Burlington, VT – After winning four games against nationally ranked Boston College and rivals Providence, Northeastern came out guns blazing against the University of Vermont Catamounts. Likewise, UVM was ready to take advantage of any weakness shown by the normally indomitable Huskies.
The Catamounts came out hot, with a shot by Maulin Poulin-Labelle that was just blocked by goaltender Aerin Frankel. Northeastern seemed to take notice and began to step up their game, playing aggressively and keeping the puck in their offensive zone. It was only a matter of time before they scored, and once they started, they went on a roll. The Huskies’ opportunity came when Catamount Sini Karjaleinen was called for holding, sending her to the penalty box and putting Northeastern on the power play. Brooke Hobson was all over the puck, making shot after shot until finally, on a slapper from the faceoff circle, Hobson scored the first goal of the night. Just three minutes later, the howling Huskies struck again when Maureen Murphy made a shot dead center in front of the goalie Jessie McPherson, sending the puck between her legs for goal number two of the night. Northeastern was on a roll, and they couldn’t be stopped.
A little over a minute later, it was Meghan Carter’s chance to put another one on the boards for the Northeastern defensemen when she made a huge slap shot from just in front of the blue line. It looked like UVM’s Ellice Murphy was there to block the shot, but she couldn’t get the angle right and actually ended up deflecting the puck in for Northeastern’s third and final goal of the night.
Head coach Dave Flint mentioned that he has really been working on his team to hit the ground running and start the scoring early and was happy Northeastern accomplished that today. It certainly seems like when the Huskies score in the first period, it’s much easier for them to hang on to that lead than to come back when they are behind.
However, the Catamounts weren’t ready to let Northeastern run away with the game, and the tide seemed to shift in the second period, with only six shots for the Huskies, eight less than in the first. It seemed like after taking a substantial lead, Northeastern wasn’t playing with as much fire as they had at the start. UVM was ready to take advantage and took shot after shot, playing much more aggressively and making it harder for Northeastern to set up in their offensive zone.
Aerin Frankel really kept the Huskies in the game, making incredible saves as the Catamounts mounted up the pressure. She held UVM to a shutout, keeping them from scoring despite their stellar playing.
Flint was disappointed with how his team played after the first period, saying he felt like his team took their foot of the gas a little bit. His goal for the Huskies is just for them to play a complete game. Although Northeastern is back on top of Hockey East and winning games again, it seems like they still haven’t been able to put the pieces together and play to their full potential.
They’ll look to face the University of Vermont again on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Burlington, VT at 3 p.m.