Northeastern falls to BU in bid for fourth consecutive Beanpot championship
The Huskies will play Boston College for third place at 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at TD Garden.
The seventh-ranked Northeastern University Huskies’ bid for a fourth straight Beanpot championship ended in a dogfight with the Boston University Terriers at Walter Brown Arena Tuesday night.
The underdog Terriers knocked out Northeastern 2-1, on an overtime power-play goal by BU’s Maeve Carey in the semifinal round of the 47th Annual Dunkin’ Women’s Beanpot.
“Congrats to BU, hard-fought win,” said Northeastern head coach Dave Flint. “I think we gave fans an exciting game to watch. We battled hard, we had chances. We just didn’t capitalize when we needed to and fell short.”
Flint pointed out that Northeastern lost on faceoffs by a wide margin. BU won 37 faceoffs to Northeastern’s 11.
The semifinal Beanpot game was a goaltending battle, he said, as each team put 56 shots on net.
“It was physical and probably a little more physical than it probably should’ve been. They let it go and that’s the way the game went. Everyone played hard,” Flint said.
Northeastern had won three consecutive Beanpot titles and was looking for its fourth this year. Last year, the Huskies defeated BU, 4-0, in front of 13,279 fans at TD Garden, the largest crowd to watch a women’s hockey game in New England. This year, BU turned the tables in front of a home crowd of 2,281.
Northeastern will play Boston College for third place at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at TD Garden. Boston University will battle Harvard for the championship at 7:30 p.m.
All three periods ended tied, 1-1. The third period was back and forth, up and down throughout.
The second period was much like the third, but Northeastern had several good scoring opportunities.
While shorthanded near the end of the period, right wing Stryker Zablocki and Éloïse Caron broke in on a two-on-one. Caron took a pass from Zablocki and fired a crisp shot on net, but BU goalie Mari Pietersen made the save.
Northeastern’s Jaden Bogden was also robbed by Pietersen a few minutes earlier when a shot heading toward the far corner was kicked aside. Northeastern captain Lily Shannon snapped a shot from point-blank that was also turned away a few minutes earlier in the second.
BU had a flurry of opportunities in the middle of the second period but Northeastern defenders and standout goalie Lisa Jönsson got in front of every shot.
The Terriers took an early 1-0 lead at 4:29 into the first period when Lexie Bertelsen tucked a loose puck in the crease past Jönsson.
About six minutes later, Shannon tied up the game, 1-1, on a close-range shot. She was assisted by Kristina Allard and Caron.
The Huskies had two power-play opportunities in the first period but could not capitalize. Northeastern took an 11-9 shots on goal advantage into the first intermission.
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As always, Northeastern fans showed out in full force. Students filled the stands wearing Northeastern sweatshirts and hockey jerseys and coordinating face paint. And the giant black DogHouse sign was waving.
It was a good showing, said Mia Balboni, a second-year Northeastern data science and math student, but unsurprising given the strength of this year’s women’s team.
Connor Lyons, a third-year Northeastern psychology student, was particularly excited to cheer on Zablocki and Jönsson. Fans in The DogHouse Tuesday night at one point chanted her name and held up a Swedish flag, a nod to her Stockholm roots.
“Lisa Jönsson is my GOAT,” said 20-year-old Lyons. “She does amazing every time. We have such a great team this year.”
The semifinal round was the third meeting between the Huskies and Terriers this season. Northeastern won both previous games, with scores of 3-1 and 7-3.
Northeastern entered the game with a 16-5 overall record, and ranked No. 1 in Hockey East, with a 12-1 record. BU was ranked fifth in Hockey East with a 5-6-2 record, and 6-11-3 overall.
