By Kimberly Peterson
NU started the weekend off with an impressive 4-1 Saturday victory over Yale, but followed it up with a horrific 6-2 loss to Princeton. The weekend split places them 4th in Hockey East with a 5-7-1 record.
They have proven over and over again that they have the talent to win and that they can control a game from beginning to end. Conversely, they have also shown enough ineptitude on the ice to be beaten to a bloody pulp.
“We need to play all three periods, we need to play every shift and every period 100 percent,” said NU senior Brooke White.
The weekends’ games also featured yet another set of lines. They continue in their ongoing search for group that can dominate the opposition on the boards. Head coach Joy Woog came out with two interesting line combinations.
The newly formed top line of senior Brooke White, freshman Rebecca Paul and sophomore Lori DiGiacomo paid big dividends for NU and accounted for more than half their goals over the weekend.
Sunday was yet another learning experience for the inconsistent Huskies as they dropped a close game to Princeton (6-2-2). Northeastern had the game within their reach until the third period, when Princeton got to through the defense for four goals.
The first 40 minutes of play was a back and forth affair, as each team responded to the other with a strike of their own.
“We played hard in the third, maybe just not as smart,” said White. “All those little things, those little mistakes added up.”
NU got both goals from freshman sniper Rebecca Paul, who proved why she deserved a place on one of the teams top lines. Her first goal came with just seven seconds left in the first and cut the Tigers lead to from two to one.
“Thay played hard and thet played well and when you ourshoot another team you expect to win, and in that aspect the game was frustrating,” said Woog.
The second period proved uneventful, but Princeton quickly made up for their lack of goals with two in the first seven minutes of play. Paul put her team within reach at 13:48, cutting the Tigers lead to two. But it would not last long for NU as they watched another game slip away.
“The scoreboard did not reflect how ell we played on Sunday,” said Woog.
Saturday’s game had a much happier ending for NU as they pounded the Yale Bulldogs (2-6-0) 4-1 at Ingalls Rink. Paul got the Huskies on the board quickly just 2:34 into the game. The Huskies followed it up with two more from freshman Rebecca Peters and senior Michelle Lorion.
The game also marked the first goal of the year for last year’s number two scorer White. With just two minutes left in the second period the speedy senior gave her team a comfortable 4-1 lead for the third.
“Being a playmaker I felt good, I was still contributing to the team, but I knew something had to change. Just getting that first goal out of the way felt great,” said White.
Junior Chanda Gunn was once again sparking in net, as she stopped 20 shots in the game. The Bulldogs were only able to get one through on NU’s number one goaltender.
The Huskies have quite the interesting weekend ahead of them as they will face long time rival Harvard once again this Saturday at 7:p.m.
“We need to be able to shut down Harvards first line, and really capitalize on our scoring chances. Harvards goalie did not look too great when we saw her,” said White.
NU will also face Brown this Friday at 7:00 p.m.
