STORRS, Conn. — An impromptu game night due to impending severe weather brought the Northeastern Huskies to Toscano Family Ice Forum, home of the University of Connecticut Huskies, a day early. Despite minimal time to get ready following Tuesday’s Beanpot consolation, Northeastern was certainly prepared as they created their own storm of offense to take down their Hockey East rivals.
The dogfight between these two groups of Huskies ended in favor of the visitors, Northeastern heading back to Boston with a 4-2 victory.
Entering this game ranked fifth in the nation, UConn, led by their dominant netminder Tia Chan, was regarded as a defensive force that would take serious pressure and skill to defeat. The pregame consensus predicted a low-scoring bout, but it was quickly proven incorrect as Northeastern seemed to crack the dominant defense early on.
Towering control from sophomore defender Tristan Thompson behind UConn’s net resulted in a perfect play after the puck found its way to freshman first-liner Stryker Zablocki. A zinger of a centering pass found her linemate, sophomore Éloïse Caron, who ripped a one-timer to put Northeastern on the board first around the 14-minute mark in the first period.
After an increasingly physical latter half of the period, including a successful NU penalty kill, Northeastern found themselves holding possession in the offensive zone on a power play. With the clock winding down, senior captain Lily Shannon set up for a routine faceoff with only 1.5 seconds left in the period. A faceoff win brought the puck right to graduate student winger Jaden Bogden, who tapped the puck into the net as the buzzer sounded. The arena fell quiet waiting for the official call, and after a lengthy review, the goal was counted as the puck crossed the line completely with just one tenth of a second remaining in the period.
Northeastern was rolling and needed to keep this momentum up if they wanted to hold this lead over a gritty conference opponent. Unfortunately for them, they would start the second period on their back foot with some sloppy defense. After the Huskies were unable to clear two rebounding saves from Northeastern’s own goaltender, freshman Renna Trembecky, UConn senior captain Kyla Josifovic got UConn on the board midway through the second period with some attentive work in front of the crease.
Northeastern was able to respond after what seemed like a second-period wake-up call when Holly Abela guided the puck around Chan, who was sprawled out in her crease after some chaos in front, for the visitors’ third goal of the night.
With the period nearing its end, the Northeastern Huskies were yet again able to capitalize on some last-second action. With six seconds remaining in the second frame, a charging Zablocki split two defenders up the middle on a breakaway, leaving just Chan in her way of scoring. An excellently placed shot whizzed over Chan’s shoulder, allowing Northeastern to take a 4-1 lead into the final 20 minutes.
Although UConn found their second goal in the third period, Trembecky, in only her seventh start of the year, put on a clinic against this top-ranked opponent.
“It doesn’t matter what team or level, you’ve got to play your game,” Trembecky said. “It’s just kind of the same as every game.”
Associate head coach Nick Carpenito also commented post-game on Trembecky’s outstanding play.
“She was awesome. She’s super athletic and makes those saves she’s supposed to. She hates to get scored on, and that shows in her movement and how she approaches these games.”
The truly gritty battle was controlled by the red and black for most of Friday’s game. Excellent showcases of skill all around powered Northeastern to another conference victory, where they lead Hockey East 14-1–0.
The Huskies return to Toscano Family Ice Forum on Saturday to face UConn for the second game of the series. Daisy Roberts, Kabir Singh, and Mike Kaminsky will be on the call, with puck drop set for 3 p.m. on Sports+.
Michael Kaminsky is a sophomore at Northeastern in his first year with WRBB. He is thrilled to be a part of the broadcast team, and is eager to cover many games across Northeastern’s various athletic programs. You can read more of his coverage with WRBB here.