Northeastern women’s hockey (18-10-1, 13-8-1 HE) faced off against the Boston University Terriers (19-8-1, 16-4-1 HE) Feb. 4 in a 3-2 overtime loss only a week after the Terriers’s 4-0 Beanpot defeat.
Despite ranking above BU nationally, Northeastern had something to prove given BU’s No.1 spot in Hockey East standings to Northeastern’s No. 3. Although the Huskies collected two goals to tie it up in the third period, Northeastern fell short in overtime for its second to last game in Matthews Arena.
“Tough loss for sure, especially given how tight the race is for the regular season championship,” said associate head coach Nick Carpenito after the game. “First 40 minutes, not good. We turned it on the last 20. If we play like that the whole game, I think we’re clearly the better team out there.”
The game was fast and furious from the jump, the Huskies taking the puck while freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson deflected the few shots BU managed to get off.
That changed just eight minutes in when freshman defender Tuva Kandell was held up by a stick to the waist in a possible penalty that made the team stutter and fail to block a shot by freshman forward Kaileigh Quigg, bringing the score to 1-0.
The Huskies sprang back into action with two close shots, and the scramble by the goal resulted in a BU penalty called on junior defender Maeve Carey for holding. On the power play, the Huskies seemed seconds away from grabbing their first goal, but after six consecutive shots they couldn’t finish the job.
With two minutes left in the period, freshman forward Éloïse Caron received her 16th penalty of the season for boarding. Caron, who is also the team’s third leading scorer, was benched for the second period.
“If somebody’s putting our team at a disadvantage, we’re not gonna give you an opportunity to do that. [Caron] knows that, she knows exactly what we need from her. It’s a bummer because she’s such an offensive talent, but we’re not willing to sacrifice the greater good for one player,” Carpenito said.
The Huskies were outshot 9-4 in the first period and had a characteristically difficult time playing from behind. Going into the second period, the team was mixing lines, desperate to get on the board.
“I think collectively [that] we could have cleaned up our passing a little bit, especially on our breakouts, not putting that on just the defense, the forwards needed to do a better job being an outlet for them,” Carpenito said.
A late hit from senior forward Ani Fitzgerald to graduate student defender Lily Yovetich gave Fitzgerald two minutes in the penalty box five minutes into the second period. While the energy picked up quickly for the Huskies on the power play, the team finished the advantage unable to level the score.
With eight minutes to go, a hit courtesy of junior defender Jules Constantinople was assessed as indirect contact to the head, handing BU its second power play of the night and weakening the Huskies’ resolve once again.
Five minutes to go in the second period, freshman forward Morgan Jackson took Northeastern’s third penalty for slashing. The team was getting opportunities, but BU’s senior goaltender Callie Shanahan was matching them shot for shot.
“We didn’t really compete that hard. I don’t think we were moving our feet that much on and off the puck. We were taking lazy penalties, which obviously it’s tough to gain any sort of momentum if you’re constantly on the kill,” Carpenito said.
Only a minute later, senior forward Skylar Irving joined Jackson in the box for tripping, making the game three-on-five for a minute while the Terriers circled.
In the last moment of Irving’s penalty, a four-on-five game, junior forward Clara Yuhn took a shot to the corner of Jönsson’s net, nailing in the Terrier’s second goal of the night for a 2-0 score with two minutes to go. The new goal difference only rattled the Huskies more while the Terriers took the reins in the final minutes of the second period.
The Huskies came into the third period with renewed energy, notching seven shots in the first four minutes before junior forward Lily Shannon was spun around after a hit from graduate student forward Lindsay Bochna, who then headed to the penalty box for body checking. Northeastern got some movement on the power play, with five close shots, but Shanahan was locked up, continuing to block shots that the Huskies fired.
Racing back and forth, contact was heavy between the crosstown rivals. It was just the energy the Huskies needed to find the net. Senior forward Taze Thompson came down the left of the ice and passed to the crease where Constantinople deflected the puck to sophomore forward Ella Blackmore, who nailed it in for a long awaited Husky goal, bringing the score to 2-1 with five minutes left in the game.
The Huskies had limited time to tie it up for a potential overtime win. Just a minute later, riding off the high, sophomore forward Allie Lalonde sniped another in from the slot off a rebound from Kandell.
The teams battled it out for the remaining two minutes but eventually sent the Huskies into overtime, their first in Matthews all season.
“I think we have the speed advantage, for sure. I think we sat back a little bit more than we should have,” Carpenito said on the team’s overtime play.
Shannon took the first shot but after 4 and a half minutes, it only took one snipe from sophomore forward Alex Law in the faceoff circle and straight to the back of Jönsson’s net to end the game. The Huskies came up short yet again of a valuable three conference points.
“There’s three huge points on the line up there and it’s not gonna get any easier from here. So we gotta figure out a way to put a little bit more of a consistent effort together,” Carpenito said.
After recently losing nine conference points between Providence College and the University of Vermont, the Huskies will need to bounce back against upcoming competitors the University of Maine and Boston College to earn three-point regulation wins.
The Huskies will face off against the University of Maine Black Bears (8-20-1, 7-14-1 HE) Feb. 7 in Orono Arena.
