Tuesday night, the Northeastern women’s hockey team (10-8-0, 6-6-0 HE) hosted long-time rival, the Providence Friars (5-10-0, 4-6-0 HE), for the pair’s third matchup this season. Earlier in November, they came away with a drastic split: 6-1 in favor of the Huskies, then 3-1 for Providence. With one final game to decide the regular season victor, and coming off a huge 3-1 win over No. 14 Boston College (8-7-1, 8-3-1 HE), the Huskies had momentum and home ice on their side as they skated their way to a 4-2 finish.
The game-changer was Northeastern’s shot distance. The Huskies have struggled with scoring this season, averaging 2.2 goals per game compared to last year’s 3.8. However, Tuesday night, they got in close and didn’t back down. Three of Northeastern’s four goals came from inside the crease.
Providence started off with control of the puck, but Northeastern made a couple scrappy shots early on to keep the Friars on their toes.
Then, just seven minutes into the game, the Huskies made the first mark.
Junior forward Skylar Irving won the offensive zone draw, kicking the puck to sophomore defender Jules Constantinople, who gave it right back. Irving sauced the puck cross-crease all the way from the boards, and junior forward Taze Thompson was eager and ready to put it in the back door.
Taze isn’t gonna miss that one.
https://t.co/te9gybV3m7 pic.twitter.com/GZjNknO0jH— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 28, 2023
After a few weeks on the road, Northeastern looked comfortable back on its own ice. Players showed off their stick work, made clean passes and skated with an ease that kept Providence at bay through the opening 20.
The Friars gained back some zone time in the final few minutes of the first period, but it wasn’t enough. Northeastern more than doubled its shot tally, 17-8.
After a quick trip to the locker room, Providence came back to outshoot the Huskies through the final two periods, and it paid off right away.
Forty-one seconds into the frame, Friars sophomore forward Reichen Kirchmair scored off a rush. Her shot whistled past fifth-year goaltender Gwyneth Philips and clanged off the crossbar, tying the score.
They didn’t keep that lead for long, though, because two minutes later, Northeastern fifth-year forward Katy Knoll tallied her second of the season. Senior defender Abbey Marohn held the puck at the goal line, but pressure from Providence forced her to give it away. She sent it across to Irving, who was slicing through the center toward Friars junior goaltender Hope Walinski. Beside the net, Irving passed to Knoll, who was in the right place at the right time to tip the puck into the net and score.
We love everything about this. https://t.co/AOkUxLiewF pic.twitter.com/qN5Yoj7iVS
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 28, 2023
Soon after, Providence earned a chance to even the score again when Constantinople was sent to the box for tripping. Northeastern forced the Friars to shoot long-range, minimizing their chance on the power play, and killed the two-minute minor.
When the tables were turned in the latter half of the period, off a high sticking call against Friars senior defender Brooke Becker, the Huskies made the most of their opportunity.
At the blue line, junior defender Tory Mariano found freshman forward Allie Lalonde at the top of the circle. Lalonde took the distance shot, smacking the puck home to extend Northeastern’s lead to 3-1.
The kid is feeling it. https://t.co/AOkUxLiewF pic.twitter.com/DMJDixVdFc
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 28, 2023
When the third period kicked off, Providence fought hard for the puck, desperately trying to narrow Northeastern’s dangerous two-goal lead, but the Huskies continued to drive the net and snuck even further ahead.
With 16 minutes left on the clock, Constantinople skated up from the neutral zone and flicked the puck to Thompson in the crease. Thompson jammed at the puck again and again, finally slipping it past Walinski’s pads.
Tazer is making things happen tonight! https://t.co/AOkUxLiewF pic.twitter.com/V6g160R2am
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 28, 2023
Although each team got another power play opportunity in the period, Providence squandered its chances, allowing Irving to get a breakaway chance shorthanded.
The Friars got one last say in the game when junior defender Lily Martinson closed in on Philips and took her own rebound, finalizing a 4-2 Huskies win.
Despite the absence of key defenders —- graduate student Megan Carter and senior Lily Yovetich —- the Huskies’ drive and confidence kept their net safe and their lead safer. In this game and last, players like Thompson, Irving and Lalonde stepped up, making themselves known as play-makers and goal-scorers on this rebuilt Northeastern squad.
The Huskies will close out 2023 Friday night at Boston University (6-7-1, 4-5-0 HE) before taking a month-long winter break. They swept the Terriers earlier this season and will look to do it again when the puck drops at 6 p.m. in the Walter Brown Arena.
