GLOUCESTER, Mass. — If you asked Northeastern head coach Dave Flint if he thought the Huskies deserved to win Friday’s game, his answer would have likely been no.
Saturday’s tie-up in Gloucester was a significantly better effort from the Huskies, but hockey is a funny game. And the Penn State Nittany Lions were able to capitalize on a few key Northeastern mistakes to come away with a 4-1 victory to split the weekend series between two top-ten programs.
In the first period of Friday’s win, Northeastern mustered up one shot on goal the entire frame against Penn State senior netminder Katie DeSa. That shot, though, was true and found the back of the net to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Saturday told a different story.
The Huskies, similar to the day prior, entered the first intermission with the same 1-0 lead, but far outplayed the Nittany Lions, beating them 11-5 on the shot tally. Northeastern did a far better job playing in transition, and more importantly, kept Penn State pinned to the outside of the Huskies’ zone to make sophomore goalie Lisa Jönsson’s life easy.
The lone Northeastern goal of the game came from none other than senior captain Lily Shannon, who now leads the Huskies with 12 goals this season and is tied for sixth in the NCAA in that category. A charging effort from freshman forward Stryker Zablocki found Shannon crashing forward through the crease to give the Huskies an early lead just over seven minutes into the game.
“She’s been a leader since day one,” Flint said. “She’s been a big part of our offense, and it’s nice to see her get one early for us tonight; wish we could’ve gotten a few more.”
A key factor that helped Penn State turn the tide was faceoffs, which Northeastern struggled mightily with all weekend. Over the course of the two-game set, the Huskies won just 36 of the 101 total draws taken, with the Nittany Lions winning nearly 68% of all faceoffs in Saturday’s bout, including going 12-1 on DeSa’s glove side. It effectively neutralized any semblance of a threat that Northeastern tried to muster up in offensive territory, with senior captain Tessa Janecke leading the charge, tallying 18 faceoff wins in 27 attempts throughout the matchup.
Penn State runs an incomplete offense, with just 11 forwards on their roster, so Janecke stepped up to play extra minutes alongside graduate students Taylor Lum and Mya Vaslet. Although this is the team’s fourth line, Penn State has strong depth on the scoring front. Vaslet tallied the game-winner Friday, and it was Lum who broke through to equalize Saturday. Janecke held the puck deep in her offensive zone and fielded it cleanly to Vaslet, who slid a pass across the center of the zone. Lum was waiting on the doorstep and fired a one-timer into the back of the net to tie the game three minutes into the second frame.
The game looked even as time ticked on; faceoffs still plagued the Huskies, but they were doing a good job at limiting Penn State opportunities. However, just one mistake can be ever so costly, and this time, it was a turnover at the edge of neutral territory generated by senior forward Katelyn Roberts.
Flanked by none other than Janecke, Roberts carried the puck into the offensive zone with a two-on-one chance. Janecke drew the defender towards her, giving Roberts a clear sightline to fire the puck with precision past the shoulder of Jönsson and break the tie with nine minutes left in the middle frame.
The third period presented a similar tale. Northeastern hung in there with Penn State, with plenty of dangerous chances, but it was mistakes made by the Huskies that resulted in the Nittany Lions getting the better of them. Yet another odd-skater-rush was generated by Penn State just under six minutes into the period, this time by their second offensive line.
Senior Maddy Christian, freshman Mikah Keller, and sophomore Grace Outwater had looked like Penn State’s strongest offensive line the majority of the series, and own a combined 31 goals and 29 assists between the three of them this season. A neutral zone turnover gave way to a clean passing sequence from their three-on-two, opening up Outwater for a clean shot from the center of the zone. Jönsson was able to pad away the initial save, but the rebound was left hot at the feet of Christian, who didn’t think twice about slamming home the second chance and doubling the Nittany Lions’ lead.
“Good teams like that, they’ll make you pay,” Flint said. “They transition quick and they attack the net, and they can score goals, so you can’t turn the puck over in bad areas against them.”
As the battle progressed, neither team was able to get the upper hand offensively; there wasn’t much consistent possession of the puck by either side, and the back-and-forth play continued throughout the final frame. But just as Northeastern started to gear up some momentum to try to cut the deficit, Penn State capitalized once more.
It was the second line again, scoring in a déjà vu of Outwater’s goal in Friday’s game. Jönsson couldn’t maintain control of the rebound off a sharp-angle try from Christian, leaving another grade-A chance on the doorstep. Outwater and Keller dug away in the crease to push the puck past the Swedish netminder, and Keller had the final say to open the score to 3-1, giving her and each of her linemates a goal apiece on the weekend.
“We’ve got to do a better job picking up sticks,” Flint said. “The goalie makes that first save; let’s not go fishing for pucks. Let’s pick up sticks and eliminate those rebounds. They got a couple of rebound goals tonight; that kind of put the nail in the coffin for us.”
The game ended with the scoreboard showing a 4-1 final score in favor of Penn State, who will look to start up a new win streak after the Huskies snapped their 16-game streak in the first game of the weekend set.
Northeastern will not necessarily be pleased, but rather content with a series split with the No. 4 team in the nation. The Huskies’ penalty kill looked strong once again, going three for three and improving upon their already nation-leading percentage to 95.7%, impressively against a Penn State power play that ranks third in the NCAA. Aside from the defensive miscues that have bugged them all season, it was a stronger showing for the Huskies.
The game will go down in the books as a home loss, but the Huskies remain undefeated at Matthews Arena as they look ahead to the final three games of the fall semester, two of which will be played at home in the waning moments of the oldest multi-purpose athletic venue in the country.
“They want to send the building out the right way,” Flint said. “Learn what we need to learn and reset… they’re going to be locked in.”
Northeastern faces a quick turnaround as they face the University of New Hampshire in another Hockey East bout Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m. Armaan Vij, Mike Kaminsky, and Elli Einset will provide LIVE coverage on WRBB Sports+.
Daisy Roberts is a hockey, basketball, and baseball broadcaster and writer for WRBB Sports. She has been covering Northeastern Athletics for five years. You can read her content here and follow her on X here.