PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If there’s one thing Northeastern is good at — and in reality there are many — it’s playing big in big moments.
The Huskies proved that again Saturday, as they traveled to Providence to take on the Friars in the Quarterfinal round of the Hockey East championship tournament. In arguably one of their best showings in a month, No. 5 NU held on to win the contest 3-2, knocking out a tough No. 4 seeded Providence squad.
Had Northeastern beaten Providence before Saturday this season? No. Had they won at Schneider Arena since 2022? No. Did they let that weigh on them Saturday?
No.
From the outset, the Huskies looked strong. While they didn’t dominate the shot totals for the first 10 minutes of action, they did manage to keep the Friars at bay for long stretches of time.
In fact, the more high danger opportunities of the opening period came off the sticks of Huskies, as they outshot PC 7-6. The Friars pressured heavily in the final minutes of the frame, with five shot attempts in the final 1:04 of action. Neither team was able to find the back of the net, however, as they headed to the locker rooms locked at 0-0.
One of the biggest reasons for Northeastern to keep Providence from scoring early was the return of a familiar and highly missed face: sophomore defender Rylie Jones. After missing the entire second semester for undisclosed reasons, Jones made a triumphant return to the blueline on Saturday, and her impact on the rest of the team was obvious throughout the contest.
“She moves the puck so well, she keeps it simple,” said associate head coach Nick Carpenitowhen asked about what Jones brings to the lineup. “Even just how well she’s liked in the locker room, it’s a huge boost. So it gave us really good energy coming in and we’re fortunate to have her back.”
In the second period, similar to how they started the first, the Huskies pressured to start. On an early power play opportunity thanks to Hannah Clarke taking a hooking minor 3:29 into the period, Northeastern had four chances, including a shot off the pipe by sophomore Ella Blackmore.
Following their first PP chance, the Huskies continued to press, and were rewarded with another shot at the advantage, this time after defender Brooke Becker received a tripping penalty.
It’s often been noted that NU through portions of the year have struggled to convert on the advantage. They also struggled to convert at all against Providence in the regular season — except on the advantage. Of the four goals NU had against PC in their three matchups coming into Saturday, three of those were on the power play.
And senior forward Skylar Irving made it four on the year after she rocketed a shot through traffic to go corner and down just 13 seconds into the second power play chance for Northeastern.
Defender Jules Constantinople and freshman Éloïse Caron — who had taken a scary fall after catching a stick blade high earlier on in the second — picked up the assists on the play. The goal was the 15th of the season for Irving, and came in her 150th career game. It was also the 17th PPG for Northeastern this season, and the first since their 5-4 win over Boston College two weeks ago.
In the postseason, with penalty calls few and far between, the team knows just how important scoring on the advantage is. This was reflected in how they performed on Saturday, a point emphasized by Carpenito.
“We know special teams are at a premium, in the post season especially,” he said. “The execution was good, they weren’t trying to thread too many needles. They were just trying to execute five, 10 foot passes. I thought they did really well, and when you have an opportunity to take a shot, you take a shot. We did, and it worked out.”
The scoring didn’t stop there for Northeastern either, as 1:05 later sophomore Allie Lalonde extended the lead to 2-0. The forward picked up a rebound, spun around with the puck on her stick, and shot it past a sliding Hope Walinski for her fourth goal of the season. Providence originally challenged the goal for a missed offsides before the tally, however the officials deemed Northeastern entered the zone legally, and so the goal stood.
Following the second score, it became the Huskies show, as they proceeded to dominate nearly 10 minutes of regulation time after. They forced PC to the perimeter, blocked shooting lanes when they had to, and mainly kept the Friars pinned in their defensive end for extended time. Similarly to the first though, a final push at the end of the period kept Providence in it.
Though they didn’t score in the final seconds of the middle frame, the momentum they managed to build spilled over into the third, as the Friars set up shop in the offensive end early on. They were rewarded with a goal that’s become all too familiar to Northeastern fans over the last few weeks; a rebound opportunity that spills out to a wide open player in front.
Pinning the Huskies in the defensive end, a chaotic scramble out front caught Lisa Jönsson on one post. The freshman was able to make two of the original saves, however a bouncing puck found its way to the stick of Jessie Pellerin at the top of the crease, and the forward wasted little time tapping it home to make it 2-1 with 17:56 to play.
Notably on the original play, Jönsson was shoved into her post after she had control of the puck, knocking the disc free. This allowed for it to skitter loose and be put back into play. Before the ensuing faceoff the netminder signaled to her coach that she believed she had been interfered with, and Dave Flint listened, calling for a review for goaltender interference.
Following a lengthy amount of time around the review monitor, the officials determined that there was no interference on the play, allowing the goal to stand and leaving both teams without their timeouts.
The response from the Huskies took some time, with Providence looking to capitalize on their momentum once again. Following a media timeout just over six minutes in, NU got their feet back underneath them, entering and maintaining the O-zone once again. Then, after a couple of solid chances in front by their second line went wide, it was Blackmore on the doorstep that threaded the needle.
After a shot from the top of the zone hit the back wall, the puck bounced to the side of the cage where the forward was waiting. She quickly tried to bounce the chance between Walinski and the post while the goaltender was sliding over.
As the momentum pushed her over, Walinski fell backward over the line, taking the puck that was caught on her shoulder with her.
Another lengthy review followed, as the officials looked to determine if the puck had fully crossed the goal line. The overhead angle showed that it had just slithered in while tucked against the post. While Walinski was getting up, she had pulled it back out of the net with her, leaving it to appear as though it hadn’t gone in. Regardless, the goal counted, putting NU back in front 3-1 with 12:42 to play.
If there’s one thing about Providence’s game though, it’s that they do not give up. The Friars, after dropping behind by two again, put their foot on the gas to try to close the gap. They eventually did so four minutes after the Blackmore score.
With both Northeastern defenders losing their sticks on a broken play in the defensive end, it was another rebound that came back to bite them. After making two saves on the original play, Jönsson was knocked down by the collection of Northeastern skaters in her blue paint, catching the goaltender on her back. This allowed for graduate student Millie Sirum to just push the slow rolling puck over the goal line, making it a 3-2 game.
The final 8:30 minutes of regulation showed exactly what these two teams are capable of. Both squads had high danger chances, though Providence overall had the ice tilted in their favor. Jönsson and the Northeastern defense were put to the test, as the Friars generated 11 chances in those final minutes while trying to tie the game up.
Which is where the blocked shots game comes in for Northeastern. With Walinski pulled and under two minutes remaining on the clock, the incredibly dangerous top unit for Providence was put on the ice for 6-on-5 action. This generated the best looks for PC down the stretch, including the heaviest shot of the game off the stick of Becker, who rifled it toward the net from the point while she was all alone.
Getting in the way however was Lily Yovetich, who led the entire team with four blocks in the contest. None were more important than the one right in front of the cage however, as the defender put her body on the line to protect that lead.
The blocking aspect of Northeastern’s game this season has often gone under the radar for just how important it is. In total with another 12 blocks on Saturday, the Huskies have combined for 473 on the season, a sight greatly appreciated by their netminder.
“It really shows the team spirit,” Jönsson said. “Throughout the whole game we were willing to sacrifice a lot… I feel like that’s what our team stands for.”
After Yovetich’s block, Becker managed one last shot attempt before Northeastern controlled the puck to shoot for the empty net. Though Irving’s first look toward the cage went wide for an icing, the Huskies controlled the puck off the draw again, which allowed graduate student Jaden Bogden to take the puck out of the zone to drive to the net on a partial breakaway.
With no other option, captain Hannah Johnson tripped up Bogden to eliminate the empty net goal. Though it took a goal off the board, it sent Providence to their third penalty kill of the evening and killed their last chances for the game-tying tally.
With Walinski back in her net, Northeastern again won a crucial faceoff in their offensive zone, and were content to run out the clock for the final 48 seconds of regulation. Lily Shannon carried the puck out to neutral territory in the final nine seconds, and kept it on her stick until the final buzzer sounded. It was a 3-2 Northeastern victory, as they head to the Hockey East semifinals once again.
In that semifinal matchup Northeastern, as the lowest seed remaining, will not get the chance to play at home. Instead the team will return to Toscano Family Ice Forum on Wednesday to take on a Connecticut squad that eliminated them in that building in the HEA championships a season ago.
So far this season, Northeastern has seen success against the other Huskies. After back-to-back 1-0 wins in November, the team followed it up with a 4-3 win in Storrs just last month, sweeping the season series. The two teams will get one last crack at it against each other in 2024-25, and there’s a coveted prize on the line — a championship game berth.
But if Saturday is any indication, even if Northeastern isn’t going into the matchups as the favorite to some as a fifth-seed, the team isn’t letting that mentality seep into their preparation.
“Many thought that we were going to be the underdogs for [Saturday’s] game,” Jönsson said. “But I just felt like we had such great energy in the team before. We just have everything to win and nothing to lose, and we came in with a great mentality.”
WRBB will have live coverage of Northeastern’s semifinal matchup against UConn on Wednesday, March 5 from Storrs, Connecticut. Puck drop is currently scheduled for 6 p.m.