No. 15 Northeastern women’s hockey (19-12-1, 14-10-1 HE) took on the crosstown rival Boston College Eagles (19-12-1, 15-9-1 HE) for a tense, back-and-forth split weekend Feb. 14 and 16. 

The teams were 1-1 in conference play going into the matchup, their last meeting being in the Beanpot semifinals where the Huskies came away with a 4-2 victory. The first game ended in an overtime goal by junior forward Lily Shannon, 5-4 for the Huskies. The second night started off strong for Northeastern, but as the periods went on, the Eagles’ aggressive play wore on the Huskies, who eventually took a 3-2 loss.

The Feb. 14 game in Chestnut Hill started slow for the Huskies. Only 35 seconds into the first period, Northeastern slipped up and were given a “too many players on the ice” penalty. Graduate student forward Molly Griffin served the time, and only 10 seconds later, Boston College’s junior defender Jade Arnone shot from the blue line, the puck deflected into the net by captain and graduate student forward Gaby Roy for a 1-0 BC start. 

The next goal was taken by freshman forward Tricia Piku off a pass from the left faceoff circle by senior forward Katie Pyne. Not two minutes in, the Huskies were down by two in a game with high playoff stakes. 

Tension escalated fast with the goal deficit as players exchanged hits, but it was the Huskies who were able to channel the energy into the net. Six minutes into the game, freshman forward Èloïse Caron came in from the left for a clean shot to the back of junior goaltender Grace Campbell’s net. 

“It’s going to be a battle with them and we have to be ready to try to just weather the storm and stay, you know, here. And not get too high and not get too long,” said Boston College head coach Katie Crowley after the game.

The Huskies finished the period down 2-1 but had dominated the shot count 20-5. 

On a roll going into the second period, the Huskies tied it up three minutes in off a shot from Shannon after sideways passes from freshman defender Tuva Kandell and freshman forward Morgan Jackson.

A minute later, Boston College fired back off the faceoff; The Eagles got the puck to junior forward Kate Ham, who shot from the high slot to freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson’s left, putting the scoreboard at 3-2. The third goal forced the Huskies to play from behind yet again, something the team has struggled with all season. 

Senior forward Skylar Irving was not letting up this time around, though, forcing a puck in from the crease only 20 seconds later to tie the game up, her 12th goal of the season.

“They have some kids that are pretty offensively threatening and, you know, they were able to find ways to score there,” Crowley said.

The teams exchanged shots and missed passes, both needing a fourth goal to tip them over the edge. Caron came out with her second goal of the game, a shot from the slot off a pass from sophomore forward Allie Lalonde. 

Against Boston University Feb. 4, Caron had been benched for a period after a season filled with penalties, but Feb. 14 became her second game all season to score two goals. 

Going into their fourth overtime of the season and third in the last four games, the Huskies went back and forth with the Eagles before Shannon knocked it in from the right off her own rebound for a 5-4 overtime victory, two regulation points.

“That game on Sunday is going to be whoever is able to recover fastest from today,” Crowley said after the Feb. 14 game of the following night’s matchup. 

In the last regular season game in Matthews Arena Feb. 15, the teams battled for three Hockey East points. The Huskies’ win the night before put them in a tie with BC at 43 points. 

Coming off the bench 10 minutes into the game, Caron grabbed the puck and passed it back and forth with Lalonde before taking the shot, the puck reaching the goal line in a scramble. The potential point was assessed as a goal after deliberation, the first of the game. 

“[Caron] had some good jump this weekend and scored some nice goals. I think she went through a little tough patch a few weeks ago where she was pressing a little bit too much and maybe struggled a little bit,” said Dave Flint, the head coach for the Huskies, regarding Caron’s three-goal weekend.

Roy went on the breakaway shortly after, but Jönsson, in a move characteristic of the National Goalie of the Year semifinalist, kept the net shut in the first period, making 19 saves. 

With 30 seconds left in the first period, captain and senior forward Abby Newhook was called for boarding, giving the defense a release from an onslaught of shots by the Eagles. 

Going into the second period still on the power play, the Huskies couldn’t make up any ground in the advantage after a few strong shots from the Eagles. Four minutes into the period, freshman forward Alanna Devlin got a goal off a rebound, tying the game up while the Huskies faltered. Northeastern was struggling to find its earlier energy while the Eagles were taking advantage of every whiffed shot and missed pass. 

Five minutes later, the Eagles struck again. Jönsson dived for a shot to her right only for a sharp pass to be made to the other side, where Newhook took the shot to a nearly empty net. The Eagles got the lead for a 2-1 scoreboard.

“We’re giving up goals that we shouldn’t be giving up. We just got to find a way to get it together and be better in these last few weeks,” Flint said.

The Huskies were racing against the clock in the third period, desperately trying to gain some momentum to tie it up. Kandell got one from the high slot to the top of the net, leaving the game at 2-2 for a short moment. 

Only two minutes later, junior defender Jules Constantinople was called for hooking and the Eagles swarmed the crease. With the puck loose, Jönsson blocked four shots before sophomore forward Julia Pellerin got one through, bringing the game to 3-2 with 10 minutes left. 

Northeastern took a timeout, but the Eagles won the faceoff coming back with two minutes to go. 

The Huskies scrambled in the offensive zone, not finding an opportunity in the final minutes. A faceoff on center ice with 20 seconds to go led to the Huskies coming up empty, losing out on a valuable three regulation points and falling to fifth in the Hockey East standings.

The team will play the University of Vermont next, a team they lost to less than a month prior Jan. 31 1-0.

“We’re going to play a little desperate now. We’re fighting for home ice for the playoffs. That’s one of our goals. We learned a couple weeks ago, Vermont’s not slow. They play everybody tough. They’re well-coached and we have to be ready. We desperately need two wins next weekend,” Flint said.

The Huskies will take on the University of Vermont Catamounts (7-23-2, 6-17-2) Feb. 21 for their final weekend of conference play.