Your Northeastern Huskies welcomed in the Boston University Terriers to Historic Matthews Arena for their first Hockey East home game of this campaign. At the end of 60, the Huskies proved once again that they were the better Dawgs as they blanked the Terriers and walked out on the right side of a 2-0 victory. Is there anything better than beating BU? Maybe beating BU in back to backs? Maybe beating BU in back to backs and it’s your Pride Game? Yeah that’s pretty good.
For the bulk of this contest the teams skated fairly evenly. Both teams had multiple chances but both goalies were up to the task at hand. Gwyneth Philips continued her run of excellence by notching her 4th shutout in 6 games played. For those in the Midwest who clearly have trouble discerning what makes a goalie good: Philips is currently rocking a 5-1 record with a 0.50GAA and a 0.981% save percentage with a casual 52 saves this weekend. So Nicole, I ask you yet again: Is that good?
Not to be outdone at the other end of the sheet, old friend Alexa Matses (fresh outta the portal) got the nod against her old squad and was up to the task. Matses looked as sharp as Philips did and held serve until the 3rd period, giving BU a chance all the way through. But Philips? She was a human cheat code today. Your honor, I present the evidence…
The Terriers were pushing the pace in the opening frame and kept NU pinned in their own zone for long stretches. The 2-forward fore-check that BU employed late in the period proved especially daunting and gave the visitors multiple chances down low. The teams entered the first intermission and you could feel the tension building in the rink. It was either the tension or the French Fries? Either way, you could feel it.
In the middle frame, the Huskies got the first man-advantage of the afternoon but couldn’t cash in as they looked disjointed and slightly off sync. They were getting better zone time as the period progressed, but still didn’t look comfortable in their setups in the BU zone. The teams traded power plays at the midpoint of the period (thanks to Christina Vote running Jules Constantinople for no apparent reason and negating the BU PP) and the teams briefly skated 4 on 4. Almost like clockwork; the physicality between the 2 teams ramped up as the period progressed and the refs tried?? to keep it in line by handing out an embellishment?? call to Lily Shannon?? Have you all seen Shannon play? She only embellishes on her post goal cellys (that’s called foreshadowing for your literary nerds). The middle stanza ended at gooses and the tension ramped up even more. Or it was the chicken nuggets? Either way, you could feel it.
Oh yeah, Philips was lights out this period also. For those of you who still need convincing… ahem, hello Nicole….
In the final frame, with about 5 mins gone, Peyton Anderson put the Huskies on the board. Allie Lalonde gathered the puck at the LW dot and circled up looking to feed Anderson in the slot. The Matrix gathered in the puck and put a one-timer far side past Matses’ glove. Look at the replay and notice Anderson with her head up looking for the feed the whole way. Sweet play all the way around.
The Terriers weren’t ready to roll over and show their tummies just yet. On a late power play, Philips had to shut the door as BU tried to catch her leaning off the post. Silly rabbits.
With the clock winding down and Matses pulled for the extra attacker, Shannon put this one on ice with a snipe from the red line. Notice the celly after the score, the sophomore is pulling out all the stops early on this year. Love to see it.
The Huskies are off until next Friday (the 13th) when they travel to Merrimack before heading down to Connecticut to take part in the Ice Breaker Tournament.
Some notes from around the rink:
- Megan Carter‘s apple on Anderson’s goal was the 50th of her career. Carter has been super efficient with her play on the back end this young season. Quick ups and transitions along with the ability to join the play in the offensive zone makes Maple Leaf Meg a threat in all aspects of the game.
- The Premier Power Forward in Women’s Hockey Today, Katy Knoll showed great restraint as she was out there making friends all over the ice again this afternoon. Hey Stripes: When Knoll gets run into the boards directly in front of you. how about you ref the situation and not the clock? Knoll was so close on a few diff chances today, she’ll be cashing those in soon enough. Loved to see vintage Knoll in the 3rd as she got involved physically on a net drive and barked her way back to the bench. A fired up Katy Knoll doing fired up Katy Knoll things warms the heart.
- Lily Yovetich played smart and physical again today and took a big eat with about 8 mins to play in the first as she smothered a 2:1 bid in front of Philips.
- Speaking of Philips: in the second clip above, Philips sorted the puck out of a dog pile in her crease and sent Holly Abela away for a breakaway on Matses. The Huskies didn’t score, but the ability to read the play and turn defense into offense is a part of her game that shouldn’t be overlooked.
- Taze Thompson and Mia Langlois put in a lot of wall work today and earned every bruise they’re feeling tonight. Thompson with a few monster shifts behind the BU net and Langlois broke a few ankles with some old school toe-drags in this one.
- The 4th line of Ella Blackmore and Molly Griffin with Lily Brazis at the pivot looked good in limited minutes. The Nailgun had herself quite the shift in the 2nd when she dogwalked 2 BU defenders coming down the LW into the zone 1 on 4. You really can’t stop Brazis, you can only hope to contain her.
- Hoping Abbey Marohn is all good. She got laid out with an unnecessary body check in the 3rd. I never saw a replay at the game, but looked like it should have been a 5 in my opinion. Marohn, to her credit, finished the game and looked right as rain out there.
- The Mayor of Kingston, Skylar Irving notched another A today on Shannon’s ENG. That’s 6 for the junior. Keep an eye out as Irving will be joining me on the podcast soon.
- Per the people I was with at the game today, the coffee at Matthews is top notch.
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