The Northeastern women’s hockey team (9-5-1, 7-3-1 HE) hosted the University of Maine Black Bears (2-12-0, 2-8-0 HE) Nov. 15 and Nov. 16. The Huskies notched their second consecutive weekend sweep, earning 2-1 and 2-0 victories. The games were chippy and tensions escalated throughout the weekend, including a fight after the whistle on Friday between Husky graduate student forward Katie Davis and Black Bear sophomore forward Sam Morrison, the one incident resulting in 15 and 17 minute penalties for the two, respectively.
Freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson started both nights, earning a total of 61 saves over the two games. The netminder has turned out three shutouts in the past four games, and a total save percentage of .970, a tally that earned her the title of Player of the Week from Hockey East last week.
“The goal against us was not her fault at all. She is the reason that we are walking away with the win today,” assistant coach Lindsay Berman said after the Nov. 15 game.
The lines were moving around all weekend before and during games, the team boasting a deep — and young — roster. Sophomore forward Peyton Compton, who put in seven points her freshman year, was back on the ice for her first game of the season after recovering from an injury.
“We had some lefty, righties on the wrong side, so we’ve shifted a couple people around for that. But I think the biggest thing was Peyton coming back, and that obviously changes things, because she’s such an impact player for us.” Berman said of the switch-ups.
Friday’s game was filled with collisions on the part of both teams. Both the Huskies and Black Bears took turns dominating possession, but Northeastern came out looking like the stronger team almost every time. Both goals in the Nov. 15 game came down seconds after a power play finished.
Maine performed aggressively, finding themselves with eight penalties during play time, not counting Morrison’s additional three for unsportsmanlike conduct, hit after whistle and game misconduct post-game.
Junior forward Lily Shannon scored both of the team’s goals Nov. 15. Her first came eight minutes into the first period. Starting the Huskies off on the right foot, Shannon skated in from the right, taking an opening and letting the puck sail into the upper corner three seconds after Northeastern’s power play was complete.
“I don’t think people realize how fast she is. She just burned the five players over on that first goal, and she can shoot it. She doesn’t mind shooting it, so she’s got a lot of tools that are crucial for us in those moments, so it’s been really fun to watch her grow,” Berman said.
With four minutes to go in the second period, sophomore forward Lily Fetch tied the game up for Maine. After an assist from sophomore defender Jaidyn Britt and senior forward Alyssa Wruble, the puck was lost in the crease until Fetch shoveled it in from the left. Going into the third period, the teams were neck and neck.
Shannon’s second goal was nothing if not a messy team effort. Two minutes into the third period, graduate student defender Lily Yovetich, senior forward Taze Thompson and freshman defender Tuva Kandell were pushing in shot after shot until Shannon found the opening after freshman goaltender Kiia Lahtinen veered too many feet away from the pipe, and the puck, at last, found home in the back of the net — securing a 2-1 win for Northeastern.
Idk man, but a goal is a goal!
📺 https://t.co/NVr5XDutLN pic.twitter.com/i0X8HTyMCi
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 16, 2024
The Friday night game wasn’t pretty, with two broken sticks, 16 penalties and a brutal fight after the whistle — and Saturday’s game was 15 hours later, leaving no time for tensions to cool down.
Going into the Nov 16. game, Berman said she was bracing for impact, “They’re going to come out as hard as they did tonight on us, and we have to be ready for that. We obviously don’t really love to be in the middle of all that chippinness, we want to win cleanly, but we want to play really hard. We’re going to expect the same thing from Maine tomorrow,” said Berman following Friday’s win.
It was Maine’s rough play that got it in trouble Saturday afternoon, with both of the Huskies goals in the 2-0 game coming on power plays.
Within five minutes of the game’s start, sophomore forward Raegan Wurm received two minutes in the box for roughing after she pinned Yovetich down against the wall and flipped her backwards with a high stick. Northeastern’s path sequences were smooth with a few tense moments after missed shots. Maine let the sticks and shoves go a little more. The game picked up after Yovetich avenged Wurm’s hit when she sent junior forward Danielle Brunette flying, Yovetich standing Brunette up at the blue line when the Black Bear charged down the ice.
“We came out hotter today than we did yesterday. That was one of the goals, was to play harder,” senior forward Skylar Irving said post-game. They’re a very hard team to play against, super physical, intense and all of that. Being able to come out full effort, giving it our all, first to five shots, first to five battles won. Being able to do that and capitalize on two goals on power plays was super awesome.”
Northeastern took some hard hits from the Black Bears, including junior defender Jules Constantinople and graduate student forward Jaden Bogden, who were both crumpled into the boards in the third period. The repeated hits led to six penalties against Maine on Saturday, leaving them vulnerable in Husky power plays.
Constantinople delivered a powerful shot towards freshman forward Morgan Jackson and Thompson at the net with 30 seconds left of the second period. Thompson finished the job by lodging the puck behind Lahtinen during the scramble, handing the Huskies their first goal of the afternoon.
The Taze Thompson touch. pic.twitter.com/AiKawEcE5m
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) November 16, 2024
Going into the third period, the bench was abuzz with confidence and sure enough, two penalties later, Irving found the back of the net for her seventh goal of the season. Senior defender Tory Mariano had made the shot from the right, the puck going loose as Lahtinen flew in the wrong direction and Irving lodged it in from the other side.
“We had bodies out front, and the puck was just right behind the goalie, who dropped to a butterfly. It was right behind her, so I saw it and the whistle wasn’t blown, so I just tapped it, and it was probably the easiest goal I’ll ever score,” Irving said. The goal gave the Huskies their second win of the weekend and sweep of the Maine series.
The past two weekends have turned around the team’s 50-50 trajectory, a promising season before them.
“I always knew we were a really good team. I think everybody in the locker room knew we were a really good team. We’ve got some young kids in some pretty big spots, so we needed them to come around and just overall chemistry development,” associate head coach Nick Carpenito said. “You look back to last year, it was kind of the same thing. We were at 8-8 or something like that in the first half of the year. We’re on a little bit better trajectory this year, but I think we’re figuring out what combinations work and developing that chemistry and then running with it.”
The team will be back in Matthews Arena after Thanksgiving Nov. 30 to face off against the Boston College Eagles (9-4-0, 6-2-0 HE).
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