Northeastern women’s hockey (22-13-1, 15-11-1 HE) beat the University of Connecticut Huskies (22-12-2, 19-6-2 HE) 3-1 March 5 to finish its season sweep over the team and head to the Hockey East Championship for the ninth consecutive year.
The game started off as expected with the Husky-versus-Husky faceoff — fast and physical. Freshman forward Morgan Jackson, who was out in the quarterfinals, was back on the lineup, working on the fourth line instead of her normal second line.
The first period proved the matchup to be another goalie battle between senior Tia Chan and freshman Lisa Jönsson, both National Goaltender of the Year semifinalists. The two hold top ten NCAA save percentages, Chan with .945 and Jönsson with .939. They put on a show to make 12 and 13 saves, respectively, leaving the opening period scoreless.
Northeastern had taken three of the three regular season games against UConn, two of which were in Hartford, but this game brought out a different motivation for Northeastern as it avenged an overtime loss from last year’s Hockey East Championship, also in UConn’s Toscano Family Ice Forum.
The second period had both teams laying on added pressure, hoping to find the net. Six minutes into the period, graduate student forward Jaden Bogden took a penalty for hooking. Only 20 seconds later, junior forward Kyla Josifovic took a minor for delaying the game, leaving the teams to play four-on-four in the remaining time. The penalties ended scoreless.
Ten minutes into the second period, freshman defender Tuva Kandell took a penalty for boarding, and a minute later UConn had the first goal of the night. Junior forward Christina Walker passed from the left to senior forward Riley Grimley, who shot a puck from the lower slot that flew just over Jönsson’s outstretched glove for a 1-0 game.
The Huskies have a history of struggling to play from behind, but they’ve turned the record around in the last few matches, notably in a high-intensity Boston College matchup. With stakes this high, the team was able to keep up the offensive effort after the initial goal, although the period ended with eight Northeastern shots on goal to UConn’s 10.
During an unsuspecting moment, senior forward Skylar Irving took Northeastern’s first goal six minutes into the third period after skating to the offensive zone during a line change, taking on the UConn skaters by herself. Irving skated down the right side and shot the puck against the board, landing it behind the net. She collected the puck from a foot behind the goal and took a shot to Chan’s outstretched pads, which ricocheted the puck into the net for the equalizer.
SKYLAR IRVING IS INEVITABLE.
📺 @NESN | 💻 https://t.co/85Pbj0CnVN pic.twitter.com/StLWJ8Z6QL
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) March 6, 2025
Six minutes later, Jackson skated the puck down left ice into a waiting freshman forward Éloïse Caron and Irving, who took the last possession and tipped it in for a 2-1 game.
With six minutes to go in the third period, Northeastern went on its second power play of the night after sophomore defender Maya Serdachny was called for interference. Northeastern remained on the offensive as time ticked by, taking eight shots in the following three minutes to keep the pressure on UConn. Jönsson had 36 total saves, one short from her season high, to keep the opposing Huskies at bay.
Thirty seconds after Northeastern’s power play finished, Jackson came in with her second assist of the night, skating down center ice before dropping a pass to junior forward Lily Brazis, who took a shot, collected the rebound and launched the puck behind Chan for a 3-1 game with less than three minutes remaining. The goal was Jackson’s ninth assist and Brazis’ fifth goal this season.
UConn cleared its net with two minutes to go, but Jönsson locked down the net and Northeastern went home with its fourth season victory over UConn, heading to its ninth-straight appearance at the Hockey East Championship.
Northeastern will face off against Boston University (23-11-2, 18-7-2 HE) for a Beanpot championship rematch at Toscano Family Ice Forum March 8.
