If there were concerns about any demons Northeastern might face at the Toscano Family Ice Forum, they were quickly put to bed Friday evening.
A goal from Lily Shannon was the difference, and freshman Lisa Jönsson made 24 saves en route to her first NCAA shutout as the Huskies took down UConn 1-0 in the teams’ first matchup since the 2024 Hockey East title game.
It wasn’t easy for NU, as they continuously struggled to convert on the barrage of chances they had against senior netminder Tia Chan. However, the team kept pushing, and were rewarded early in the third with the goal from the junior, Shannon.
For the duration of the first period, Northeastern was in control for longer stretches of time compared to Connecticut. They fired off 11 shots to UConn’s six, and were right on the doorstep towards the end of the period when a Shannon shot bounced off the post and wide with under five minutes left.
The other key to the solid first period was faceoffs, which has been a kryptonite of NU’s all season thus far. The visiting Huskies won 10 of 15 in the first 20 minutes, most importantly while on the penalty kill. The wins right after the UConn advantages started were crucial in keeping the UConn power play from setting up in the zone, and it limited Connecticut’s chances in the period altogether.
Those chances for UConn were greatly upped in the second period, however, as they generated 13 shots on goal. Northeastern still kept ahead by adding 15 more to their total in the middle frame, but after a lackluster first period, Connecticut was threatening heavily following the intermission.
Much like the first, while NU had dangerous looks in front in the second, they still couldn’t find the back of the net. Both Husky squads did a solid job of clogging up the slot and eliminating pathways for shots and passes from their opponent. While Northeastern edged out UConn in the blocks category 13-8, in return they found themselves unable to solve Chan time and time again.
The netminder was everywhere throughout the course of the contest, denying Northeastern from all over. The side of the crease, the slot, out wide – you name it, Chan had it.
Jönsson made similar saves for NU on the opposite end, and while she was helped somewhat by her defense limiting the chances, overall the freshman was outstanding. In three appearances, the Swedish national is now up to a .942 save percentage, and lowered her goals against average to 1.34.
The teams ran into penalty trouble again in the second, with sophomore Rylie Jones going off first for slashing. The NU PK again was outstanding throughout Friday’s game. The units limited UConn to five shots on three advantages, and were able to eliminate any offensive zone time from the home team while they were up a skater.
NU’s two best chances of the period came from freshman Morgan Jackson and leading scorer Skylar Irving. The former drove to the net in an incredible individual effort, but was turned away at the last second in front. Similarly, the senior Irving also drove towards Chan’s net on her own, but opted to put the puck back out in front for a waiting Mia Langlois. The junior was able to get a touch on the puck in front, but again Northeastern was turned away by Chan.
One note on Irving, and on the entire top line frankly, was that they were all over the ice seemingly all of the time. Graduate student Jaden Bogden returned to the lineup after missing last weekend’s set against UNH, but was kept in the extra skater spot. Junior Holly Abela remained on the top unit for Northeastern, and while the line didn’t find the back of the net, the trio went to work on both sides of the puck.
Abela in particular was outstanding – multiple times while UConn was beating back Northeastern in transition, the forward turned the play the opposite way and was able to maintain the zone and puck possession. Offensively, Irving was dominant, with a team-leading eight shots on goal, the majority being high danger. Overall, the line combined for 13 of Northeastern’s 35 shots on goal.
And it was the third piece of the line that set up the game winning goal while on the ice with Bogden and Shannon.
Éloïse Caron, who has been making a name for herself all season, swooped up a shot from along the boards from Tuva Kandell while in front of Chan’s net. The freshman forward couldn’t quite get the backhanded shot off, but instead while falling to the ice banked a pass off the skate of a UConn skater in front which landed on Shannon’s stick.
The junior wasted no time before firing the puck past a sprawling Chan who was caught too far over in the blue paint. 1-0 Northeastern with 15:28 remaining in regulation.
From there, both sides continued to have chances in front, with a slight edge to Northeastern throughout the period. The Boston Huskies had one final chance on the power play after Maya Serdachney took an interference penalty with 11 minutes remaining, but UConn stifled NU once more, not allowing a single shot on goal throughout the PP.
Connecticut head coach Chris Mackenzie opted to pull Chan with two minutes left, which Northeastern tried to capitalize on. The team proceeded to hit another post off of a Taze Thompson shot, and what would have been Shannon’s second of the game was waved off on a delayed offside after she put it in the wide open cage from the red line.
It didn’t matter too much however, as an icing against UConn put the faceoff in their defensive zone with under five seconds remaining. Northeastern won the ensuing draw, and skated out the end of the game to secure the victory.
Overall, it wasn’t the prettiest game for NU. Once again they hit 30 shots on goal, but weren’t able to convert on those chances save for the lone Shannon tally. And while faceoffs were better – with a final win tally of 23-of-43 – the lack of production on the power play against one of the least successful penalty kills in Hockey East is a major concern.
The big challenge will come on Saturday, as the Huskies have struggled to win the second game of the weekend all season. And there’s no doubt UConn will be hungry to rebound following Friday’s matchup, especially coming off their first conference loss of the year.
But following last Saturday’s 2-0 shutout loss, a 1-0 win over the reigning conference champions in their home arena is something Northeastern will take – and hopefully build upon heading into Saturday.
Northeastern and UConn are back in action Saturday with a matinee matchup at Matthews Arena on deck to close out the weekend. Luke Graham, Armaan Vij, and Max Schwartzberg will be live on WRBBSports+ with full coverage. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.