On Nov. 9, the Northeastern women’s hockey team (7-5-1, 5-3-1 HE) was coming off the high of winning a close game against the No.10 ranked University of Connecticut Huskies (6-6-0, 5-2-0 HE) for the first time since February 2023. Maintaining that momentum from the night before, the Huskies closed the weekend with an identical 1-0 score in the 2024 Hockey East championship rematch. Freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson was in the net for her first consecutive weekend. Fresh off her first NCAA shutout from the night before, she came out with a clean net Nov. 9, giving the team their first back-to-back shutout against a top 10 team since 2010. 

The weekend’s second battle of the Huskies began with no hesitation, as both teams were ferocious in arguably the best play Mathews Arena has seen from women’s hockey this season. Two minutes into the period, senior defender Ava Rinker wrestled for the puck against junior forward Mia Langlois in the UConn offensive zone, receiving a two minute penalty for slashing, giving Northeastern the first power play in a relatively clean game. UConn managed to grab possession of the puck and held on. 

When the home Huskies got the puck, they were fighting tooth and nail for a chance to get in the crease. The energy was high and interceptions were deadly, and team rivalry was on display through intense action plays and defenders throwing themselves across the ice for a block. 

Six minutes in, senior forward Riley Grimley skated into Northeastern’s offensive zone with the puck but lost her footing right as defender Katie Davis came in for a steal. The two players ended up collapsing on the ice meters in front of the net. The distraction offered a breath that senior forward Skylar Irving didn’t waste time using to her advantage, grabbing and then launching the puck over senior goaltender Tia Chan’s left shoulder. The puck flew firmly in the back of the net, and the stakes were raised for both Huskies with a 1-0 Northeastern lead. 

“We capitalized on one of their mistakes and luckily I was able to put it in the back of the net,” Irving said post game. “I saw the [defense] kind of bite a little bit and I saw the opening. I was like, ‘this puck is going in if it’s on my stick,’ so I just ripped it.”

Skylar Irving 📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/9aCvVYcuiS

— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 9, 2024

After a close shot at the bottom of the net from junior defender Kristina Allard, Irving ran into Chan after the UConn goalie made the quick save. Irving received a minor penalty for goaltender interference with six minutes to go in the period but Northeastern defense locked in and the period ended with the net empty.

After two weeks on the bench due to injury, it was clear by the end of the first period that graduate student forward Jaden Bogden was back in the game. The Husky played sparingly, but her appearance back on the ice brought promise in seeing her back on the first line with freshman forward Éloïse Caron and Irving soon enough.

“We were kind of easing her back in yesterday and today, coming out of that injury. It appears like she’s good, so we’re going to keep progressing,” head coach Dave Flint said of Bogden’s recovery. 

UConn looked like the strongest team Northeastern had played this season, but Jönsson had an extraordinary time in the net. Thirty seconds into the second period, UConn’s graduate student forward Jada Habisch and junior forward Brooke Campbell launched a shot and a rebound at Jönsson. Without defense to back her up, Jönsson was lightning in the net, diving left to right. Jönsson’s total of 37 saves at the end of the game had the arena clutching their seats, as the fans got used to bowing down to the Husky’s newest star. Nothing UConn threw at the freshman was out of reach. 

Flint said he has yet to make a decision on who will be permanently starting in goal — the race still between senior goaltender Paige Taborski and Jönsson — but said of Jönsson, “I see her get better and better every day at practice. She was huge for us. She stole the win for us today.” 

Irving seconded, “She’s incredible. … She definitely bailed us out a couple of times, obviously as a freshman, it’s definitely nerve-racking, but she just came in and played incredible. We’re lucky to have her back there,” she said. “She makes big saves and that’s what we need from a goalie a lot of times.”

Lisa, you’re actually kidding.

📺 @NESN | 💻 https://t.co/bkBJyypVMB pic.twitter.com/uu6SDXMf6v

— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 9, 2024

After Irving’s early goal, the team was relying on their defenders to carry the game. Senior defender Tory Mariano, junior defender Jules Constantinople and graduate student defender Lily Yovetich were all over the ice, hurling their bodies in front of pucks to ease the high pressure off of Jönsson. The team’s skaters blocked a total of 22 shots on goal, an impressive feat that led to the perfect shutout. The Connecticut bench was feeling the pressure to get to the net, and while their coordination stayed together, it seemed more and more that Jönsson’s spell would be hard to break. 

Tensions picked up in the third period as UConn desperately tried to tie it up. With faceoff after faceoff in the Northeastern defensive zone, turnovers were constant and so were shots from UConn, the team getting off 29 shots in the period compared to Northeastern’s six. 

Five minutes into the third period, Caron took a straight shot at Chan, looking to add to Northeastern’s tally. The freshman missed, but her speed going into the shot propelled her into the net. Caron was called for goalie interference against the obvious wishes of the home bench that went up in uproar. In a nail biting game, the call came at an inopportune moment, five minutes into the third period, as Northeastern fought for every inch. 

“I didn’t necessarily agree with [the call], but it is what it is and we’ve got to live with it. We killed it off and credit to our team for doing that.” Flint said after the game.

The arena nervously waited all third period for one of UConn’s dangerously close shots to slip by, but Northeastern didn’t let up. UConn couldn’t see the back of the net with five Northeastern skaters surrounding them, a defender diving in and an unstoppable netminder behind them.

With two minutes left in the game, both Huskies called for a timeout and UConn skated back out with a sixth forward and an empty net. If the rest of the game seemed high intensity, the last two minutes had both teams out for blood. Sticks were lost in scrambles, a puck was caught in the air by Rinker and Caron ended up stuck, face down on the ice by a skater’s stick, as she battled for the puck. No skater was yielding any ground. 

With 49 seconds left, icing was called on Northeastern, giving UConn their final opportunity for an offensive zone face off. Junior forward Holly Abela and Caron took consecutive blocks as UConn circled, stretching out the time long enough for a rewarding home rink Husky win.

Post-game, Flint said he was pleased with the result and hoped the weekend would serve as a jumping off point for the team. 

“I still think we didn’t have as much energy today as we did yesterday,” he said. “But we found a way to win, which is important. So I think we’ve got to build off of this and take away from what we can.”

Flint also said he’s hoping for a stronger record of consistency, “I think just that consistency in our play is really critical. When we’re good, we’re good. When we’re not, we’re average- to below average.”

The Northeastern Huskies will be back at home Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 for a double header at home against the University of Maine (2-10-0, 2-6-0).