Your Northeastern Huskies welcomed in the Maine Black Bears for an evening tilt in the first half of a pair of games this weekend at Historic Matthews Arena. NU came into tonight’s game with a 3-2 record over their last 5GP while Maine hasn’t fared as well, going 1-4 over that same span. At the end of 60, the Huskies came out on top with a 2-1 final, and there was plenty of nasty throughout which is something for both squads to build upon for tomorrow’s matinee.
In net were a couple of freshman ‘tendies that may be facing off against each other for the next number of years in Hockey East. Kiaa Lahtinen was in the net for Maine and at the other end of the sheet was Lisa Jönsson manning the pipes for Northeastern. Jönsson had the heavier workload in the opening period as the Huskies spent the first 5-7mins playing in their own end and didn’t land their first SOG until well after the midpoint of the period.
Jönsson was up to the task as she was dialed in from the opening puck drop. Smooth on her lateral movements and up on top of the blue paint, she denied multiple chances from in close in the opening frame and looked unflappable throughout. I’d say her best save of the first was denying Alyssa Wruble on the PP. A broken stick on the NU PP sent Wruble in alone, but Jönsson shut the door at the near post keeping Maine off the board.
Coach Carpenito played the role of mixologist tonight as his forward lines were in the blender all game. My recommendation is give Lily Shannon as much ice-time as she can handle. It was Shannon who broke the ice late in the first. Just after an NU PP expired, Shannon gathered the puck at the right defensive circle and galloped down the right wing. She stepped inside a defender at the Maine blue line and put a heavy wrister on net that beat Lahtinen over the blocker. Keep the change. Beauty.
The lead was short-lived as Lily Fetch knotted things back up when she beat Jönsson backdoor on the PP. A shot from the top of the umbrella from Jaidyn Britt found Wruble on the doorstep and her shot trickled to Fetch at the far post for the put away. Tie game.
The Huskies woke up during the first intermission and came out flying for the 2nd period. Katie Davis drove the net and put a solid bid on Lahtinen in the opening seconds and that set the tone for the middle stanza. The play was wide open and both teams had picked up the pace and it didn’t look like it was going to slow down…. until…. Stripes got involved. First it was a delay of game penalty on Maine that blew the play dead: while NU had possession. Then Maine started to take a string of penalties and you could feel the game edging towards nasty. And then Stripes completely lost control. With 6:30 to play, Éloïse Caron was completely manhandled in the slot by Jamie Grinder to the point that I thought I saw a DDT and/or a Neck Breaker broken out. Caron was mugged repeatedly until finally the 2 players got called for MATCHING PENALTIES??? C’mon Stripes, watch the game.
Actual footage from the scrum in front of the net.
After that the wheels came off. Shannon drove the net hard and lost an edge slipped accidentally ended up in the crease. Of course she was whistled for roughing, Stripes loves getting involved after the fact. All kidding aside, it looked as one of the Maine players hurt her shoulder and we all hope she’s ok and it wasn’t anything serious. The score remained the same until the third but the tone had been set for sure.
In the 3rd a huge netmouth scramble with a legit 5 or 6 chances before Shannon bunted the puck home for her 2nd of the night. Maine challenged the play, but to no avail. I’m not sure how it can be goalie interference if the goalie is 10 feet out of net, but hey what do I know?
And just when you thought it was safe to go back on the ice, Stripes continued to cover themselves in glory. Skylar Irving put a backhand on net that ended up on the back of the cage and while NU was still in the zone with possession, Stripes blew the play dead. Stay hot.
Maine pulled the goalie for the extra attacker but couldn’t work the puck down low to put a chance on Jönsson. Until after the final horn when Sam Morrison put the puck on net well after the final horn. That def drew attention from the NU skaters (most noticeably Jules Constantinople) so that should be fun tomorrow.
Some observations from around the rink:
- Lily Brazis is totally my kind of player. The OG Nailgun has been moving around the lineup as of late but you may take the OG off the Nailgun Line, but you can’t take the Nailgun out of the OG. First she gets a late bid in the first that was denied, but “accidentally” snowed the goalie. Then as time was expiring in the 2nd, she beat out an icing, dug the puck off the wall with Holly Abela and then drew a penalty as time expired. Absolute beautician.
- I know Coach Carp loves it when I give suggestions so here goes: Put Jaden Bogden on a line with Lily Shannon. The two of them were dynamic together when they were out there.
- Morgan Jackson is putting in WORK on the PP. She was getting abused in front of the Maine net and just kept screening and getting back up.
- The team went 27-21 at the dot tonight for a 56.3%. Ellie Mabardy and Taze Thompson were perfect and Irving and Shannon both were in the positive
Back at it tomorrow for a 1:30 puck drop
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