The No.15 Northeastern women’s hockey team (14-6-1, 10-4-1 HE) took to the ice with ferocity Jan. 14 for its final Beanpot tournament game in historic Matthews Arena, achieving a 4-2 win to advance to the 46th women’s Beanpot championship. The Huskies faced off against the No.12 Boston College Eagles (14-7-1, 11-4-1 HE), a team that took home a 3-0 win against the Huskies Nov. 30. When the roar of a record-setting crowd welcomed them, the teams’ records became irrelevant and the Husky’s momentum was untouchable. 

“I think the biggest thing for us that helped us with the win was the crowd. Seventeen years, we’ve never seen a crowd like that here at Matthews,” head coach Dave Flint said post-game. 

The team started hot, taking 12 shots in the first half of the first period. After 10 minutes of missed opportunities and failed breakaways, it was freshman forward Morgan Jackson who grabbed the first goal of the night, lifting the puck to the corner of the net off an assist from freshman forward Éloïse Caron. 

“[Winning] means a lot, especially for the players who wore the jersey before us,” Jackson said post-game. “Hearing everyone, hearing the crowd cheering — I think it brought out a lot of energy for the team.”

Senior forward Taze Thompson turned that energy into another goal less than a minute after the first. She took a shot off an assist from senior forward Skylar Irving, giving the Huskies their second goal of the night and putting the team up 2-0 with nine minutes left in the period. The team’s early scoring only served to propel the momentum of the game. 

“I told them … they can’t get too high and they need to remain disciplined through the whole game, and sometimes when your emotions get the best, you start making costly mistakes, and they didn’t do that,” Flint said.

The team has stepped up its offensive measures the past four games, notching 13 goals in the past four games versus their five total goals in the four games prior. While puck time rarely guaranteed pucks in the net in their September to November play, the team is now able to rely on skaters like Thompson and Jackson to find the net; each took home two goals in the three prior games. 

When the Eagles’ freshman forward Alanna Devlin was called for hooking with eight minutes left in the period, it took only a moment for the Huskies to circle the net once again. Just three minutes after Thompson’s shot, senior defender Tory Mariano took home her first goal of the season, a straight shot above the faceoff circle, giving the Huskies a 3-0 lead.

The Eagles finished off the period strong, with 14 shots to Northeastern’s 18 in the period. Sophomore forward Sammy Taber swept the puck behind freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson with 18 seconds left in the first period, sparking an uproar from the Boston College crowd that had traveled from Chestnut Hill for the game. The goal gave some hope for the team going into the second period, but it failed to match the Huskies’ home game fire. Boston College head coach Katie Crowley chalked the eventual loss up to the nerves that come with a younger team and a failure to execute their systems.

“I think we were a little off in that first 20 [minutes],” Crowley said. “I just think we weren’t playing our systems right, we were running around a little bit. I don’t know, nerves or whatever it was. We’re on the younger side in terms of our team and maybe it was just a tough atmosphere to play in.” 

A Jönsson save in the second period had the packed Doghouse screaming her name, something the Huskies had yet to experience. Jönsson holds the No.1 save percentage in the country at .958 and games against average statistic at 1.005. 

“At least since my freshman year, we’ve never had a crowd like that, so I know BC had it tough playing here — and that was the goal,” Mariano said. With 3,298 fans in the stands, the game marked the largest crowd Northeastern women’s hockey has ever seen in Matthews Arena, perfect for the arena’s final Beanpot. 

Going into the second period with three goals to Northeastern’s name, Flint was focused on defense. “It’s always nice to get some scoring from the back end and the [defense] really stepped up. We ran pretty much five defensemen tonight and they … logged a lot of minutes and they stepped up.”

The period came with Northeastern still largely controlling puck time, and with five minutes to go, junior forward Lily Shannon tied the knot on a Husky victory, finding the net short-handed during an Eagles power play. Skating carefully down the ice through the crease, Shannon slid the puck to the left of junior goaltender Grace Campbell. The game was Northeastern’s by the end of the period; Eagles fans dissipated at the break while the Doghouse roared. 

Going into the third period, the Eagles gave it everything they had, but Jönsson kept them at bay with 18 saves in the period. Both she and teammate senior goaltender Paige Taborski were put on the “National Goalie of the Year” watch list Jan. 14, the same night Jönsson took home a total of 37 saves, tying her career high. 

”The pressure of being a freshman in that situation is huge. In front of a crowd like that, that’s a lot to handle and that shows she’s a big-time goalie. And they threw everything in the kitchen sink at us in the third period and she was awesome,” Flint said of Jönsson.

With three minutes to go in the final period, graduate student forward Jaden Bogden was sent to the box for slashing, quickly joined by Shannon and Boston College’s senior forward Abby Newhook after a scramble at the blue line boiled over. The three penalties gave the Eagles a four-on-three power play for their final advantage before the buzzer. 

Despite the three-goal difference, the Eagles gave it their all, scrapping up 19 shots in the third period. With a minute to go, graduate student forward Gaby Roy took the team’s second goal of the night after a scramble by the net. The effort was too little, too late for Boston College, and moments later, the scoreboard buzzed for a Northeastern victory. The Huskies piled onto each other in front of their first full Doghouse of the season, and the soon-to-be-retired Matthews Arena saw one final Northeastern Beanpot win. 

The Huskies will take a break from the Beanpot and continue with a conference game double-header Friday, Jan. 17, facing off against the Providence College Friars (11-8-3, 7-6-2 HE). The Huskies will take on the Boston University Terriers (14-6-1, 11-3-1 HE), after their close win 2-1 against the Harvard University Crimson (2-13-2, 1-10-1) in overtime at TD Garden for its third consecutive Beanpot title Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 pm.