No. 12 Northeastern women’s hockey (4-2,1-0 HE) faced off against No. 7 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (8-0, 0-0 ECAC) Oct. 17 and 18 in Hamden, Conn., and came home empty. Sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson was back in the net Oct. 17 for a 5-3 game, and freshman goaltender Renna Trembecky took the net for a 4-2 Oct. 18.
In their last faceoff Oct. 4 and 5, 2024, the teams split the weekend. Quinnipiac was Northeastern’s first ranked opponent this season, giving the team an additional challenge in order to warm up for the forthcoming conference place.
It was Quinnipiac’s senior forward Emerson Jarvis who first found the net 13 minutes in. Skating down the ice, graduate student forward Laurence Frenette shot to Jarvis in a clean two-on-one, giving her a shot at the goal. Jarvis nailed the puck — which knocked off senior defender Kristina Allard’s stick — to the top of Jönsson’s net for a 1-0 game. Northeastern doubled Quinnipiac’s shots 14 to seven in the first period but failed to finish.
To leave the Huskies at a two-goal deficit only 30 seconds into the second period, junior forward Kahlen Lamarche shot a rocket straight to the right side of the net from the left face-off circle, where it bounced off the pipe before passing the goal line.
Only 30 seconds later, sophomore forward Éloïse Caron was stuck in a race to the near corner with senior defender Zoe Uens. While both skated at a high speed, Caron was pushed into the sides. The game was stopped for around six minutes before Caron was guided to the locker room. No penalty was called against Quinnipiac for the play.
A minute later, freshman forward Stryker Zablocki went down in the same corner after losing an edge while going full speed into the boards. Luckily, both Caron and Zablocki returned to the bench in the same period.
The Huskies could not find the net after a few solid shots before Lamarche came in for her second goal of the night. She lifted the puck in the left face-off circle and shot over Jönsson’s left shoulder for a 3-0 game. It was Lamarche’s third consecutive two-goal game.
With five minutes left in the second period, Zablocki passed to Caron at the net off a face-off, and Caron took the shot. The puck was lost in the shuffle until it appeared just by the goal line, at which point Caron skated behind the net and tapped it in for her third goal of the season.
On the seventh power play of the evening, senior defender Jules Constantinople closed in on the deficit with a powerful shot from the back just a minute later, making the score 3-2. Like déjà vu, on the Huskies’ eighth power play, Constantinople took another shot from the same face-off circle for a 3-3 game.
The teams exchanged shots and three penalties in the following minutes before Lamarche came back for a hat trick, taking the shot from the lower slot off an assist from senior forward Tessa Holk, 4-3.
Two minutes later on the power play after Constantinople was called for interference, Lamarche took her fourth shot off an assist from sophomore defender Aynsley D’Ottavio, ending the game 5-3.
On Sunday, Northeastern suffered a similar fate at the hands of Lamarche, who scored another hat trick. This time, Trembecky took to the net for her second collegiate start, where she made 36 saves.
Northeastern started the scoring two minutes into the second period after Constantinople raced down the ice, making a pass to Caron at the net, who then slotted it in on a neat two-on-one.
However, Lamarche shot from the wall near the blue line five minutes later, tying the game at 1-1.
A goal from sophomore defender Tuva Kandell to finish the second period gave the Huskies some momentary relief. Junior forward Allie Lalonde won the faceoff and passed to Kandell, who found the net to give Northeastern the lead back, 2-1.
The third period belonged to Quinnipiac. Lamarche was unstoppable, making her seven-goal weekend look easy. Five minutes into the third period, she managed her second goal of the evening and took the lead. With two minutes to go in the third, Lamarche fired a backhand shot to Trembecky’s net off an assist from Frenette.
Jarvis added to the tally on an empty-net just seconds after Lamarche’s goal, bringing the final score to 4-2. Trembecky more than held her own in the match-up, despite letting in four. Head coach Dave Flint won’t have a lack of solid goalies to choose from as the season progresses, but only time will tell who he ultimately picks as the continuous starter.
Quinnipiac was Northeastern’s first real challenge, and although it didn’t see much on the board, the team still looked strong. Last year’s team would likely not have been able to nab three goals after being down 3-0, and if this team can build on that, it might be the start of a successful season.
While the Huskies’ match-up against Boston University in two weeks might prove to be chippy and fast-paced, the real test will be if the team can still bring its offensive power deeper into the season.
Northeastern will face off against the Boston University Terriers (0-5, 0-0 HE) Oct. 31 on BU’s home ice, Walter Brown Arena, and Nov. 1 at Matthews Arena.
