“It really does feel like waking up on Christmas Day.”
That’s how Northeastern alternate captain Kristina Allard described the feeling after the No. 5 Huskies secured a 4-2 victory over the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers last Saturday.
Heading into a matchup where they were considered underdogs, Northeastern sent a shock through Minneapolis after scoring three goals in the first period and never looking back. But within head coach Dave Flint’s locker room, there were never any doubts.
After losing the Hockey East Championship a week prior and the Beanpot Semifinals months before, Northeastern attacked the NCAA Quarterfinals with a chip on their shoulder and fuel added to their fire. The motivation to prove themselves under the bright lights of the national tournament was more than enough.
“We know what they have out [west],” Allard said. “At the same time, Coach Flint said it best: ‘I’m sick and tired of hearing about how good they are.’ We know what this group has and how good we are… We did prove a point. I think that was a statement game. I don’t think anybody had any confidence in us from the outside perspective, which is okay, but internally, we know what we have in the locker room. We know what type of players we have and what the group can do when we’re on our A game.”
Powered by sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson’s 45 saves on 47 shots and goals by forwards Éloïse Caron, Stryker Zablocki, Mia Langlois, and Morgan Jackson, Northeastern made a statement and punched their ticket to their fourth Frozen Four in program history.
The last time the Huskies went dancing was in the 2022-23 season, that roster starring Olympians like Alina Müller, Chloé Aurard, and Gwyneth Phillips, and future PWHL athletes like Maureen Murphy, Katy Knoll, and Megan Carter. Northeastern’s current senior class was freshmen at the time, with Lily Shannon, Holly Abela, Jules Constantinople, and Mia Langlois all receiving minutes in the 2023 semifinal game.
That matchup was against Ohio State, who now lines up to be Northeastern’s opponent once again in this year’s Frozen Four, a repeat of the scene three years ago. Allard was also present at that series, but was in the midst of her rehab for an ACL tear she suffered in early November 2022, so she was forced to remain on the sidelines and watch everything unfold in front of her.
“I remember that game very, very vividly,” Allard said. “I remember the atmosphere the most, how cool it is to be a part of the top four teams in the country, and how much it means to be a part of that tournament.”
Northeastern entered that previous semifinal game with a 22-game win streak, but ended up losing to the Buckeyes in a 3-0 shutout.
This season has gone a bit differently from three years prior. The roster this year has been phenomenal, yes, but they have not been the bulldozer of a squad that the 2022-23 team was. This iteration of the Huskies has faced massive amounts of adversity and has summited mountains to get to where they are now. Resilience is the name of the game with this group, and Northeastern will certainly need it in their approach for Friday’s semifinal.
Looking at the way No. 1 Ohio State has performed this year, it’s pretty hard to find a weak spot in the numbers.
Like Minnesota, the Buckeyes average over 40 shots per game and 4.5 goals per game, top-three in the country in both aspects. After facing the Gophers, Northeastern now has some experience playing against an offense as high-intensity as that, and the D-corps is prepared to face a high volume of shots in front of them.
“Defense wins championships,” Allard said. “We know what it takes to win games; we have to be defensively sound, and offense will develop through that. If we do our job and we do it well and we keep the puck out of the net, we’re going to be successful.”
Part of this confidence comes from playing in front of Jönsson, who, in Allard’s opinion, is the “best goaltender in the country.” Jönsson ranks sixth nationally in both save percentage (.942) and goals against average (1.61) amongst qualified goalies, and her 45 saves against Minnesota tied her record for the most saves in a regulation game. The stats alone aren’t nearly enough to describe the sheer level of athleticism shown by the Swedish national, acting as a human highlight reel for the full duration of that regional championship game.
With a high volume of shots in both the game against Minnesota and the double overtime Hockey East Championship versus UConn (Jönsson faced 56 shots and saved 54 of them), Jönsson plays comfortably, knowing that when she sees piles of shots put on her, she can fall into a rhythm and gain momentum that then translates to the offense in front of her. The recent gauntlet has provided good preparation for what the Buckeyes will bring to the upcoming national semifinal.
“She has our back,” Allard said. “It’s the confidence that the team needs to take chances, take advantage of the opportunities we get. She’s the backbone of our team. We’re not afraid to make mistakes because we know that at the end of the day, she’s got us.”
On the flip side, Ohio State has a pretty stellar netminder of their own. Senior Hailey MacLeod ranks third in the nation in goals against average (1.48) and 16th in save percentage (.932). In front of her, the Buckeyes only allow 21.2 shots per game, second nationally in that regard, so it does make MacLeod’s job slightly easier. However, the combination of limiting what MacLeod sees and her ability to keep out what does make it through the skaters in front of her has made for a pretty deadly defensive combo.
If Northeastern wants to reach the championship game for the second time in program history, they will need to find the cracks in Ohio State’s game in the same way they figured out the Gophers. Caron and Zablocki exploited a weakness of Minnesota’s goalie, sophomore Hannah Clark, with both of their goals scored on the same type of breakaway with the same type of shot from the same spot on the ice. That level of scouting and preparation will be necessary to find the cracks in the Buckeye armor that has been virtually impenetrable all season.
One spot where the Huskies may have a shot is in the world of special teams. Ohio State’s penalty kill is seventh in the country (86.1%), but the real key can be found in their nearly 12 penalty minutes per game on average, leading the NCAA by a wide margin. And while Northeastern’s power play is only 18th nationally (20.2%), it’s largely due to two months mid-season where they scored just three power play goals in 14 games.
The power play has been a bit of a rollercoaster all season for the Huskies, but the units seem to be gelling at the right time, with a five-on-four goal in each of their last two games, the primary momentum builders heading into the weekend.
Regardless of the scoring success on special teams, though, the impending level of physicality that comes from playing a team as aggressive as the Buckeyes is something Northeastern will need to prepare for, more so mentally than physically.
“Penalty minutes are a test of mental strength,” Allard said. ”When players get hit, and they react, it’s more of a mental game. Our team is mentally strong, and we know that retaliation penalties aren’t going to help us in the long run… We’re going to bring our A game. We’re going to be physical, we’re ready to get hit, and we’re ready to hit them as well, so we’re not really worried; we’re just going to take advantage of whatever we get.”
Looking back again at the Huskies’ game against Minnesota, the way Northeastern conducted itself on the ice was as mistake-free as you’ll ever see them perform. The offense was flowing, the defense bore down, and the goaltending was out of this world. To make a championship, that will need to remain.
If Northeastern can play in State College the same way they played in Minneapolis, get ready. This team has been through the fire to get to where they are now and has emerged on the other side as a composed, battle-tested, machine of a roster that is one of, if not the most, mentally strong in the game.
Once again, though, the Huskies, on paper at least, will enter the game as underdogs. But they’ve proven time and time again not to underestimate them. With all eyes on the future stars of women’s hockey, now is the time for Northeastern to rise to the occasion.
And Friday is a pretty big one.
Get ready.
Daisy Roberts and Armaan Vij will be LIVE on WRBB 104.9 FM for the call of the Frozen Four Semifinals between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 Northeastern Friday, March 19, with puck drop scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT.
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.