Your Northeastern Huskies welcomed in the Merrimack College Warriors for a quarterfinal matchup in the Hockey East playoffs on Saturday night at Historic Matthews Arena. The season series saw the Huskies with the edge 2 games to 1 but you know what they say in the playoffs: it’s a new season and history doesn’t mean jack. But you also know what happens in the playoffs? The cream rises to the top and the Huskies dominated this one 4-1 to move on to the semifinals.
The Huskies took the ice in their “Beanpot Reds” and they came flying out of the gate. Pushing the pace and hunting pucks all over the sheet, the early going favored the Huskies in zone time and puck possession. MC battled back as they got their footing in the early going, but neither team had sustained zone setups in the opening frame. The best bid of the first period was the first line of Skylar Irving, Katy Knoll and Peyton Anderson. With about 9mins to play, The Matrix carried the puck into the zone and found The Mayor of Kingston in stride. Irving laid the puck over to The Premier Power Forward in Women’s Hockey Today, but Knoll was denied from the slot. And this, Dear Reader, is what we call foreshadowing cause Irving and Knoll would go on to have their fingerprints all over this one.
The sides retired for the first intermission knotted at gooses and the anxiety was starting to build in the old barn. In the opening minutes of the middle stanza, Alex Ferguson put Merrimack on the board when she re-directed Celine Tedenby’s feed past Gwyneth Philips. All of a sudden the Huskies were trailing and you could feel a disturbance in The Force.
But don’t fret buttercup, the Huskies came to play. The Beanpot hero herself, Skylar Irving tied the game up with a herculean effort in the offensive zone. Skirvs gathered the puck at the red line and drove the LW with the puck on her backhand, shielding it from the MC defenders. Irving broke down the off-wing and dog-walked 2 MC defenders before beating Callie Hogarth short side from the top of the LW circle. Tie game.
Oh you forgot about Katy Knoll doing Katy Knoll things did you? Well you know who hasn’t forgotten about her? Merrimack that’s who: they see Knoll in their nightmares. After killing off a MC power play, (and on a delayed penalty), Knoll busted down the LW and drove the net on her backhand before tucking the puck 5-hole on Hogarth. I’ll have to confirm with Delaney, but I believe this added to Knoll’s NCAA record for GWGs. Scrambled eggs.
That score held until the third and time was running out for Merrimack. In the 3rd, NU was a bit flat and MC had the edge in puck pursuit but the Huskies have something that no other team in the NCAA can claim: The Great Wall of Gwyneth. You think she takes games off? You think she takes periods off? C’mon Nicole, smarten up. The best goalie in the NCAA was that again tonight as she dominated and never looked out of position for the entire 60 mins. The game was opened up as the sides traded chances, but all of MC’s bids were kept to the perimeter.
The Honey Badger (lonely without the rest of the Nailgun Line I’m sure) put the nail in the MC coffin when she cashed in from the slot. Some sweet passing down low in the MC zone ended with the puck on Ella Blackmore‘s stick in front and the freshman made no mistake putting this one home. 3-1 and the Huskies have officially slipped the chain.
With the game over except for the clock, MC pulled their goalie with 1:50 to play. Meg Carter had the first shot but her long range bid missed wide left. Up next was Irving. Knoll chipped the puck out of the NU zone ahead of Irving to skate into. Irving caught up with the puck and went post-post-and in for her 2nd of the game.
Up next for the Huskies is hosting UNH in the semifinals on Wednesday here at Historic Matthews Arena.
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