By Jared Sugerman
The box score from Saturday’s game seems to suggest that the women’s hockey team never had a chance in their 8-2 loss at No. 1 New Hampshire. But it might indicate otherwise if shots off the posts were listed.
Freshman forward Kristi Kehoe and sophomore forward Chelsey Jones both hit iron in the first period, during which the Huskies managed only one official shot (shots that hit the post are not registered as shots on net). So, instead of scoring two first-period goals, Northeastern ended the first period Saturday just as they ended the previous six its played against the Wildcats this season: scoreless.
“Had we capitalized on those, who knows? It could have been a different game,” said head coach Laura Schuler.
New Hampshire was not able to capitalize on all of its opportunities in the first period, either. Northeastern freshman goaltender Leah Sulyma had 16 stops during the first period. But the Wildcats took 20 shots during the frame and Sulyma was pulled after allowing four first-period goals. This ended her streak of consecutive 30-plus save games at eight, which ties a school record.
“We weren’t helping [Leah] out. I thought it was smart to just save her for the next game when we are playing well,” Schuler said.
Junior goalie Stacey Scott replaced Sulyma, but Scott could not solve Northeastern’s defensive woes. The Huskies allowed 16 more shots in the period, and trailed 7-0 after 40 minutes of play.
A third period in which sophomore forwards Liz Chapman and Chelsey Jones scored Northeastern’s first two goals of the season against New Hampshire helped the Huskies leave Durham on a positive note.
“Our goal after our first two periods was to go out there, play hard and win the third [period], and it’s always good to hear another coach say you guys played really well in the third,” Schuler said.
After Saturday’s game, the Wildcats are 21-3-1 overall, 11-0-1 in Hockey East, and have outscored their opponents 100-32.
The Huskies lost all three of their regular season match-ups with New Hampshire by an aggregate score of 18-2, but NU is not the first team to take a beating from the Wildcats.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the country, not just Hockey East. Their forward’s puck movement is phenomenal, so defensively you can’t make a mistake because when you do make a mistake, they’ll make you pay,” Schuler said.
The Wildcats’ roster features two Swiss Olympians, one member of the British national team, three players who have competed for Canada’s under-22 national team and two others who skated with the US under-22 national squad.
Northeastern also did not have its full compliment of players available for Saturday’s game. Freshman forward Alyssa Wohlfeiler and junior defenseman Brenna Frost were both injured, and their status for future games is yet to be determined.
Next on Northeastern’s schedule is a pair of games against No. 8 UConn. The first game will be played Feb.1 at 7 p.m. in Storrs, and the second will be played Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. in Matthews Arena.
