BURLINGTON, VT — After barely escaping their previous game with a tie, the Northeastern Huskies closed out the weekend with a 4-2 victory over the host University of Vermont Catamounts. A return to form, fueled by the team’s depth and excellent goaltending, powered the Huskies to another three Hockey East conference points.
Play started much like it did in the previous matchup, with both squads struggling to crack the opposing defense. Strong performances from both goaltenders, Northeastern junior Lisa Jönsson and Vermont sophomore Tara Bach, kept both teams in contention.
Scoring in this game, after seeming like it would come at a premium, began late in the first period when Northeastern’s penalty-kill struggles proved to be problematic yet again. With about four minutes remaining in the period, senior forward Allie Lalonde was escorted to the sin bin after tripping a Catamount skater while battling for possession.
While Northeastern showed some improvement on the penalty kill, Vermont ultimately converted on the power play with a goal off the stick of senior forward Kaylee Lewis. Sophomore defender Linnéa Misner breezed past the Huskies’ defense as the team was caught off guard during a line change. Misner skated through the left dot before sliding a perfect cross-crease pass past Jönsson. Lewis, coming off a multi-point game the night before, fired the shot past the Huskies’ goaltender marking the team’s fourth goal of the weekend, all of which came on the power play.
Northeastern answered the Vermont lead early in the second period when graduate forward Grace Sadura continued her standout season. Sophomore center Emy McDermid found the lane for the centering feed from inside the trapezoid, where a crashing Sadura fired the puck over the shoulder of Bach, tying the game at one.
UVM responded three minutes later when first-year forward Zoe Charland picked up a goal of her own. A Huskies miscommunication following a lost defensive-zone faceoff left junior defender Kamdyn Davis in Jönsson’s sightline. Charland squared up with Davis in the slot and snapped a shot around the defender and past the screened goaltender.
Northeastern’s depth would shine just three minutes after that goal. Freshman forward Lilly McInerney received an excellent pass from senior defender Rylie Jones with an open opportunity at the back door. From close to the crease, McInerney quickly got a shot off and found the back of the net, tying the game at two heading into the third period.
“I thought we had a super hard, gritty game, a good comeback, a good response from yesterday’s game,” McInerney said. “My goal came a lot from [Jones]. She set me up at the back door pretty nicely. I just go in where I need to, give 110% every shift, and take what I’m given.”
Northeastern had completely commanded the box score to this point, leading in shots on goal, total shots, and faceoffs but had little to show for it on the scoreboard. That changed when Lalonde hit the ice. After a minute of third-period play, junior forward Morgan Jackson kept the offensive zone with a pass along the left-side boards. The puck redirected off a Catamount’s blade and into open space. Lalonde scooped it up, carried it to the left faceoff dot, and sniped a wrist shot past Bach to give Northeastern the lead.
“It was to keep playing the same way,” said assistant coach Lindsay Berman of the team’s mindset heading into the third period. “We weren’t going to sit back at that point. We kept talking about getting to the middle of the ice and I thought we got better as the game went on.”
Not long after, sophomore defender Ella Lloyd controlled the puck near the blue line following a series of saves. Lloyd continued Northeastern’s third-period dominance by firing a shot from the point into traffic. The puck deflected off a Catamount skater and trickled past Bach in the crease.
“In the third period, our shots looked really good,” Berman continued. “We didn’t sit back on our heels at all. The energy was great. We were much more ourselves today, so happy with the win.”
With two minutes remaining, Vermont pulled Bach to create a 6-on-5 advantage as the Catamounts looked to cut into Northeastern’s two-goal lead. However, senior forward Lauren O’Hara nearly brought Vermont within one when her well-timed shot ricocheted off the crossbar and down, never crossing the goal line. After a quick review, the potential goal was disallowed, and the Huskies ran out the clock to secure the Saturday afternoon victory.
Northeastern women’s hockey will return next weekend, Nov. 13-14, for a weekend series against Merrimack. WRBB will provide updates regarding coverage of the series.
Michael Kaminsky is a junior at Northeastern in his second year with WRBB. He values being a part of the broadcast team greatly and is always thrilled to cover games. You can read more of his coverage with WRBB here.