The Northeastern women’s hockey team (14-8-1, 10-6-1 HE) took on the Providence College Friars (13-8-3, 9-6-2 HE) Jan. 18 and faced its first consecutive defeats all season. The Huskies were coming off a season high after taking Boston College down in Matthews Arena for the Beanpot semifinals 4-2 Jan. 14. 

After a 4-0 record for January, the double hit — losing 1-5 Jan. 17 and 2-3 Jan. 18 — was an unfortunate way for the team to spend its week-long break between Beanpot rounds. The team’s play was scrambled with a rare clear shot at the goal, perhaps too focused on the upcoming Beanpot final Jan. 21 to finish the job with Providence.

Post-game Jan. 18, head coach Dave Flint was disappointed. “Tuesday, we’re up here, maybe one of our better games, if not our best game of the year,” he said, referring to the team’s Beanpot semifinal performance, “and then we answer Friday with probably our worst game of the year.” 

Sophomore goaltender Mattie Robitzer made her collegiate debut Jan. 17 but she wasn’t given an easy game, letting in five goals to her 21 saves.

“I told the team last night, you know, you let Mattie down,” Flint said post-game Jan.18.

Providence had taken the Huskies down once before 2-1 Oct. 25, 2024, with senior goaltender Paige Taborski in the net, and the Friars kept their dominance in the Jan. 17 game at Schneider Arena with a 5-1 end score.

It was captain and senior forward Taze Thompson who got the Huskies on the board with an assist from graduate student forward Jaden Bogden behind the net. Thompson is the skater to watch going into the Beanpot as the Huskies’ fourth-leading scorer and three-time Beanpot veteran. The next night, the two teams met at Northeastern’s home in Matthews Arena where the Huskies were ready for redemption. 

Despite junior forward Lily Shannon celebrating her 100th game and “Ready For It” by Taylor Swift playing over the screens — the crowd energy high due to the game’s Taylor Swift night theme — it just wasn’t in the cards for the Huskies Jan. 18. 

The Huskies were looking strong when it came to maintaining strong possession in the first period but a few good looks weren’t connecting when it came to the skater at the net. 

Five minutes in, Friar freshman forward Jessie Pellerin was called for cross checking, giving the Huskies their first power play of the night. Northeastern responded with a few shots that had senior goaltender Hope Walinski diving to the ice, but the Huskies were coming up empty. 

It was sophomore forward Kiara Kraft who got the first look at the net after an assist from senior forward Ashley Clark and with three minutes to go, the Friars earned the first point on the scoreboard. 

A second Northeastern power play began after a hooking penalty by graduate student defender Brooke Becker that continued into the second period. 

The Huskies bounced back from the point difference less than a minute into the second period, still on the power play. Sophomore forward Allie Lalonde swung in with a shot from above the faceoff circle for her first goal of the season. The sophomore had been off the ice for nearly a year before she debuted in the Jan. 3 game against Merrimack College, and is now a valuable piece of the improving power play unit.  

“Down the stretch here, we need our power play producing, and it has been, so hopefully we’ll keep that going,” Flint said.

The Friars took a few close looks at the net going into the rest of the period, keeping freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson on her toes. The Huskies’ offense appeared slightly more scrambled after its first goal, and it was the Friars who filled its gap and notched 10 shots before senior defender Lily Martinson sealed the deal for a 2-1 lead. In the scramble, Martinson got a shot over Jönsson’s left shoulder and Providence left Northeastern chasing once again.

Northeastern’s breakaways were coming up empty and the team couldn’t seem to replicate its offensive energy it had possessed against Boston College in the Beanpot semifinal. With a minute and a half to go, junior forward Reichen Kirchmair got the puck off the boards to launch a shot from the right face-off circle for a 3-1 scoreboard. 

In an effort to get another point on the board, freshman forward Éloïse Caron found herself practically wrestling goaltender Walinski in the net, receiving a minor goalie interference penalty with a minute left in the second period. The period finished with Caron in the box and the Huskies two points under, a difference they have been unable to come back from so far this season. 

Turnovers were constant going into the third period as the Huskies were having trouble taking meaningful control of the puck. A sequence turned goal where junior forward Lily Brazis, between the faceoff circles, passed to junior defender Jules Constantinople at the net gave the Huskies an energy boost with 15 minutes to go, a 3-2 score on the books. 

Time was ticking as the Huskies circled the net in the second half of the final period, launching eight shots in two minutes as the team tried desperately to tie it up. The Friars took back the game with four shots with only five minutes remaining. With just less than three minutes left on the ice, Northeastern called a timeout. 

Back in the game, Caron was tipped over by the net as the Huskies swarmed, and Northeastern pulled Jönsson with two minutes left as the team tried to tie the 3-2 game. With an empty net to its advantage, Providence called a timeout and after a last minute toss of the puck between the teams in the neutral zone, the Friars came away with their third win against Northeastern this season. 

“Obviously a very disappointing weekend. Effort wasn’t there, execution wasn’t there. There’s a lot of things, not a lot of positive[s] I could pull out of it,” Flint said.

As for lessons for the upcoming Beanpot championship, Flint hopes the losses will only give the Huskies more grit Jan. 21. “Our league is top to bottom, and if you’re not ready to play, you’re going to end up on the losing end,” Flint said. “We weren’t ready to play this weekend, so hopefully we’ll bring that lesson and be ready on Tuesday.” 

The Huskies will take on the Boston University Terriers (14-7-1, 11-4-1) Jan. 21 in the Beanpot finals at TD Garden.