STORRS, Conn. — Heartbreak never gets any easier.
It’s always rough, no matter when it happens or what causes it. But an overtime loss in a playoff or championship game might be the most painful version of all.
For a second-straight year, and for the fourth time in the last five seasons, Northeastern is understanding this all too well. Playing at the neutral site Toscano Family Ice Forum on UConn’s campus, the Huskies fell 3-2 in extra time on Saturday to Boston University in the Hockey East Championship game.
“I thought we played well in spurts,” said Northeastern head coach Dave Flint. “But [it was] not our best game. When you’re in a championship game, you need your best performances.”
Like all games between these two teams this season, each squad made their opponents work for every inch on the ice, though BU greatly outskated Northeastern for long stretches of time. For over 17 minutes of game action across the first and second period, the Huskies failed to register even a shot on goal, as the Terriers defensive structure went to work.
To start things off under five minutes into the opening frame, BU’s captain got the scoring going. Off of feeds from both Luisa and Lilli Welcke, graduate student Tamara Giaquinto easily tapped the puck into the yawning cage 4:54 into game action. Freshman goaltender Lisa Jönsson was caught entirely on the other side of her crease, while Giaquinto was left all alone in front allowing the defender to score easily.
After conceding the goal, Northeastern worked their way back into the contest. A hooking penalty against junior Riley Walsh halfway through the frame allowed the Huskies to start building momentum. Though they were unable to capitalize on the advantage, under 90 seconds after the 5-on-4 had expired, the Huskies tied things up 1-1.
An extended shift in the offensive end allowed Lily Shannon to pick up the puck along the boards behind the goal line. The forward pushed it forward for Jules Constantinople, who rifled a shot from just inside the faceoff circle that was padded away originally by senior netminder Callie Shanahan. Shannon then scooped up the rebound, and slid it five-hole past the goaltender to knot the score up once again.
Similarly to Northeastern, BU responded well after conceding the goal. Another penalty, this time on Julia Shaunessy, halted the Terriers forward progress for a few moments, but again one of the top penalty kill units in the nation went to work. Timely clears and a couple of blocks in front helped the Terriers greatly, and though Northeastern had some great faceoff wins, their puck possession translated into just one shot on goal throughout two minutes of power play time.
Then in the second is where things started to go off the rails for the Huskies. Which yes, is a weird thing to say considering they ended the frame up a goal, but overall the effort was not their strongest of the season.
As previously stated, between the 18:52 mark of the first period and the 15:59 mark of the second, Northeastern registered no shots on goal. Yes they had a handful of shots, but they were either blocked in front by BU or sent wide past Shanahan’s goal. In the same stretch, the Terriers generated seven shots on goal, and an additional five attempts that Northeastern blocked away.
“We just couldn’t find a way to get to the net,” Flint said. “We did it in the last four minutes of the period when we scored, but previously I don’t think we had a shot on net… We played well in spurts, we generated in stretches, but in a championship game against a team like BU, you gotta play 60 minutes. And credit to them their game plan was pretty good and they took us outside of our comfort zone, definitely.”
What finally got Northeastern back to getting shots on goal was more open ice — this time courtesy of a Maggie Hanzel hooking penalty. The Huskies forced Shanahan to make four saves in quick succession, and seemed to be getting their skates back under them.
On the power play, quick passing between Shannon and Allie Lalonde resulted in the latter having the puck at the right-wing faceoff circle. With the puck on her stick, Lalonde waited a few moments to draw the BU penalty killers toward her, opening the lane for Shannon. A snap pass wound up on Shannon’s stick, and the forward wasted no time putting it top-corner past Shanahan for the 2-1 Northeastern lead.
All season, in contests against BU, the Huskies had been unable to convert on the power play. Truthfully, a major theme for Northeastern this season was the original struggles on the advantage, before the winter break allowed them to reset. In the second semester the PP was much improved, and it helped at points throughout this playoff run for the Huskies.
At the end of it, NU closed the season with a 15.5% conversion rate on the power play. The Huskies scored just six goals on the advantage in the fall semester, before adding another 12 in the spring. Sure the 15.5% isn’t perfect, but considering the slow start it’s a much prettier sight — and it helped in this contest against a BU PK that has been nearly flawless all season.
The remainder of the period was played mainly on the perimeter, as for the next 2:26 of play time only one shot found its way on goal; a chance by Shaunessy that was stopped by Jönsson. Heading into the locker room, Northeastern was clinging to their one goal lead, and luckily for them were heading into the period that they normally have performed the best in all season — the third.
However, the magic finally ran out for the Huskies.
Off a bad turnover along the half-wall, forward Clara Yuhn found herself with the puck at the top of the right faceoff circle. Jönsson was screened by both BU’s Lindsay Bochna and Northeastern’s Rylie Jones in front, allowing Yuhn to elevate the puck off the post and in to tie the game back up at 2-2.
The goal came exactly five minutes into the third period — ending five minutes of action that was all BU. Shannon’s hooking penalty taken 40 seconds into the period was killed off, though the Terriers generated six chances on those two minutes of advantage time, heavily pressuring once more. Then, after Yuhn’s goal, they again continued to pressure, with five chances in under three minutes.
Matching minor penalties on Walsh for tripping and Constantinople for embellishment did nothing to turn the tide for Northeastern, as BU continued to dominate while the teams were skating four a side.
What finally was able to staunch the bleeding for Northeastern was Shaunessy earning her second penalty of the afternoon, this time for tripping. The Huskies registered their first shots on goal in over five minutes of action during the ensuing power play chance, however they were turned aside by Shanahan.
Then, after the 5-on-4 expired, BU was back in the drivers seat for the remainder of the contest. What was the most critical here in this period was arguably the faceoff wins. Even while Northeastern was trapped outside along the perimeter in much of the first two periods, they were able to control thost pucks off of key faceoff wins. In the third period, after winning 14 of the first 22, the Huskies went just 3-for-16 in the dot. This undoubtedly allowed BU not only to tie the game, but also to firmly swing momentum in their direction.
In the dying seconds of regulation time, a wrap-around chance by Bochna was kicked aside in an incredible effort by Jönsson. Without that stop, the game would have been over even earlier than it was — and that could have been said about a lot of Jönsson’s saves throughout the game.
We’ll get to the overtime winner in a moment, but it cannot be forgotten how important the rookie was for Northeastern over the last week and a half in the postseason. On 93 shots faced, the freshman allowed six goals in three games, good for a .935 save percentage in the playoffs. While her teammates were struggling on the opposite side of the puck Saturday, it was Jönsson making key saves on BU to prevent the game from slipping away.
Overall, Jönsson concludes the season with a .938 SV%, 17 wins, a unanimous All-Rookie team selection, seven shutouts, a Beanpot MVP award, and over 600 saves. Sure, the last month of the regular season was tough, but for a goaltender playing more minutes this season than she has over her last years combined, there’s a lot for her to be proud of. And a lot for Northeastern to be excited for as she continues to grow and develop over the next years of her career.
But, the overtime winner.
Something that has bounced up in recent weeks has been the Huskies’ struggles clearing rebounds from in front of the blue paint. It came back to bite them multiple times against teams like Boston College, Providence and Vermont. And it came back to bite them here.
Northeastern started overtime hot, forcing Shanahan to make six stops in the first four minutes. The back-and-forth play started in earnest at the 3:30 mark into OT, as the teams traded chances. Then, after a bouncing puck found its way to Lilli Welcke in the neutral zone, the forward drove to the net and put the shot off Jönsson. The netminder couldn’t find a way to corral it in time, as it landed in front of her.
Where Sydney Healey was waiting to put the puck between Jönsson’s stick and pad into the roof of the goal for the game, and championship winner. For the first time since 2016 the Bertagna Trophy returns to Walter Brown Arena. And after years where BU just couldn’t seem to close out in the biggest moments, they finally do so in their biggest moment yet.
The Terriers now advance on to the NCAA tournament, receiving Hockey East’s automatic bid. No other program from the conference advanced to the tournament, as none managed to reach the ranking needed for an at-large bid. Northeastern with the loss Saturday dropped all the way to 15th in the national NPI rankings, and potentially will end the season as an unranked program in the polls for the first time since 2015.
So the season marches on for one program from Boston, while the other one comes to a cruel end at the hands of a major rival; and with it comes the end of the careers of a lot of impactful players for the Huskies.
It’s hard comparing every graduating class over the last half decade plus for Northeastern, considering just how much each of them have accomplished over their time with the program. Saturday marked the ninth-straight trip to the Hockey East title game for the Huskies, and while they were unable to capture their seventh championship in their history, considering how they entered the post season even making the title game is a feat in itself.
“We kind of limped into the playoffs. We weren’t playing our best hockey and so I didn’t know what to expect,” Flint said. “I don’t think too many people gave us even a chance of coming back here to the championship game, and you know the team did what they’ve done in the past — they stepped up in big situations. It was no easy road to get here.”
For multiple members of the class of 2025, they’re exiting the program with three-straight Beanpot titles, postseason success galore, multiple NCAA tournament — and even some Frozen Four — appearances, a conference championship or two, and careers in college hockey that they should be pretty damn proud of. Sure 2024-25 might not have ended the way they hoped, but when the time for reflection comes, there’s still a lot of positives to be found. Something their head coach knows.
“When the regular season ended we had 20 wins, and I was kind of disappointed with how we finished,” Flint said. “Then I got talking to a few people and I realized when I took the job in 2008, a goal of mine was to reach 20 wins. I inherited a team I think that had three wins and then seven wins in the two years before I got to Northeastern and my goal was like ‘let’s have a 20 win season’. And now we’re at the point where the program’s come so far that we’re disappointed with the 20 win season. But it shows the resilience of the team. Like I said we have ups and downs… but we always dug ourselves out and you know that’s a sign of a good team. A strong team.”
And for the players set to return to the team next year, perhaps there’s even more fire lit beneath them to chase the trophy once more. Yes the offseason may be long, and the ending was as heartbreaking as it always is, but Northeastern has proven one thing time and time again that should keep everyone excited for what’s to come.
The Huskies never back down without a fight, no matter what the odds say about them.
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