Double-overtime heartbreak for Northeastern women in Hockey East final
The evenly matched teams went to a second overtime tied at 1-1, until UConn capitalized on a back-and-forth near center ice.
STORRS, Conn. The two Husky teams went back and forth for three periods and into a second overtime before the UConn Huskies scored to defeat the Northeastern University Huskies and claim the Hockey East Women’s Championship.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the majority of the 85-minute game, and the puck continuously moved to both ends of the ice, where there was plenty of action in front of the nets.
Junior Rylie Jones scored the only Northeastern goal and sophomore goaltender Lisa Jönsson made 54 saves in the title game. Jönsson was named the Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Month for February.
The Northeastern Huskies, ranked fifth in the country and top-seeded in Hockey East, were competing in their 10th-straight appearance in the Hockey East Championship game looking to capture their seventh Hockey East title.
Both teams will now continue to the NCAA tournament.
Sixth-ranked UConn scored first early in the second period when Sadie Hotles put a rebound into the top of the net, sending Toscano Family Ice Forum at UConn into a frenzy.
It was not to last. Jones tied it up minutes earlier on a power-play goal, quieting the UConn fans. The tying goal came from the right faceoff circle and was assisted by freshman Stryker Zablocki and freshman Ella Lloyd.
The Huskies of the north nearly closed out the period with an exclamation point with a nice scoring opportunity but it ended with a jam in front of the UConn net and matching 2-minute penalties for hitting after the whistle.
By the end of regulation, both teams’ fans bemoaned near misses and praised the talent of goaltenders Tia Chan from UConn, who came up with save after dramatic save, and Jonsson who had turned away 38 shots by the end of regulation.
Northeastern came out aggressive for the first overtime, inching up the number of shots on goal to nearly equal UConn’s. But Chan continued to turn everything away for the first overtime. And the second, despite an increasingly dominant Northeastern.
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Until a back-and-forth near center ice and, just like that, UConn was the champion. UConn’s Kyla Josifovic was credited with the championship-winning goal, with an assist by Claire Murdoch and Ashley Allard.
Chan was named Hockey East tournament most valuable player, with 33 saves in the two overtimes and a total of 57 saves in the game. Jonsson, meanwhile, turned away 54 shots. It was the first- and second-most saves in a championship game.
“The quality of the players here is the best this season by far,” Northeastern second-year student Joe McLaughlin said after the first intermission. “It has a big game feel to it.”
Indeed, a large contingent of Northeastern students made the trip to Storrs.
Sarah LaMonica, a third-year student from New Jersey, stopped at UConn on her way back to Boston from spring break.
“The women’s team has been having an incredible season, it’s just awesome to see them play,” LaMonica said.
LaMonica said that she played hockey as a high school student. “I was terrible, but I did play.” She found her community as a fan in the remote DogHouse, Northeastern’s student section.
“I’m at almost every game,” LaMonica said.
McLaughlin also tries to attend every hockey game and snagged a front-row seat for the game on Sunday.
“I love the fan culture,” McLaughlin said. “I found a family and a home here in the DogHouse and absolutely love it … it’s really a community of people.”
