No. 8 Northeastern women’s hockey (10-2-0, 7-0-0 HE) swept the Merrimack College Warriors (2-11-1, 0-7-0 HE) Nov. 14 and 15. The team is now on its longest Hockey East opening win streak in program history, with seven wins, although it has yet to win against a ranked team.
Freshman forward Stryker Zablocki officially made her mark Nov. 14 after becoming the first freshman to get a hat trick since Kendall Coyne, Northeastern’s all-time leading scorer, in the 2011-12 season.
Despite the sweep, head coach Dave Flint was disappointed postgame Nov. 14, saying he hoped to see a more complete effort from his team.
“We just can’t cruise through games if we want to be one of the best teams at the end,” he said.
Zablocki found the back of the net just five minutes into play after shooting from the faceoff circle off an assist from senior forward and captain Lily Shannon.
“It’s an honor to play on her line. She’s an unbelievable captain, unbelievable person, great on the ice, and just a great person to look up to,” Zablocki said of Shannon Nov. 14.
Five minutes later, senior defender Jules Constantinople passed to Zablocki at the top of the faceoff circle. Zablocki found space in the upper slot and shot straight to the back of the net, putting the Huskies up 2-0.
A penalty on Northeastern for too many skaters on the ice in the final minutes of the first period led to a goal by junior forward Emma Pfeffer that cut the Huskies’ lead in half. Former Husky and current Merrimack senior forward Avery Anderson was on the assist. It was the first of two too-many-players penalties, which Flint said “can’t happen.”
The game got chippy, and by the end of the night, there were a total of 13 penalties, six of which were on the Huskies.
Five minutes into the second period, Zablocki found an opening and shot straight from between the faceoff circles. Not only was it a hat trick for the freshman, it made her the team’s leading scorer with seven goals.
The team picked back up momentarily with seven minutes to go in the second period. Junior forward Ellie Mabardy caught the rebound from senior forward Mia Langlois and shot from the left of the net for her first collegiate goal.
“I love our fourth line. They’re so good right now. They create every time and they’re just energy, energy, energy,” Flint said of Mabardy, Langlois and freshman forward Emy McDermid.
Sophomore defender Tristan Thompson, who has replaced Tuva Kandell in the lineup, was out due to an injury sustained in the Nov. 8 game against the University of Vermont.
The changes in the lineup likely had something to do with what Flint saw as an inconsistent effort from the team’s defense. “They had a little trouble handling pucks and decision making wasn’t great … We gave up too many grade-A chances tonight, and we need to be better in that area,” he said.
The team may be ranked No. 8 in the nation, but Flint thinks there is still room to grow.
“If we want to be one of the best teams at the end, we’ve got to find a way to put it together and have a consistent effort and do the little things right. I think we got two goals early and we kind of tried to put it in cruise control,” he said.
The Huskies took him up on it in Andover Nov. 15, taking a 5-0 win over Merrimack.
Sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson was back in the net, replacing freshman Renna Trembecky, who had made 16 saves the night before. Jönsson made 10 saves.
Northeastern displayed its depth in the second game. A goal was scored from every line by the end of the matchup.
Junior forward Ella Blackmore started off scoring. After Blackmore shot from the left of the net, senior forward Lily Brazis picked it back up with another shot. Blackmore got the rebound and was able to find the net just five minutes into the first period.
Two minutes later, Langlois took a smooth shot from the right half-wall to the opposite side of the net for a 2-0 game and her first goal of the season. By the end of the first period, Northeastern had 11 shots on goal to Merrimack’s three.
Seven minutes into the second period, the third line piled into the crease to shoot. Freshman goaltender Lauren Lyons fended off four consecutive shots before Brazis found the net, her second of the season.
Despite an injury taking her out of the game Nov. 7, sophomore forward Éloïse Caron was back on the ice all weekend. A minute into the third period, she sailed down the ice and passed to sophomore forward Morgan Jackson, who took a shot. Caron got the rebound and lodged it in for her seventh goal of the season.
To end the weekend, Shannon, on the power play, came up from the left of the net to shoot right over Lyon’s pads for a 5-0 game. Merrimack has not won against Northeastern since 2023. Northeastern has broken bad patterns from last season and is turning out to be a deep and competitive team as play advances.
The Huskies will take on the University of Maine Black Bears (4-8-1, 2-3-1 HE) in Orono, Maine, Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.
