PROVIDENCE, R.I. — If you had to describe Northeastern’s weekend in one word, it would be resiliency.
There aren’t many teams in college hockey that could start a game down 2-0 after the first minute and fight back to a convincing two-goal victory, let alone being down a full offensive line, with three top-six players out due to injury, and on top of that, playing in the second game of a back-to-back weekend, where the first game, played against the sixth-ranked team in the country, went to overtime.
If that sounds like a mouthful, it’s because it is.
And somehow, Saturday night, Northeastern was able to pull it off, beating Providence 4-2 on the road in a hard-fought battle.
“[It’s a] sigh of relief,” said Northeastern assistant coach Lindsay Berman. “We talked about being a resilient group and showed some resiliency today, so we’re really happy with the way we came back… Providence was ready for us, obviously. They punched us in the mouth right away. [We’re] happy with the way we fought back and with a full team effort after a tough game last night.”
Northeastern came out of the gate hot, with the first shot on goal coming off the stick of freshman phenom Stryker Zablocki, but that momentum was short-lived for the Huskies.
Providence senior forward Reichen Kirchmair had a storybook moment on her senior day, just 24 seconds into the game. The reigning Hockey East Player of the Year carried the puck from her own end through neutral territory. She cruised into the offensive zone and to the high slot, where she sent in a shot that looked effortless but was anything but, zipping it over the shoulder of Northeastern netminder Renna Trembecky and going bar down to open the scoring.
The goal marked Kirchmair’s 100th career point, a fitting moment in her final regular-season game as a Friar.
If Providence’s first goal sent a shock through Northeastern’s system, the second was as if a bucket of ice water was dumped on their heads.
Catching the Huskies on a lazy backcheck, sophomore forward Jessie Pellerin found her wide-open linemate Molly Farace skating down the royal road with nobody in her way. Farace, like Kirchmair moments prior, found metal as she rang the puck off the post and into the back of the net past Trembecky, giving Providence a 2-0 lead after just 63 seconds of game time.
All of a sudden, the number-five team in the country found itself trailing the second-lowest team in Hockey East by two.
Throughout the rest of the first period, Northeastern seemed defeated. The bench was quiet, the skating lulled, and it was a stark contrast to the energy felt within the roster after Friday night’s overtime win over UConn.
But even with team spirit at a low, the Huskies continued to dig. Trembecky started to make some saves, getting her sea legs back as time ticked on, and even though they seemed a step slower than their normally blistering pace, Northeastern began to build a solid foundation upon which its offense could resurge.
The breakthrough from Northeastern would come halfway through the second period. The Huskies’ second offensive line of Zablocki, junior Allie Lalonde, and sophomore Morgan Jackson had been providing sparks to the kindling of the contest all game, and it seemed only a matter of time before fire would catch.
The three forwards only started working together a week prior, with Lalonde and Zablocki specifically paired together for their speed and decision-making on the ice. That pair broke through against UConn Friday from a centering feed off Lalonde’s stick that Zablocki was able to knock home.
Lalonde would act as playmaker once again, but this time, it was a seam pass all the way through the neutral zone that found Zablocki with a wide-open lane in front of her. And all season, any time Zablocki finds space, it strikes fear in the eyes of opposing goaltenders.
There was nothing Providence graduate student Hope Walinski could do with the speedy Zablocki bearing down on her, the freshman ripping the puck five-hole and hitting the back of the net to give Northeastern some life.
“[Lalonde and I] haven’t played with each other the entire year, and I think the [chemistry] we naturally have right now is really strong,” Zablocki said. “Things are going our way, and so I think going into playoffs, that’s really promising and gives [Lalonde] and [Jackson] and I confidence.”
The second period came to a close with Northeastern still down by one, with a few solo efforts looking sharp, but the overall offensive momentum still faltered below the standard set by the team that scored a cumulative nine goals in the prior two games played against the Friars this season.
But there were still 20 minutes of hockey to go. And despite the fatigue setting in from the barren linesheet, missing top-six skaters like Éloïse Caron, Holly Abela, and Jaden Bogden, the Huskies have maintained a battle-back mentality all year that has powered them through to some gritty wins.
Grit became the name of the game in the third, with Northeastern chipping away at the resolve set by the Friars early in the matchup.
After nine minutes had gone by in the frame, senior defender Kristina Allard fed Zablocki in the high slot, the freshman whipping a one-timer Walinski’s way. The Friars’ netminder was able to make the initial save, but couldn’t control the hot rebound. Lalonde was ready, waiting beside the right post to dig away in the crease and shovel the puck past Walinski to equalize the game at two.
Think back to the opening moments of the game. Providence scored two in the first 63 seconds, Kirchmaier’s and Farace’s goals a mere 37 seconds apart.
It took 36 for Northeastern to take the lead after evening the score.
Similar to Zablocki’s goal, it was a seam pass through neutral territory that got a breakaway started for the Huskies. Freshman forward Emy McDermid fed senior captain Lily Shannon up the right side boards. Shannon skated all the way down to the goal line and flicked the puck Walinski’s way, sneaking it just past the goalie’s left shoulder with her precise sharp-angle effort.
Shannon has an uncanny ability to come up in big moments for the Huskies. From scoring the game-winner in Northeastern’s final stand at Matthews Arena to her freshman season, when she scored the opening goal in the national quarterfinals against Yale, when the spotlight is biggest, Shannon finds herself the star of the show.
And though the only thing at stake for the Huskies in this game was their national ranking in the NCAA Power Index, scoring the game-winner in the regular season finale of your final year of collegiate hockey is not an easy task.
“[Shannon] has had this chip on her shoulder for her whole life,” Berman said. “She’s always been doubted by others for whatever reason, and she uses it as motivation. These moments are just not ever too big for her… She’s just gotten better and better every year.”
In a last-ditch effort to regain the lead they had held since the first minute of the game, Providence pulled Walinski, but Northeastern maintained a level head. After a takeaway in their defensive end, the puck found its way to Zablocki with miles of ice ahead of her to knock in the empty netter, notching her third point of the game and sealing the Huskies’ victory 4-2.
The three-point day from Zablocki was enough to set her apart from Boston College freshman Ava Thomas at the top of the Hockey East scoring table, the Saskatchewan native sealing the title for the highest scorer in the conference. The feat makes Zablocki the first freshman to win the award since Olympian Daryl Watts did so for BC in the 2017-18 season.
“[Zablocki has] been really consistent all year,” Berman said. “She’s gotten better every game, figuring out the college game quickly, and obviously, she’s so fast. What people don’t see is that she’s a great kid, and she works really hard, and she wants to win. Everything she brings on a daily basis is just infectious. To see her have success in the stats is awesome. We’re really happy for her, and she’s obviously a really big part of our team.”
The win was another major moral win for Northeastern, which finishes the season scoring points in every single conference game, its only two losses coming in overtime. The program has never accomplished this before, even with how dominant the Huskies have been over the course of head coach Dave Flint’s tenure with the team.
Especially considering the lack of a true home arena for the entirety of the second half of Northeastern’s season, the proof is in the pudding. This squad is legitimate, not just in terms of their skill, of which they have in droves aplenty, but mentality-wise as well.
You will never see the Huskies outworked on the ice. Even when they find themselves down in a game, they have the ability to find a new gear within themselves and push themselves to a new level, fighting tooth and nail until the bitter end. The end hasn’t been so bitter, though, with the resiliency that the team has shown. Time and time again, Northeastern finds a way.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and the Huskies are some of the toughest you’ll ever see play college hockey.
The Hockey East tournament begins for Northeastern Saturday, Feb. 28; as the regular season champion, they will play the lowest remaining seed coming out of the first round on Wednesday. WRBB Sports will provide full coverage of the game. Stay tuned for more information regarding the playoffs soon.
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.