BOSTON — Coming off a sweep against Vermont the weekend prior and carrying a four-game winning streak, the Huskies looked to build on their hot start as they faced the Merrimack Warriors in the first half of a home-and-home that started in Matthews.
Merrimack came into the night 2-7-1, with a winless record in Hockey East play at 0-5-0.
Both teams turned to their freshman backup goalies, as Renna Trembecky was in net for Northeastern, and Lauren Lyons for Merrimack, making their third and fourth starts, respectively.
The Huskies started the game on a power play two and a half minutes into the first period. Although they couldn’t convert, their constant offensive zone pressure proved to be a sign of what was to unfold over the rest of the night.
Freshman phenom Stryker Zablocki scored just a minute after the power play ended, a goal where she tried to feed the puck to senior captain Lily Shannon in the crease, but it took a fortuitous deflection into the net off the skate of Merrimack defender Maddie Crowley-Cahill.
Northeastern drew two power plays in the next five minutes. While their first opportunity went scoreless, Zablocki struck again, moving right to left into the high slot and going top shelf past Merrimack goalie Lauren Lyons for her second of the night.
As the first period waned, Merrimack was able to get more offensive zone time, setting up junior left winger Emma Pfeffer, the Warriors’ leading goal scorer, to score on a power play.
Despite their lead being trimmed to one, Northeastern came out aggressive. Early on, Zablocki notched her third, going bar-down to claim her first career hat trick just six minutes into the second period.
Zablocki later described being happy about her hat trick, but emphasized Northeastern’s power play efficiency, coming into today third in the country at 31%: “Our team really takes pride in our special teams. We work on them lots in practice because that’s a huge part of the game. If you’re down a player or up a player, you need to capitalize on those situations.”
The Huskies later scored another in the second period, this one a long-awaited moment for Huskies fans, players, and coaches alike. Junior forward Ellie Mabardy notched her first career collegiate goal on a rebound opportunity to extend the Huskies lead to 4-1.
After the game, Northeastern head coach Dave Flint spoke about a conversation he had with Mabardy during the week, telling her “Don’t grip your stick too tight because you won’t score. You guys are getting chances, so just be around the net and be ready.” It’s safe to say Mabardy was clearly ready for the rebound opportunity.
Despite the four goal showing, Flint was not happy with the team’s discipline, citing two penalties for too many skaters on the ice. Flint described the performance as a “lack of effort” and a “lack of focus.” He added, “We just can’t cruise through games, and if we want to be one of the best teams in the end, we’ve got to find a way to put it together, have a consistent effort, and do the little things right.”
In other notables, Zablocki extended her current point streak to five games and had multiple opportunities to score her fourth goal on multiple attempts at an empty net towards the end of the game. Senior Merrimack center Avery Anderson and redshirt-sophomore right winger Mady Cipolla also made their return to Matthews Arena after beginning their collegiate careers with the Huskies.
The Huskies will look to complete the home-and-home sweep on Saturday. Daisy Roberts and Kabir Singh will have the call from North Andover at 1pm on Sports+.
Daniel Ku is a third year at Northeastern University, covering Northeastern sports since 2024. Read all of his articles here.