By Jared Sugerman
A cursory glance at the results of the last three games played by the women’s hockey team will reveal an 0-2-1 record: an 8-2 loss Jan. 26 at New Hampshire, a tie at one Friday and a 1-0 loss at home Saturday, both to UConn.
A closer look will reveal something else: during their last seven periods of regulation play, plus an overtime period Friday, the Huskies have scored as many goals as they have allowed (three) against the Wildcats and Huskies, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in Hockey East standings and No. 2 and No. 8 overall.
Playing without freshman forward Alyssa Wohlfeiler and junior defenseman Brenna Frost due to undisclosed injuries, the Huskies found themselves trailing 7-0 after two periods against New Hampshire. Northeastern would go on to get its first two goals of the game and of the season against the Wildcats, outscoring New Hampshire 2-1 in the final 20 minutes of play.
Though the ailing Wohlfeiler was still unable to take face-offs, head coach Laura Schuler juggled the line combinations so that the freshman forward could return to the lineup for Friday’s battle of the Huskies in Storrs, Conn.
The move apparently paid off at 19:20 of the first period, when freshman forward Krisi Kehoe found Wohlfeiler open by the side of the cage. Wohlfeiler beat UConn senior Brittany Wilson, Hockey East’s goalie of the month for January, to make the score 1-0 Northeastern.
“I think that when your team sees you playing through pain and you’re still giving 100 percent, it just kind of motivates everybody around you to want to play better, and Alyssa, in the last game and today, played through some pain, but did a great job,” Schuler said.
Schuler was required to do more than make a line adjustment to fill the void left by Frost, who was unavailable for both games against UConn. The coach called upon freshman forward Lori Antflick to fill in for one of the Huskies’ top penalty-killing defensemen.
“We went over some stuff after we played UNH, and Lori is such a quick person to learn, and just picked them up as if she’d been playing defense her entire hockey career,” Schuler said.
Antflick helped Northeastern defend its one-goal advantage until the third period, when UConn bombarded freshman goalie Leah Sulyma. Sulyma managed to make 15 of her 34 total saves in the final regulation frame, but 9:25 into the period, she could not stop the shot by Connecticut’s Samantha Reid. The Huskies were tied at 1.
Wilson and Sulyma had to fight off three shots in overtime, but both teams wound up taking home a point in the Hockey East standings after a scoreless extra five minutes.
The lone goal of UConn’s 1-0 victory Saturday came during the opening period, when Michell Binning carried the puck toward the net, drawing both Northeastern defensemen toward her. The Northeastern forwards did not back-check well enough to prevent Britney Chandler from picking up Binning’s pass to the slot and slipping the puck past Sulyma.
Sulyma turned aside every other shot that came her way, registering 32 saves, eight more than Wilson postered in her shut-out effort.
“Leah played unreal both games. Yesterday, we got out-shot, I think it was 2-to-1. She was just right on top of her game,” Schuler said.
The Huskies next game is Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the opening round of the Beanpot Tournament.
