BOSTON — Despite getting 27 shots on goal, Northeastern could not manage to find the back of the net as they suffered a 1-0 loss against the Vermont Catamounts Friday night.
Early in the game, Vermont made a goalie change as they pulled sophomore Ellie Simmons for senior Sydney Correa after only five minutes. Despite this goalie confusion, the game remained scoreless through the first two periods, even while Northeastern was dominating in shots with 20 shots on goal to Vermont’s nine.
However with 11:20 left in the third period, with six seconds remaining on the Huskies’ sixth powerplay, sophomore defender Ashley Kokavec got a shot to slip past Lisa Jönsson, an uncharacteristic mistake from the freshman goaltender. This was Vermont’s first shorthanded goal of the season and it put the Catamounts up 1-0.
Despite getting another power play opportunity with just over two and a half minutes left, the Huskies were unable to respond, leading to a shutout for UVM, shared by Correa and Simmons.
The Huskies struggled throughout the first period, getting outshot 6-5 by the Catamounts, and they found themselves spending a lot of time in their ownzone. But, even as they started to play a better game in the second period, Northeastern still struggled to get their shots on net, as many of them were either blocked or missed wide.
In total they had 21 of their shots blocked, while only being able to block 10 of Vermont’s the whole game. This was especially prevalent during their power plays, as even when they were able to set up in the Catamounts’ zone, many of their shots were not finding the net.
Despite having 9:45 worth of powerplay time, the Huskies were only able to get 11 shots on net during that frame. Their best effort came on the fourth power play, where they had four shots on net, including a one-timer by senior forward Taze Thompson from the right side. Unfortunately, their next powerplay saw them not only failing to put a shot on net, but also letting up the only goal of the game.
The short-handed goal scored by Kokavec was a huge turning point in the contest, as the Huskies had six shots on goal in the third up to that point, and were only able to get one more shot on target in the remaining 11 minutes after she scored, with that only shot being on their sixth and final powerplay of the game.
During these final minutes they were clearly very disoriented, as they had a few instances of poor communication that ended up costing them. They struggled to establish a proper 6-on-4 attack in the Catamounts’ zone, as Jönsson was only able to vacate the net with 19 seconds left on the Huskies’ powerplay, and 50 seconds left in the game. During this time, four Northeastern skaters found themselves cluttered in the same part of the offensive zone, giving Vermont an opportunity to clear the puck.
Then, with under 10 seconds left, they were able to make one more rush, as their urgent attempt at a zone entry was ineffective and led to multiple players being caught offside by the time they actually entered the offensive end.
Overall, the game may be remembered for the unfortunate shorthanded goal allowed by Jönsson, and although it did change the momentum of the game, Vermont’s defense also had a big role in the loss that the Huskies suffered. The blueliners did a nice job of limiting Northeastern’s scoring opportunities, and most of the shots they allowed were relatively easy for Correa to save.
“[UVM] blocked a lot of shots, and that’s what we’re gonna see out of UConn tomorrow,” said Northeastern head coach Dave Flint when asked about how Friday’s game would prepare the team for their upcoming matchup against Connecticut. “They’re really solid defensively, they’re going to make you earn your goals. So it’s going to be an uphill battle. But tomorrow we’re gonna have to capitalize on our chances.”
Northeastern will complete their back to back on Saturday as they head to Toscano Family Ice Forum to take on UConn. This will be a very important matchup, as UConn stands with Boston University at the top of the Hockey East standings with 45 points, while Northeastern is in fourth place with 38 points. The game starts at 6 p.m. with coverage on WRBB Sports+. Matty Wasserman and Armaan Vij will be on the call for the game.