After falling off the national rankings earlier this month, the Northeastern women’s hockey team (8-8-0, 4-6-0 HE) has struggled to reclaim the glory with which it came into the season. Tuesday night, that theme continued, as the Huskies fell 3-2 to the University of Vermont Catamounts (7-6-1, 6-4-0 HE) in a hard-fought battle on the road.
After 10 days off the ice, Northeastern started out slow, and the Catamounts scored just over a minute into the game.
Vermont captain and senior forward Natálie Mlýnková easily beat out Northeastern’s blue line for the puck and raced toward the goal on a breakaway. Steering through the crease, she backhanded the puck over the pad of Huskies fifth-year goaltender Gwyneth Philips to give the Catamounts the early lead.
With a goal under their belt, the Catamounts continued to outperform the Huskies through the first period. Vermont deked around the Husky defense, generating quality scoring opportunities and sending Philips dancing across the net.
Eight minutes into the game, Northeastern junior defender Tory Mariano was sent to the box for body checking, giving Vermont a chance to widen the gap. However, this also gave the Huskies the chance to highlight one of their strengths this season: the penalty kill. Northeastern leads Hockey East and sits third in the nation with its 93.6% penalty kill, and they continued to build on that with the Mariano minor.
Although the Huskies initially struggled to clear the puck, they were still able to clog up the shooting lanes enough to deny the Catamounts a single shot on goal. With three-quarters of the advantage gone, fifth-year forward Katy Knoll was able to force the puck down the boards and effectively kill UVM’s momentum.
With under five to go in the frame, UVM senior defender Bella Parento took a penalty for holding, and Northeastern got its first chance on the five-on-four. This was a crucial moment for the Huskies, but it was stopped short when Knoll took a penalty of her own after just 36 seconds and was whistled to the box for cross checking.
After notching a measly five shots on goal in the first period, Northeastern amped up its offensive speed heading into the second. They staked their claim in Vermont’s zone, putting pressure on UVM senior goaltender Jessie McPherson.
Seven minutes into the frame, the Catamounts found themselves down a player once more, but this time, there was no Northeastern penalty to save them.
The Huskies racked up an impressive six shots on goal in 1:41 of power play time, and the final one found its way home.
Northeastern freshman forward Allie Lalonde took the offensive zone faceoff and was able to find junior forward Taze Thompson in front of the crease. UVM’s defense pressured Thompson, but Lalonde was able to sneak behind the action with the puck and pound a backhand top shelf to even the score 1-1. The goal marks her fifth of the season, tying Thompson for second-most goals on the team.
That’s our freshman! https://t.co/bgWsat2SzK pic.twitter.com/0meK7gufpM
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 22, 2023
The Huskies continued to control the ice, outshooting the Catamounts 14-6 in the second period, but with just four minutes left in the frame, UVM crept ahead with another breakaway goal.
Catamounts junior forward Alaina Tanski put half the neutral zone between her and Northeastern’s defense, earning a huge advantage when the Huskies turned the puck over in their offensive zone. She headed straight toward Philips, slicing the puck between her legs to regain the one-goal lead 2-1.
Down a goal and with strong special team performances already, there was no better ending for the second period for the Huskies than a power play. UVM sophomore forward Lara Beecher headed to the box with under two minutes in the frame, leaving the Catamounts at four skaters until the clock ran out — or so they thought.
Halfway through the power play, Vermont tried to clear but found the stick of Northeastern graduate student forward Peyton Anderson instead. Anderson closed in on the goal, looking for an opening, and slammed the puck at the bottom of the crossbar and into the net for the equalizer.
The power-play is cookin’ y’all! https://t.co/bgWsat2SzK pic.twitter.com/XKBw8QUtqX
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 22, 2023
In the third period, the Catamounts regained their leading stride, and Northeastern fell behind once more.
With 11 minutes to go, Beecher passed from behind Northeastern’s net to Vermont freshman forward Rose-Marie Brochu. Beecher had a straight shot at the goal and used it well, chipping the puck over Philips to give UVM a 3-2 lead.
After Northeastern had already tied up the game twice, the Catamounts were determined this time to keep the lead and forced the Huskies to fight for the puck. The Huskies powered through a penalty kill as captain and graduate student defender Megan Carter sat in the box and earned a power play of their own in the high-energy final minutes of play.
With less than three minutes left on the clock, the Huskies took to the advantage but were held to the perimeter and struggled to get pucks through. At the two-minute mark, Philips headed off the ice and Northeastern went six-on-four to try to tie the score. The Huskies were aggressive on the power play and kept that intensity until the buzzer sounded to end the game.
Although not the result Northeastern was hoping for, the game wasn’t a total wash. Northeastern may have lost, but it wasn’t a shutout like many of their other losses this season; the Huskies were in the game until the very end. As Northeastern continues to workshop its formations and find the right combinations for the young group, with more goals starting to pile up, not all hope is lost for the Huskies.
In just a few days, the Huskies will have another tough matchup when they travel to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to face No. 14 Boston College. The crosstown rivalry game kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Dorothy Talbot Rink.
