Deja vu for NU
Huskies score 2OT winner over BU
Northeastern defender Lauren MacInnis scored a power-play goal at 16:03 of the second sudden-death overtime period to hand the Huskies a thrilling 4-3 win over defending champion Boston University in the 42nd annual women’s Beanpot Hockey Tournament played at Walter Brown Arena on Tuesday night.
It marks the first time since 1988 that NU has held both the men and women’s title for the Beanpot at the same time.
NU sophomore Chloe Aurard had a goal and three assists to key the win, and was named the tourney
MVP. Aerin Frankel, NU’s goalie, was awarded the Bertagna Award as the tournament’s best netminder.
The game, which goes into the NCAA books as an official 3-3 tie, drew a women’s Beanpot record crowd of 1,790.
Just like the men’s team at Northeastern, which completed a first-ever three-peat in the 68th annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament TD Garden a little more than 24 hours earlier, the women’s team were seeking to capture its first ‘Pot since 2013.
NU (25-3-2) came out energized and riding a 10game winning streak but the atmosphere and euphoria might have had the Huskies a tad too jacked-up. NU went on an early power play with Boston University’s Emma Wuthrich in the penalty box but before the NU power play could get revved up, it was the heavy underdog Terriers, owners of a modest three-game win streak and eager to successfully defend its Beanpot title for the first time ever, struck.
BU (20-6-4) junior center Kristina Schuler was performing penalty-kill duties when she stole the puck and raced in alone on Frankel (26 saves), the Hockey East Goalie of the Month for January. Schuler faked to her backhand before depositing the puck into the back of the net at 4:05 for her eighth goal. The unassisted tally marked BU’s fifth shortie of the season.
BU, which won its first ‘Pot title as a club entry in 1981 before stunning last year by defeating host Harvard in overtime for its first as a varsity program, clung to the lead until the latter stages of the period when NU drew even as sophomore Chloe Aurard, a key member of the French National Team, converted off an assist from defenseman Megan Carter. It was the 19th goal for Aurard, who had a dozen lamp-lighters during her freshman campaign.
The middle period began with Aurard scoring her second of the night on a shot from the high slot into traffic that eluded BU goalie Corinne Schroeder (37 saves) at the 6:33 mark. Aurard leaped in the air in celebration of reaching the 20-goal plateau for the season.
Tensions rose at 8:13 after
Schroeder stoned NU star Alina Mueller, the youngestever women’s Olympic medalist after taking bronze for Switzerland at age 15. The action intensified and NU defenseman Skylar Fontaine picked up a 5-minute major for contact to the head after knocking Schuler to the ice. BU’s Breanna Scarpaci also got involved and was assessed a cross-check minor at 8:55.
BU cashed in on the power play when senior defensemen Abby Cook drilled a shot from the blue line that beat a partially screened Frankel, who led the country with a .958 save percentage entering the contest. The Cook goal at 12:02 was assisted by Pembroke’s Davis who scored the title game winner in OT last year, and sophomore left wig Kaleigh Donnelly, of Wellesley.
NU had a golden opportunity when Mueller snuck behind the defense on a break with one minute left in the stanza. But BU freshman defenseman Nadia Mattivi dove and swept the puck from Mueller’s stick.
NU caught a break when Cook went for a minor penalty at 13:24. The Huskies power play swung into high gear and the puck bounced crazily in front of Schroeder before freshman left wing Jess Schryver potted the loose puck at 14:41. Aurard drew an assist for her third point of the night.
The BU women matched their male counterparts by calling time out, lifting the goalie and knotting the score, 3-3, to force overtime on a goal by Davis with 22.8 seconds left on the clock.
Neither team scored in the initial 5-minute OT period so the game officially ended as a 3-3 tie according to NCAA standards.