By Jared Sugerm
The women’s hockey team defeated Boston College Thursday, downing the Eagles 3-2 at Conte Forum. It was the third and final meeting between the teams this season, and the victory gave the Huskies a 2-1 edge in the series.
Northeastern’s success against BC, a perennial Hockey East title contender and a team that has been in-and-out of the top 10 all season, is what makes the outcome of their game against Maine Sunday so perplexing.
After their performance against BC, the Huskies traveled to Orono to face a Black Bears team that had won only one game all season and was winless in Hockey East games.
When the final buzzer sounded after the third period Sunday, Maine had its second win of the season and its first win in conference play. They defeated the Huskies 4-1, improving their overall record to 2-18-2 (1-6-2 Hockey East). With the loss, Notheastern’s record slipped to 5-14-2 (4-6 Hockey East).
“I think we looked very strong. I was really happy with how they played. With every game they continue to improve,” said head coach Laura Schuler after Thursday’s game.
After a 3-1 home win against BC Dec. 8 to close out the pre-winter break portion of their schedule, the Huskies appeared to have lost a step. They started January 0-3-1, with one of the three losses coming at home against Boston University, who has as many Hockey East points as the Huskies (8), but has played one less conference game.
Yet Northeastern showed its ability to bounce back from adversity in its win against the Eagles. After taking a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by sophomore defenseman Lindsay Berman at 17:08, Northeastern allowed goals at 19:13 and 19:27, and returned to the locker room trailing by one.
After a scoreless second period, the Huskies scored two in the third, scoring the game-winner from sophomore forward Chelsey Jones at 10:49.
“Our entire team played exceptionally, it was great to see,” Schuler said. “Every game we name an MVP, and [Thursday night] we couldn’t say just one person because every single person played exceptionally.”
Entering the third period Sunday, the Huskies appeared to have a shot at their second straight win. The teams came out for the final 20 minutes of play tied at one, thanks in part to a goal by junior Northeastern defenseman Erin Reil at 19:38 of the second period.
Just as BC’s two late-period strikes did not translate to victory, the Huskies could not parlay Reil’s strike into a win.
Freshman goalie Leah Sulyma continued to pile up the saves against the Eagles and Black Bears. She made 41 stops Thursday and 39 Sunday, lengthening her string of consecutive 30+ save games to eight. She has 10 such games overall this season.
Sulyma and the Huskies should not expect their load to get lighter any time soon, however. Their next game will come Jan. 26 in Durham, N.H. where they will take on the No. 1 ranked Wildcats.
