Tuesday’s game for Northeastern was highlighted by a final period that included 20 minutes of their best hockey all season. The Huskies erased a two goal deficit to force the contest into overtime against No. 14 Boston University, before dropping the game after a last minute winner from Alex Law.
Friday, up in Orono, Maine taking on a Black Bears team that was 15 spots lower in the Pairwise rankings, the Huskies couldn’t find that same magic, dropping the contest 2-0 in their lone game of the weekend.
The first 19 minutes of regulation Friday looked just like the first two periods of action from Tuesday. The Huskies had a few chances in their offensive end, but Maine was solid on the puck in transition, and oftentimes the home team was digging the puck out along the boards to push it back the other way.
The best chances for Northeastern were in the dying seconds of the frame, when junior Lily Shannon forced freshman netminder Kiia Lahtinen to make two saves in quick succession. A final attempt from freshman defender Tuva Kandell went wide, and time ran out before any further shots on goal were taken.
After the brief intermission, the teams returned to the ice and continued to build, and it came down to how solid the two freshmen in either net were. Maine’s Lahtinen has had a rough season to this point — coming into Friday, the Finnish national had an .899 save percentage in 18 starts, and had just three wins altogether.
On the opposite end was rookie sensation Lisa Jönsson, who had been named a semifinalist for the NCAA Goaltender of the Year award earlier in the day. Despite struggles over the last few games, without Jönsson the losses Northeastern had suffered would have been worse, and it showed in this contest as she had to make multiple stops in the second period to keep things tied.
And so did Lahtinen — of the 46 saves through the first 40 minutes of regulation, only one snuck behind a netminder. Both were active on the puck, kicking out their pads to deny the driving forwards time and again, as well as flashing the glove when necessary.
Halfway through the frame, slight moments of panic arose for both teams, as key defenders went down and went down hard in two incidental collisions.
First was Adriana van de Leest, who while Éloïse Caron was driving to the net, got between the freshman forward and the corner of the cage. Maine’s top-scoring defender then went hard into said corner, knocking the net off its pegs and slamming to the ice. The senior was able to skate off under her own power, and was back on the ice for another shift soon after.
Off the ensuing faceoff just seconds of regulation time after van de Leest headed off, junior Jules Constantinople ran head first into the stomach of one of the officials. Constantinople needed a moment to get her feet back under her, but returned to take her spot as the captain of Northeastern’s top power play unit two minutes later.
The power play, which came after Alyssa Wruble got her stick underneath the skates of junior Lily Brazis, was rough for the Huskies. Within the first 20 seconds, Maine had turned the rush the opposite way, looking to capitalize on a 2-on-1. Stephanie Jacob put the puck on Jönsson’s net, but once again the freshman stood strong and padded it aside.
The Huskies did have a couple of grade-A chances on their advantage after returning to the offensive zone. However, Lahtinen again was the difference maker, stopping the chances and limiting the rebounds given up while the visiting team was right in front of her cage.
Following the conclusion of the power play, it looked as though the rest of the period would continue the way the end of the first had — both teams looking to generate something in transition, before being pushed back out to the perimeter.
Until the second strayed from the first period script.
Senior Taze Thompson was carrying the puck through the neutral zone, when freshman defender Brenna Curl came up hard behind her and leveled the Huskies’ captain in front of the bench. With no call on the play, the puck found its way back onto the Maine sticks, which allowed the Black Bears to generate three chances in quick succession.
Jaime Grinder’s shot was kicked away by Jönsson, right onto the waiting stick of Lily Fetch. The sophomore forward followed that with another chance, which was blocked by Ella Blackmore, but the rebound went right to Fetch again. Maine’s leading scorer then flashed her skill, breaking around Tuva Kandell to slide the puck between the pads of a sliding Jönsson to make it 1-0 Maine with 90 seconds left in the period.
Final period action started as a game of shot limitation. Northeastern had a high number of attempts throughout the first eight minutes, however of the eight total shots they mustered, only three ended up going on goal, and none found the back of Lahtinen’s net.
The Huskies were able to build pressure halfway through the frame, generating shots from all areas of the ice. Those chances however, were turned away by Lahtinen, blocked by skaters in front, or — this felt as though it happened the most — were shot wide and high of the net.
Jönsson was pulled for the extra attacker at the last media timeout, which came with 2:14 remaining in regulation. With the six skaters on the ice, the majority of the time was spent in the neutral zone for Northeastern. Maine refused to relent, forcing the Huskies back between the blue lines. The Black Bears shot wide of the open net more than once, and in response Northeastern had just one shot attempt while playing with an extra skater — an Allie Lalonde SOG that was turned aside by the netminder.
Finally, Jacob forced a turnover near center ice and with only one Northeastern skater back, was easily able to break around her opponent to drive to the net. The freshman pushed the puck home to extend Maine’s lead to 2-0, scoring just her fifth goal of the season, and sealing the win for the home team.
The loss stands as the third in Northeastern’s last four games, and comes on the heels of what was a month-long stretch where they were playing some of their best hockey all season. This week has had some bright spots — namely the third periods Saturday and Tuesday — but has also been mainly categorized by the team’s inability to find the back of the net.
Against two of the teams that have struggled the most in all facets of the game this season (Vermont and Maine), the Huskies have been shutout by both. The Huskies didn’t look threatening against teams they should have run out of the water, and missed out on six conference points that were crucial at this point in the season.
Now, the Huskies will get a week off before facing a Boston College team that on Thursday scored seven on the same Vermont squad that shutout Northeastern last week. The last four games of the regular season are not easy, and they are just that — the last four games of the regular season. If the Huskies want to make a move for a top-three finish (and for the potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament), they’re gonna have to make their move and make it soon.
Otherwise, time might just be running out.
Northeastern returns to action on Friday, Feb. 14th for a 2 p.m. contest at Boston College. WRBB’s next live broadcast will be the following Sunday, against the same Eagles, for Senior Day at Matthews Arena. Emma Sullivan, Max Schwartzberg, and Kabir Singh will be live on the call with puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m.