Your Northeastern Huskies traveled to the wilds of Burlington, VT for a late afternoon tilt with the University of Vermont Catamounts. While we all know that the Huskies play in the best barn in Hockey East, I’d have to say that Gutterson Fieldhouse is right up there if you’re ranking older venues. After a tightly contested 60mins, the Huskies maintain their momentum with a 3-1 victory over UVM and open up an 18 point lead over the 2nd place Cats in Hockey East.
Peyton “The Matrix” Anderson got things going for the Huskies when she tipped one past UVM netminder Jessie McPherson on an early NU power play. Katy Knoll drove down the LW and put a shot on net off a Maureen Murphy feed from the corner. Anderson was backing up to the blue paint and put one under the glove to put the Huskies on the scoreboard first.
That score held until the first intermission as the ice tilted back towards the UVM net as play progressed. UVM was contesting all loose pucks, but the Huskies seemed a step ahead as the period came to a close. Free tip for ESPN+: How about you put the penalty time up on the screen? You think the men’s programs have to deal with this nonsense? Shoutout to the announcers who clearly were aware of this shortcoming and were updating how much time was left on power plays throughout the game.
UVM tied it up in the opening minutes of the middle stanza as Hailey Burns was credited with a fluky goal that got past Gwyneth Phillips. Phillips made the initial save, which then caromed off the post and popped off a player in front before trickling over the goal line. No chance on this one for Phillips, but she locked it down for the rest of the game. Once the game was tied up, UVM kept the 3rd forward high to slow down the Huskies’ breakouts. It was proving effective as the 2nd period was much more contested along the walls and for loose pucks.
The Huskies had some uncharacteristic penalties to open the 3rd, but were able to keep most of the UVM pressure on the perimeter. As the first penalty expired, Murphy swiped the puck at her own blue line and broke up ice with Knoll on her left for a shorthanded 2:1 breakaway. Murphy had her head up the whole way selling shot as she broke down the slot, meanwhile Knoll was on her horse driving to the far post. Murphy laid out the defensive player with a filthy toe drag before sliding the puck over to Knoll for the tap in. Great play by Murphy to initiate the whole sequence and then dogwalk the defender. For those of you keeping score of this type of thing: that’s 2GWG in the last 2GP for The Premier Power Forward in Women’s Hockey Today.
Lily Shannon finished off the scoring when she converted an Abbey Marohn feed on her forehand for her 5th of the campaign. Marohn took a break from eating pucks to show she has some silky mitts too as she slid down the LW wall and laid a sweet backhand to Shannon out in front of the UVM net. Don’t know if you can see from the replay, but it looked as if Marohn nutmegged both of those defenders with her pass. McPherson made the initial save, but Shannon stuck with it and tucked her own rebound past the left leg of the UVM netminder.
If you had asked the UVM coaching staff prior to puck drop how they felt their chances would be if you held both Chloé Aurard and Alina Müeller off the scoresheet, I’m guessing they would have liked those chances. The Huskies are displaying a scoring touch up and down the roster with contributions from all lines. This is the type of depth you need for a long run.
The Huskies head home perfect on the calendar year with 5 wins in as many games. They’ve also outscored their opponents in that timeframe by a combined 18-2… (I’m not sure, but is that good?) The Huskies welcome in Holy Cross this coming Friday for Beach Night at Historic Matthews Arena. See you there. #HowlinHuskies
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