Durham, NH — After winning the first game of the series comfortably, 3–1, the Northeastern women’s hockey team made the trip up to Durham to face the New Hampshire Wildcats on their home ice.
Throughout this young season, the Huskies have struggled early in games. Saturday night was no different, as they looked sluggish compared to the much slower Wildcat skaters. Early penalties against Wildcats Maddie Truax and Kyla Bent did little to kickstart the slumbering Husky offense. Northeastern struggled with passing accurately and struggled even more with putting their shots on target.
Their defense struggled as well, allowing New Hampshire to put three clean shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. A stretch pass from the Wildcats’ Emily Rickwood to a surging Nicole Kelly yielded a one-on-one chance against Husky goalie Frankel. Frankel couldn’t stop the puck, and Kelly slid it five hole for a one-goal lead.
Northeastern’s sloppy play did not stop, as the Huskies were called offsides as they tried to enter the offensive zone. Their defense improved, as they severely limited the Wildcats’ chances, but their offense didn’t respond. The Huskies concluded the opening period with only three shots on goal.
The story flipped on its head for the second, as the Huskies finally showed signs of offensive life. The game swung their way after three successive penalties against the Wildcats gave Northeastern several good looks on the man advantage. The third time was the charm, as Brooke Hobson netted Northeastern’s first power-play goal of the season to tie things up.
Northeastern finished the period strong, firing 14 shots to New Hampshire’s three.
“Our second period was awesome,” said Northeastern Associate Head Coach Nick Carpenito. “We were moving our feet, we were executing really well, we were making passes.”
The third period proved to be the most erratic. A quick penalty against Northeastern was quickly cancelled out by a Wildcat penalty, resulting in four-on-four play. It was then that Alina Mueller and Chloé Aurard used the extra space to generate a goal. Aurard found Mueller on the end of a give-and-go, and Mueller beat Ava Boutilier between the Wildcats’ goalposts.
However, the strong play from the forwards would disappear, seemingly to never return. Things got sloppy again as the Huskies turned the puck on their way into the neutral zone, and the Wildcats used this to put pressure on Frankel. As per usual, Frankel was cool under pressure — until a freak bounce careened off the glass behind her and rebounded off her skate as she moved to seal off the goalpost. Wildcats goal. Tie game. The goal was credited to Chavonne Truter, but the replay revealed the true nature of the score.
After 60 minutes, the game was tied 2–2. A thrilling overtime period yielded no scoring and the game went to a shootout. Both goaltenders stood strong, but it was New Hampshire’s extra skater, Paige Rynne, who became the hero of the night. Rynne stepped up in round five of the shootout, skated to Frankel’s left, and beat her with a confident, quick wrister to give New Hampshire a much-needed shootout win. Though the game counts as a tie for record purposes, New Hampshire (3–8–1) gets two points while Northeastern (4–1–1) gets one.
“We need to just be better,” Carpenito said. “A big part of it is the mental part of the game. This year is very very difficult, so I can understand how we would have some mental lapses. At the end of the day, with the talent we have, we need to find a way to be better.”
The Huskies struggled with communication for most of the night, missing passes and running into each other several times.
“The team that is mentally toughest is the one that rises to the top,” Carpenito said. “Right now we are not there, but I believe we are more than capable of getting there.”
The Huskies will battle Providence (7–1–1) this Tuesday at Matthews Arena. Mike Puzzanghera and Sarah Olender will call that game, with coverage beginning a few minutes before the 7 PM puck drop.