BOSTON – After defeating the Terriers 3-1 on the road the night before, Northeastern women’s hockey took down Boston University 7-3 in the friendly confines of Matthews Arena.
Following a rough series against Quinnipiac, the Huskies were hungry for a sweep, especially over their cross-town rivals.
“[I am] obviously happy with the weekend,” said head coach Dave Flint. “Always a battle with BU, but it was great to see us put up some goals. The power play was quickened today. So, happy with the six points in two weeks against a good opponent.”
Northeastern struck first as graduate forward Jaden Bogden finding the net with 14:43 minutes to go in the first period. It was her third goal of the season, with her other two against Rensselaer on Oct. 11.
“I think [scoring first is] not everything, but it definitely helps to get that under our belt right away, get some momentum in our favor, which is definitely a nice way to start the game,” Bogden said.
Despite looking shaky at the beginning, the Huskies relaxed after Bodgen’s goal, edging out BU by winning more of the faceoffs at 57.9%. Northeastern also outshot the Terriers 11-9 by the end of the first.
Sophomore Éloïse Caron scored the second goal for Northeastern, adding more to her impressive record of six goals this season, including scoring in four consecutive games. Caron grabbed the puck between the red and blue line and hustled down the ice into the right faceoff circle, with the sophomore forward faking a pass then skirting around her opponent and knocking the puck into the net.
With less than 59 seconds on the clock, BU’s Keira Healy went to the box for cross-checking. However, this advantage did not stick around for long as Northeastern senior captain Lily Shannon was also sent to the box for hooking.
The second period began sloppily for both teams as the sides struggled with incessant turnovers.
The momentum began to shift in BU’s favor when Northeastern junior forward Allie Lalonde was sent to the sin bin for slashing with 14:41 left in the second. However, the Huskies shut down the power play.
Three minutes later, BU’s Lucy Thiessen was sent to the box for boarding. Twenty seconds into the advantage, Shannon tipped the puck in off a sniped shot from senior defender Jules Constantinople, adding a third goal to Northeastern’s tally.
Another 20 seconds later, senior defender Kristina Allard collected another one for the Huskies. The assistant captain took the shot from the right faceoff circle after receiving a pass from junior forward Ella Blackmore.
After this goal, BU switched goaltenders, taking out junior Mari Pietersen for graduate Michelle Pasiechnyk.
With 10:30 minutes to go, senior forward Lily Brazis and sophomore defender Keira Healey got into a tumble, sending them both to the box for roughing. Healey received the major for starting the fight, giving her 10 minutes in the box. BU sophomore forward Lola Reid was also sent to the box for roughing for a 4-on-4.
Boston University scored its first goal of the game, courtesy of senior forward Sydney Healey, with 11:36 left in the period. Healey stole the puck from a pass between Northeastern players. She hustled down the ice and was able to beat sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson in their one-on-one.
The Terriers found their rhythm, scoring their second goal about three minutes later. Senior forward Riley Wash sent the puck into the chaos in front of the net, where it bounced off Jönsson and junior forward Greta Henderson was able to rebound it.
“I told them, I said, ‘Hey, you just, you know, you took your foot off the gas,’” said Flint. “‘We thought the game was over 4-0, and you let them back in, so now it’s time, we’ve got 20 minutes to take the game back.’ And I knew they were going to come out flying at us, and we just needed to be ready for that.”
In the final period, BU looked to close the deficit, but penalties only dug themselves deeper.
The Terriers’ senior defender and captain, Maeve Carey, was sent to the sin bin for boarding with less than 12 minutes to go in the game. After a review by the officials, Carey had to sit in the box for five minutes due to the possible head injury that could have occurred for the foul.
The Huskies collected two goals within these five minutes, with the first coming from another Constantinople to Shannon tip combination with 3:43 left in the power play.
Ninety seconds later, Bogden notched her second goal of the evening. Lalonde sent a shot in from inside the blue line, where it was blocked by a BU defender and fell nicely for the assistant captain to slide in. In the blink of an eye, it was 6-2, Northeastern.
“These are new power plays that were set up this week, so this was the first weekend we got to play in-game with them, which obviously, they were favorable for us … It’s really good when something translates from the board to the ice and it works, so yeah, definitely excited to see where it keeps going,” said Bogden.
With the end of the power play, the Terriers were able to fight back for one more goal. Lillie Welcke won the faceoff and sent the puck to senior forward Clara Yuhn, who notched the third and final goal of the night for the Terriers.
In a last ditch effort, BU pulled Pasiechnyk for an extra skater but it ended up in the end of sophomore forward Morgan Jackson’s stick for an empty-netter goal.
“Winning both games meant a lot, and then last night’s game was my first time playing in that rink too, so winning there was really cool, but any chance you get to play against your rival and then you beat them in both games is a pleasure, so definitely excited to see what else happens throughout the conference,” said Bogden.
The Huskies are back in action Friday, Nov. 7 at Matthews Arena. Zeno Minotti and Armaan Vij have the call with the puck set to drop at 1:30 p.m. on 104.9 FM.