BOSTON — There was nothing not to love about Northeastern’s game Saturday night as they blew out the Holy Cross Crusaders at home 4-0. The Huskies were an offensive powerhouse, dominating the Crusaders up and down the ice and notching a staggering season-high 45 shots on goal to Holy Cross’s measly 14.
“It was probably our most complete game all year long,” said head coach Dave Flint. “All four lines were going, defense was good, goaltending was good. Just pleased with the weekend.”
Cross-ice stretch passes through the neutral zone were a big part of Northeastern’s offensive game, and that’s what got the Huskies going early, when the move sprung a breakaway from freshman Morgan Jackson. The forward and her new linemates Éloïse Caron and Allie Lalonde clearly didn’t have any trouble gelling together in their first two games as a unit.
“We kind of know where each other are,” Jackson said. “I think that’s why our line works really well together.”
Jackson had the Crusaders’ backcheck beat out in the footrace, and with her forehand-backhand-forehand deke in the crease, she got past junior netminder Abby Hornung too.
Despite letting through four goals, Hornung put up a stellar effort, denying the Huskies some grade-A chances. And Northeastern was all over her crease. Between rebounds and redirections, many of the Huskies’ chances came from right in front of the net.
However, they weren’t rewarded much for their shooting flurries until the end of the second. It had been a pretty quiet period for the Huskies, with the Crusaders holding them to just nine shots as they maintained a narrow lead. But in the final two minutes of the frame, the O-zone game picked back up.
From below the goal line, junior Kristina Allard found her D-partner Tuva Kandell in the left faceoff circle. Firing toward the far post, the freshman’s shot rang metal before finding the back of the net to put the Huskies up 2-0.
Just 40 seconds later, senior captain Taze Thompson was handed the third goal on an open back door. Sophomore Ella Blackmore fired in the initial shot from the point with Lily Brazis looking for the redirect. Her tap instead slid past Hornung to a wide-open Thompson.
“The more momentum we got, the better we kept going.” Jackson said. “Every pass, every shot just got stronger and stronger every play.”
After that tampered-down middle frame, the Huskies roared back in the third with the same domination as the first, and profited quickly. Off the centering feed from linemate Jaden Bogden, Lily Shannon stuck with the puck, punching it forward until it finally got around Hornung. The goal put the Huskies up by four, and they were able to protect the lead for the remainder of the game.
With the 4-0 win, freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson picked up her fifth shutout of the season to tie for second in the NCAA, alongside her nation-leading .80 GAA and .967 save percentage.
While Jönsson on her own stands tall, some credit can also go to the Huskies’ nation-leading 93.2% penalty kill, which remained perfect to the very last second. Through five power play opportunities for the Crusaders, including a stretch of 5-on-3, Northeastern was flawless, sealing their game with complete command of the ice.
“All four lines were buzzing,” Flint said. “It’s not the days of Alina [Mueller], Chloe [Aurard], and [Maureen Murphy] carrying everything. We need everyone to step up and that’s what we got tonight.”
After the weekend sweep of Merrimack and Holy Cross to kick off 2025, the Huskies sit second in Hockey East.
Tuesday night, Northeastern will host Yale in its third home game in five days. Amelia Ballingall, Armaan Vij, and Matty Wasserman will have the call from Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. on 104.9 FM.