Northeastern women’s hockey team’s title run ends in semifinals
The Huskies fell behind 4-0 in the first period and couldn’t catch the top-ranked Buckeyes, finishing the season with a record of 29-9-1.
Northeastern University women’s hockey team’s bid for a national championship ended at the hands of the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday afternoon.
Ohio State jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the first period and continued to dominate throughout the clash, refusing to give an inch en route to a 5-0 victory in the NCAA Semifinals of the Frozen Four at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena.
Dave Flint, Northeastern’s women’s hockey coach, congratulated the Buckeyes on a hard-fought win and recognized Northeastern’s departing seniors after the game.
“It’s not the result we wanted, but I’m incredibly proud of our group,” Flint said, adding that the Huskies “exceeded expectations” this past season.
Northeastern goalie Lisa Jönsson kept the Huskies in the game, stopping 37 of the Buckeyes’ 42 shots on goal through three periods. Northeastern put 15 shots on goal, but never scored. Freshman Stryker Zablocki, who was named Hockey East Player of the Year this season, put five shots on net during the game.
The loss ended the Huskies’ very successful season. Northeastern finished with a record of 29-9-1 with an appearance in the Frozen Four and second place in the Hockey East tournament.
Despite the disappointment, the first floor of the Curry Student Center on Northeastern’s Boston campus was buzzing with excitement as students rallied around the team, hanging on every moment of its bid for a spot in the final.
“The sports culture at Northeastern is hockey culture,” said Mason Carpentier, a 22-year-old graduate student studying mechanical engineering.
Carpentier fell in love with hockey as a freshman, having rarely followed the sport growing up. Since then, he said he’s been to “as many hockey games as I can count,” following the Northeastern men and women across four Beanpots.
“The energy is always amazing,” said Ashish Thomas, a senior studying computer science, who said that supporting the Huskies at Northeastern is comparable to the buzz about football “at a big football school.”
Isabella Iype, a senior studying computer science and English, agreed.
“I never watched sports or hockey growing up,” Iype, a senior, said.
Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Then, after setting foot on the Boston campus as a freshman four years ago, she was drawn into Northeastern’s game-day spirit.
“I just love the DogHouse,” Iype said, referring to the student cheer section at Northeastern hockey games. “There’s just so many unique chants, a cheer song. It just makes the games really exciting.”
Ohio State scored at 10:14 of the first period to put the Buckeyes on top, 1-0. A shot bounced off Northeastern defender Rylie Jones’ skate and landed on Ohio State’s Joy Dunne’s stick, and she fired it home.
Ohio State went on to score three more goals — including a buzzer-beater with less than a second to go in the first period, which ended 4-0.
Despite several clutch saves by Jönsson, who was named Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Month for February, it was going to be a long way back for the Huskies.
“It was a pretty big deficit, but I’ve seen our teams come back from bigger,” said Harish Sundar, a senior studying computer science, with a concentration in AI.
After a scoreless second period, the Buckeyes opened the third with their fifth goal from senior defender Sara Swiderski. The Huskies couldn’t take advantage of several power-play opportunities in the period.
The Northeastern women entered Thursday’s game ranked fifth in the nation. Friday’s appearance was the fourth time in six years the Huskies secured a spot in the Frozen Four. They defeated the No. 4-ranked University of Minnesota Gophers 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
The Huskies posted a dominant 21-2-1 mark in Hockey East this season.
