Northeastern women’s hockey (26-7-1, 21-2-1 HE) took on the University of Connecticut Huskies (24-8-2, 17-6-1 HE) Feb. 20 and the Providence College Friars (11-21-2, 8-14-2 HE) Feb. 21 in its final weekend of the regular season, coming out victorious in both matchups.
The past few weeks haven’t been easy for the Huskies. Top producers like sophomore forward Éloïse Caron, graduate student forward Jaden Bogden and senior forward Holly Abela have been sidelined with injuries, while freshman defender Alessia Baechler has been on leave for the Milan Olympics, where she won a bronze medal with Switzerland.
After taking their second conference loss to Boston College in overtime last weekend, the Huskies needed to prove they could go out on top. They did just that, beating UConn 3-2 in overtime and Providence 4-2.
UConn might be ranked sixth in the country, but it hasn’t beaten Northeastern since the Hockey East Championship March 9, 2024. With sophomore Lisa Jönsson and graduate student Tia Chan in the net, it was another goalie battle; Jönsson ultimately had 35 saves and Chan had 20.
Junior forward Ashley Allard opened scoring after a scramble at the net to put UConn on the board less than four minutes into the game.
With Northeastern on the power play due to tripping, junior forward Allie Lalonde passed back and forth with senior defender Jules Constantinople before she found junior defender Rylie Jones to the right of the high slot. Jones then notched the first Northeastern goal of the night 11 minutes in. It was the second goal of Jones’ career.
UConn’s sophomore forward Claire Murdoch responded with a shot around Jönsson’s right to the bottom left corner of the net with 35 seconds to go in the first period. The game remained scoreless until freshman forward Stryker Zablocki got on the board to tie it up with five minutes to go in the second period, tipping in a Lalonde assist by the net.
Regulation time raced down in the third period, with Northeastern taking only five shots to UConn’s 18, sending the game into overtime.
It was sophomore forward Morgan Jackson who came through in the first minute of overtime, racing down the ice before shooting between Chan’s legs to win the game and to secure her 10th goal of the season.
Lines remained the same going into Feb. 21, besides freshman Renna Trembecky taking the net. After only taking two conference losses (both in overtime) after 24 games, the Huskies wanted to finish regulation on a high before taking on the postseason. Those plans proved to be difficult after Providence took two goals in the first 63 seconds.
Senior forward and captain Reichen Kirchmair took her 100th point 26 seconds in after skating through the neutral zone before lining up in the slot for a shot that hit the inside post.
Thirty-seven seconds later, the Friars forced a turnover, and sophomore forward Jessie Pellerin set up freshman forward Molly Farace for a smooth shot in the lower slot.
Trembecky held her own after the initial lapse, making 22 saves. Graduate student goaltender Hope Walinski made 30 saves.
Ten minutes into the second period, the Huskies finally got on the board after Lalonde sent a pass from the defensive zone to Zablocki in the offensive zone, who went one-on-one with Walinski. She struck to Walinski’s top right to cut the deficit.
The Zablocki-Lalonde connection didn’t stop going into the third period. Lalonde took a Zablocki rebound into the net, tying the game up with 11 minutes to go.
Senior forward and captain Lily Shannon found the game winner 36 seconds later. Freshman forward Emy McDermid pushed the puck to Shannon by the boards that Shannon raced down. She gained control of the puck before ripping it to the left from the side of the net to hit the upper corner.
For her final point of the regular season, Zablocki netted an empty net goal with a minute and 21 second remaining in the game. The point made her tied for the 11th highest producer in the NCAA with 42 points.
As the No. 1 seed going into the Hockey East tournament, the Huskies will play the winner of the Merrimack College vs. the University of Maine game Feb. 28 in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
