Northeastern women’s hockey (28-8-1, 21-2-1 HE) fell 2-1 to the University of Connecticut Huskies (27-8-2, 17-6-1 HE) March 7 in the Hockey East championship game. Despite the loss, both teams are likely to move on to the NCAA tournament because of their NCAA percentage index rankings. Still, the pride of having a seventh Hockey East championship trophy was lost after a devastating double-overtime defeat.
It was the Huskies’ 10th consecutive championship game and their fourth time meeting UConn in the championship. While Northeastern has beaten UConn in each game in the last two seasons, the 2024 Hockey East championship was a similar Husky vs. Husky matchup, and UConn won in overtime.
Northeastern’s senior forward Holly Abela was back in the lineup since being scratched moments before the game against Boston College Feb. 15. The championship game marked the first time in two months the Huskies weren’t plagued by end-of-season injuries and absences.
The first period finished scoreless with UConn leading in shots, 12 to 11. Sophomore forward Éloïse Caron received a penalty for tripping, but UConn couldn’t find the net on the advantage. Northeastern has the second highest penalty kill percentage in the NCAA at .895.
Two minutes into the second period, UConn’s junior forward Livvy Dewar and senior forward Christina Walker brought the puck down to their offensive zone. Dewar then passed to sophomore forward Sadie Hotles, who rushed toward the net and managed to knock it past sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson to put UConn ahead 1-0.
Five minutes later, on the power play, junior defender Rylie Jones came flying in after freshman defender Ella Lloyd knocked the puck to freshman forward Stryker Zablocki. Jones shot the puck from the high slot for the equalizer.
UConn dominated in shots on goal in the final two periods, 27 to 13 — a far cry from Northeastern’s characteristic high shot count.
The teams went into overtime after the third period came up empty. In playoffs, the teams play 20-minute overtime periods, an exhausting difference from the regular season’s 5-minute periods.
Jönsson made 54 saves throughout the game. Graduate student goaltender Tia Chan, who was recently named a Patty Kazmeier Top-Ten finalist and Hockey East goaltender of the year, made 56. The game broke the attendance record for the Hockey East women’s championship game, drawing 2,168 fans. Northeastern fans still traveled to Connecticut despite the unusual set up of the No. 1 seed playing at its opponent’s arena.
For the first time all game, Northeastern led in shots 17 to eight in the first overtime. Nonetheless, both teams came up empty, and play was forced into a second overtime.
Two minutes into the fifth period, Shannon took a penalty for goaltender interference. Freshman defender Camryn Grimley then took an identical penalty for roughing, sending the teams into 4-on-4 play that ended with a Northeastern advantage in shots but nothing in the net. Once again, Northeastern outshot UConn 16 to nine.
With less than five minutes remaining in second overtime, after nearly 100 minutes of play time, UConn’s senior forward Kyla Josifovic caught a rebound from sophomore forward Claire Murdoch after Murdoch and Allard passed back and forth through the offensive zone. Josifovic’s shot went to Jönsson’s left and hit the net.
At No. 5 in the NCAA percentage index, or NPI, Northeastern will still head to the NCAA tournament. The tournament schedule will be announced at 11:30 a.m. March 8.
