The No. 14 Northeastern women’s hockey (2-0, 0-0 HE) took on the Rochester Institute of Technology, or RIT, Tigers (2-2, 0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) in a double home opener Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4. The Huskies were coming off of a successful 6-0 exhibition game, and while they needed some straightening out and help finishing, managed to secure two big wins before they head into conference play next weekend.
On Oct. 3, Northeastern started with a few early shots and strong possession, but less than three minutes in, a two-on-one breakaway by RIT’s senior forward Jaidan Fahrny and junior forward Addie Alvarez finished with a puck under sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson’s pads. Aafter a shot by Alvarez at the right post gave RIT a 1-0 advantage.
Northeastern fired back with a familiar combination. Sophomore forward Morgan Jackson tied the game up in the 11th minute. Sophomore forward Éloïse Caron got Jackson the puck from behind the goal, reminiscent of last year’s connection between the two linemates. Flint later called the line the strongest of the weekend.
“[The second line] played together last year, so we’re working very well together. We’ve got some good chemistry going on and just going to keep it up moving forward,” Jackson said.
While the Huskies fired off a few strong shots shortly after, sophomore forward Ireland Stein’s goal 10 minutes later didn’t leave much room for celebration. Stein’s shot from the crease slipped behind Jönsson in a devastating tiebreaker.
Despite being behind 2-1, the Huskies attempted 23 shots compared to the Tigers’ seven in the first period.
Going into the second period, Flint, in a rare move, challenged that a puck was covered in the crease by the defensive team, but the call stood.
Almost in retaliation, a jaw-dropping shot by freshman defender Ella Lloyd from just above the right faceoff circle sailed to the back of the net off a faceoff from junior forward Allie Lalonde.
“She’s super offensive. She’s great at communicating on the ice, so I’m so happy to be her partner,” junior defender Rylie Jones said of Lloyd.
Going into the third period, the Huskies wanted a goal, but RIT’s senior goaltender Sophia Bellina was locking the net down. The team’s whiffed shots and missed passes were piling up.
“We’ve got to work on our defending a little bit. We’re still giving up a little too much time and space in the zone,” Flint said. “With our speed, I want us to play quicker and shut down on the other team in our own end and then just bear down on some of our chances. We had some great ‘A’s’ that we missed [Friday]. We’ve just got to bear down on those.”
After what felt at times like a fruitless effort by the Huskies, Northeastern got its break on the power play. A missed shot by senior forward Lily Shannon bounced off of Jackson’s stick before finding Caron, who knocked the puck into the net for a 3-2 game. Caron leapt into Shannon’s arms, and the team breathed a sigh of relief, taking the lead for the first time five minutes into the final period.
Play lit up in the final minutes. In a particularly dramatic penalty, Alvarez knocked a glove into Caron’s face after the whistle and later, RIT’s freshman defender Lily Andreassi received a penalty for tripping. Despite the two final power plays for Northeastern, both nets stayed empty the remainder of the game.
Going into Saturday’s game, the intensity from the day before resumed as the Huskies started off with close shots by Caron, senior forward Lily Brazis and graduate student forward Jaden Bogden. They immediately looked a bit more put together than the night before but struggled to maintain an edge throughout the 60 minutes. Shortly after two saves by Jönsson, RIT’s junior defender Emma Pickering fired a shot under her pads from the upper slot for a 1-0 game 11 minutes in.
While the Huskies dominated shots and possession, the team seemingly could not finish in the first two periods. Much like Friday, the team was getting to the net and getting open chances but could not follow through in the moments that counted. At the end of the period, Northeastern nearly doubled RIT’s shots attempted 21-11 but only led by three shots on goal.
The second period saw a similar lack of net action – but not for a lack of attempted shots. Northeastern had 22 to RIT’s 16, but neither could find the net. Instead, the team wasted time fending off two penalties from Bogden for body checking and Shannon for tripping.
The Huskies got back on their feet less than two minutes into the final period when junior forward Ella Blackmore took a shot from the lower slot, got her own rebound and knocked it into the net for a 1-1 score. It’s safe to say the Ellas contributed their fair share this weekend.
Right off the goal, the Huskies were on the power play, where they took three shots. A minute later, Northeastern took the lead for the first time in the game at 2-1.
Lloyd slid the puck along the boards to senior forward Holly Abela behind the net, who passed across the slot to Jones in the faceoff circle. Jones then shot and scored for her first collegiate goal.
“[Jones] didn’t have much to shoot at, [but] she put it right in that upper 90. That was a huge goal for us,” Flint said.
“[The goal was] super exciting. I’m so thankful to be able to [score] here in Matthews,” Jones said. “I’m just so proud of this team. It feels really great to string together two wins on the weekend.”
Caron took a penalty shot with four minutes left, awarded after RIT covered the puck unfairly. She approached from the right and took the shot to the lower corner, but Bellina shut it down. The Huskies got another shot after a knocked down Shannon got Jackson the puck by the empty net, and Jackson knocked it in for a 3-1 board.
“[RIT’s] goalie played great this weekend. But [the game] showed a little resilience [from] our team, going into the third down one and battling and sticking with the game plan,” Flint said. “And [we] got the job done. We got 2 Ws, so I’m happy with that.”
Northeastern will take on its first Hockey East opponent, the Providence College Friars (0-2, 0-0 HE), Oct. 10 and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (1-5,0-0 ECAC) Oct. 11.
