Head coach Dave Flint became the winningest coach in Northeastern women’s hockey history Friday night, as the Huskies defeated the UNH Wildcats at Matthews Arena, 5-1.

With his 211th career victory at the Huskies’ head coach, Flint passed legendary head coach Don MacLeod, who was with the team for 11 seasons after taking over at the beginning of the 1980s. 

“It’s surreal,” Flint said. “It’s been a long 11 years and a lot of ups and downs. When I took the job I had a lot of goals in mind. Being the winningest coach wasn’t really one of them. It’s a nice accolade along the way and I couldn’t have done it without my players, current players, my past players, my coaching staff’s past and present.”

The Huskies looked to extend their three-game winning streak with a victory over UNH Friday night at Matthews Arena. This weekend’s home-and-home will end the season series against the Wildcats. The Huskies already took the first meeting back on Oct. 25. 

The game did not start as the Huskies hoped. Quick puck movement off the drop by UNH saw the Wildcats storm into the Husky zone. Just 28 seconds in, a loose puck in the middle of the ice was picked up by senior forward Meghara McManus and fired into the goal from the right side to give UNH an early 1-0 lead. It was junior goaltender Aerin Frankel’s only goal allowed on the night.

“It was kind of a deflection. That’s not the first shot you want to see as a goalie but she rebounded nicely,” Flint said. “I just told the team, she bailed us out probably five times when we were a little sloppy defensively today. But she bailed us out, and she usually does.” 

However, the equalizer was not far off. At 9:26 of the first, freshman forward Peyton Anderson picked up a loose puck right in front of the goal and tapped it in for her first career NCAA goal, tying the game at one. Freshman forward Kate Holmes was awarded with an assist on the play.

At 16:35 of the first, Holmes powered up the left side and swept in front of the goal before firing her shot from the right. It bounced in front of the net when Anderson came flying into the picture and tipped the puck into the left side for her second goal of the game to make it 2-1 Huskies.

Just a minute later, the Huskies pounced again. Freshman defender Megan Carter slapped a shot on the left side that rebounded off of UNH freshman goaltender Nikki Harnett’s glove. The rebound fell on the right side at the feet of junior defender Skylar Fontaine, who punched her shot above the glove of Harnett before she could recover from the rebound. The first period ended with a 3-1 Husky lead.

The second period was limited in terms of scoring compared to the first, with the first score of the frame coming 15 minutes in. Holmes fired in from the right side, and the puck bounced off the left post before barely crossing the line to give the Huskies their fourth score of the night. 

Anderson continued her monumental game in the third with just over five minutes remaining, as she provided a pass to the left side of the net to star sophomore forward Alina Mueller. Mueller easily tapped the pass in to widen the margin to 5-1. 

“That was her best game of the year. She was great,” Flint said of Anderson. “She was doing all the things we have been asking her to do. She’s going on the net hard, she was blocking shots, she was playing great both ends of the ice, and she got rewarded with a big game.”

The Huskies will face the Wildcats again tomorrow in New Hampshire for the second game of the home-and-home.