Northeastern women’s hockey (17-8-1, 12-6-1 HE) faced off against the Merrimack College Warriors (6-17-3, 3-13-3 HE) and came back with its fourth weekend sweep of the season, with a 4-0 score Jan. 24 and 4-1 Jan. 25. 

Coming off a high from an overwhelming 4-0 victory at the 2025 Beanpot tournament Jan. 21 against the Boston University Terriers, the team was looking toward further conference play to climb to the top of the competitive Hockey East pool. 

“Winning the Beanpot, I feel like it brought us together and we’re going to turn that energy into all the games we have left,” senior defender Tory Mariano said post-game Jan. 24.

It was on the Huskies to turn their Beanpot success into continued momentum toward the end of the season, and Merrimack was the first test.

The Warriors came in hot as the teams battled for the puck in the first minutes of the Jan. 24 game. Merrimack got six shots off in the first five minutes, hanging on the Huskies’ every move as Northeastern tried desperately to move away from the defensive zone and create space from the ever-enclosing Warriors. 

Freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson was putting on a show, making nine saves in the first period while Northeastern struggled to make a breakaway shot count. A close shot by sophomore forward Allie Lalonde at 10 minutes was the Huskies’ first good look at the net, the shot saved by junior goaltender Calli Hogarth. A ruthless Merrimack defense wasn’t letting the Huskies get far as Northeastern worked overtime to fend off shots in its defensive zone. 

The Huskies came away with 11 blocks in the game, adding to their season tally of 362 blocks — the most of any Hockey East team. 

With three minutes left in the first period, the Huskies went on the power play after freshman defender Maggie Kime was called for hooking. Northeastern was able to step up and find the net as Lalonde took a shot from the upper slot that landed in the top of the net past Hogarth, bringing the score to 1-0 with two minutes to go in the period. The Huskies had some legs to move on now, given the team’s record is 13-1-0 when scoring first. 

A minute into the second period, the Huskies were still on a high as the second line found the net once again when freshman forward Morgan Jackson made a sharp pass to freshman forward Éloïse Caron, who finished the job from the right of the net, the puck sailing past Hogarth for the second time in the night. The line is newly constructed, but Caron and Jackson have a history, the two having previously played together on the U18 Canadian National Team at the 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championship, where they won gold.

“The scary part is they haven’t really truly developed that maximum chemistry that they could get,” associate head coach Nick Carpenito said of the second-line, consisting of Caron, Jackson and Lalonde. “It’s great to see them score, and they’ve been doing a pretty good job of it so far since we put them together. Hopefully they peak at the right time.” 

Caron’s goal went under review for offsides, only for the Huskies to keep it. Merrimack had started strong but was already appearing more fatigued as it failed to find the net two goals down.  

With nine minutes to go in the second period, junior defender Ashlyn Kroes was called for tripping, giving the Huskies their second power play of the night. Immediately swarming the net, the Huskies launched three shots before time ran out. The second period finished without further action, shots split more evenly as the Huskies gained the upper hand. 

“I think it just took us a minute to get our legs back from the [TD] Garden,” Carpenito said of the change between the first and second periods Jan. 24. “Once we made a couple of adjustments in the locker, we started attacking the middle of the ice a little bit more, and thought we were able to break that puck out a bit easier.” 

As the third period began, the Huskies weren’t slowing down. Mariano passed to junior forward Lily Shannon from behind the net five minutes in. Shannon chucked the puck into the net from the lower slot. 

“It was a perfect play,” Mariano said of the assist. “I kind of just went down the wall and she was wide open from the net, so I kind of just gave it to her and she put it in.” 

Eight minutes into the final period, freshman defender Tuva Kandell received a minor for interference, giving the Warriors a chance to put themselves on the board, only for junior forward Holly Abela to make a successful breakaway shot for the second short-handed goal of the season. Abela raced down the rink, letting the puck sail between Hogarth’s knees for a 4-0 scoreboard, bringing the team energy up once again in the final minutes. 

A difficult save with a minute to go secured Jönsson her seventh shutout of the season. After finishing the game with 25 saves, she made no sign of slowing down after her recent recognition as the Beanpot’s MVP and the recipient of the Bertagna Award. 

3rd | Lisa is DIALED right now.

📺 https://t.co/IjWFe6ueWi pic.twitter.com/tOUzxfv1Is

— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) January 25, 2025

The Huskies kept the energy high all weekend. “Everybody we play, it’s going to be their best game. Everybody wants to beat the Huskies, so we need to be prepared for that every time we step on the ice,” Carpenito said. 

A day later, the Huskies went to North Andover to face off against the Warriors for the second time in a 4-1 match. The game bore immediate resemblance to the night before, with the Warriors coming on strong, notching 16 shots on goal in the first period to Northeastern’s eight. But their aggressiveness wasn’t helping them find the net, something senior forward Skylar Irving didn’t have trouble with. 

Off an assist from assistant captain and junior defender Kristina Allard, Irving collected her 10th goal of the season with a sniper from the back of the faceoff circle, bringing the scoreboard to 1-0 only five minutes in. 

The Warriors were desperate not to repeat the night before, launching 11 shots after Irving’s goal before they got past Jönsson on a rebound. Sophomore forward Emma Pfeffer came in with a shot to the upper corner of the net during a scramble in the slot, her first goal of the season. 

Six minutes into the second period, the Huskies got their first power play of the night after senior forward Tara Blackburn was called for tripping. Thirty seconds into the advantage, Mariano took a shot from the back of the slot that bounced off a defender before settling in the back of the net, bringing the board to 2-1. Mariano has dominated with 12 assists this season, including two Jan. 24, but this was just her second goal of the season. 

Mariano’s success runs throughout the entire backline as Northeastern is ranked seventh in the country for the highest scoring defense average at 1.71.

Abela celebrated her 100th career game with a successful breakaway four minutes into the third period, bringing the scoreboard to 3-1. Caron finished the job seven minutes later, finding space by the net for a smooth shot from Lalonde, putting the puck in the net for a final 4-1 game and her eighth goal of the season.  

Every league point matters for the Huskies as Hockey East remains neck-and-neck for the top four positions. Post-Beanpot, Carpenito hopes the team is ready to stand their own in regular season games.

“We can tell them, you know, until we’re blue in the face, ‘You guys got to be ready,’” Carpenito said Jan. 24. “They just need to find a way to motivate themselves to be ready for games like today.”The team will next face off against the University of Vermont Catamounts (5-19-2, 4-13-2 HE) Jan. 31 in Matthews Arena on its road to the NCAA playoffs.