By Jared Sugerman
Midterms are out of the way, but the women’s hockey team was given its toughest test of the year Saturday, facing No. 4 Boston College (6-0-2, 3-0 Hockey East).
The Huskies’ (5-1-2, 2-1 Hockey East) 5-0 loss could be considered disappointing, but head coach Dave Flint doesn’t necessarily see things that way.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘It’s a good learning lesson for us,'” Flint said. “Don’t take it as a negative. Take it as a positive. Let’s build on this and learn from this and then move on.”
Prior to Saturday’s contest, Northeastern (5-1-2) was officially unranked, but had received more votes than any other team outside of the top 10. A win against the Eagles, who have yet to lose a game in regulation, could have earned the Huskies a spot in the USCHO.com poll.
“I think we were very excited going into the game,” said junior defender and co-captain Katy Applin. “We knew we could come out of this game in the top 10. We’ll see what happens now with that result.”
Boston College showed Northeastern what it takes to be a top 10 team, beating sophomore goalie Leah Sulyma five times to double the number of goals allowed by the Huskies this season. Both teams have now given up 10 goals in eight games, but the Eagles have scored 29, compared to 18 for the Huskies.
“Leah played, I’d say, an average game, but your goalies can’t stand on their head every night,” Flint said. “An average game is a good game. We’ve got to score goals. We’re not going to win hockey games with a zero on the board,” he said.
Boston College also outshot Northeastern, 35-16, keeping the load light for their goalie, junior Molly Schaus.
“She’s a great goalie, but we still need to make sure that we get more pucks to net. I don’t think we challenged her enough today,” Applin said.
Sophomore forward Kristi Kehoe was able to get the puck past Schaus, once during the second period and again during the third. But on both occasions, it ricocheted off the iron and away from the net. If Kehoe had converted on her first attempt, she would have evened the score at one.
Prior to the game, Kehoe gave an emotional speech, honoring the life and memory of Rebecca Payne, who served as the team’s trainer last season and was shot to death in her Mission Hill apartment in May. Kehoe said Payne was a very special person, who helped the team both on and off the ice.
Kehoe’s words were part of a ceremony that also included the presentation of a commemorative jersey to Payne’s parents, Nick and Virginia. Northeastern Athletics Director Peter Roby accompanied them onto the ice.
Though Flint said he was not sure how the pregame ceremonies affected his team’s performance, he did cite other reasons as to why his team was not able to avoid their first regulation loss of the season.
“[Boston College is] a great team,” Flint said. They have tons of talent, from the goal line out. To beat them, everybody’s got to have their best game, and then you’ve got to get some bounces,” he said.
He also noted that the Huskies were without sophomore defender Julia Marty, who dislocated her shoulder last weekend and is not expected back until at least next Sunday, when Northeastern will welcome the Maine Black Bears to Matthews Arena for a 2 p.m. showdown.
