BU killed one of the two penalties. Alina Mueller took the puck through the defense and fed it across to Pettey, who was waiting in the slot. Her one-time shot was a bullet, and it flew past Schroeder at the right post to put the Huskies up 2-1.

Pettey’s goal was her 13th of the year, and her fourth in the last three games. She scored a hat trick against Vermont on Jan. 26. She is also tied for the most power-play goals in the NCAA with six on the season.

Just like their rivals, BU scored its second of the night on the power play. After a point shot from Abby Cook went off Frankel, forward Sammy Davis tapped the puck into the net for an easy leveller.

The second ended 2-2. BU only had 5 shots in the frame, but scored twice.

17 seconds into the third period, Northeastern took the lead back through Mueller. Kasidy Anderson fed the freshman forward with a cross, and Mueller shot it past Schroeder to take the lead back.

Once again, BU swung back and leveled the score. Jesse Compher was sprung on a deflected pass and found herself in alone on Frankel. She lifted her shot up over the keeper and it found the net. The two sides were level once more, and that’s how the period ended.

The overtime frame featured huge goal-scoring chances for NU’s Codie Cross, Pettey, and Mueller. Nothing came of them, and the game went to a shootout. Since time ended in a tie, both teams are given a tie on their records regardless of the shootout result.

“Hats off to how hard Northeastern played,” said BU head coach Brian Durocher. “They certainly had chances those last two, three minutes when Corinne stayed strong and held the fort back there.”

Northeastern certainly looked more likely to score during the period, but unfortunately time expired, and the game moved to the shootout.

“I felt if we had played the whole game like we did the last 10 minutes and overtime it might have been a different outcome,” NU head coach Dave Flint said. “We were a little inconsistent with our play, we didn’t take very good care of the puck at certain times during the game, and credit to BU. They played hard all over the ice and they capitalized on their chances.”

The shootout only exists in the Women’s Beanpot, as the men play repeated overtime periods until there is a goal.

Tori Sullivan took the first chance in the shootout, and she was denied by Schroeder, who came out quickly to stop the chance.

Davis took BU’s first, and raced in on Frankel, only for the NU keeper to come up big and save.

Mueller struck first for NU, putting a multitude of moves on Schroeder and tucking home at the right post.

Frankel saved again, this time on Jesse Compher.

Aurard had a chance to win it, but was denied by Schroeder down to her right.

Nara Elia took the next for BU, and tied things up. She beat Frankel and kept the Terriers alive.

Pettey was next, and Schroeder was equal to it to her left.

Reagan Rust finished off NU with a laser into the top right corner past Frankel. She shot early, and Frankel couldn’t react.

“We’ve really worked hard this whole year just for one of these moments, and it’s really paying off,” Rust said.

The Terriers went into a frenzy on their side of the ice, and the celebration spilled all across the rink. For Northeastern, the post-game reaction was one of sadness, and each player made their way to Frankel to commend her for her work in the shootout.

“We didn’t give her a lot of help on the first two goals,” Flint said of Frankel. “But she came up with some big saves, and I thought she played well.”

The drought will continue for No. 3 Northeastern, at least for another year.