Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
By: Joe Barbito
BOSTON – The Northeastern women’s ice hockey team punched its ticket to the Hockey East Finals with a 2-1 victory over the No. 10 Maine Black Bears on Saturday at Matthews Arena.
Scoring opened just over three minutes into the game, when Tereza Vanisova dangled past Sky Fontaine – whose stick broke in the process – and created a two-on-one with linemate Daria Tereshkina. Vanisova dished a pass through the slot to Tereshkina who was able to tap it home past Aerin Frankel (24 saves).
The rest of the first period was pretty stagnant, with both teams trading penalties in the second half of the first frame.
After a late penalty kill for the Huskies (18-16-5), Veronika Pettey was sprung from the box and found the puck in the neutral zone. She sped past a Maine defender and was able to get a quick shot on goal, beating Carly Jackson for her tenth of the season.
The second period featured four power plays, including three for the Black Bears, but neither team was able to capitalize through the middle 20 minutes. A few chances were traded, including a few pucks off posts and crossbars, but neither team was able to find the back of the net.
It took five minutes into the third period for Northeastern to score the game winning goal. Denisa Krizova and McKenna Brand skated hard into the Maine zone, and Brand was able to put a shot off of Jackson’s pads. Hartman swooped in and found the loose puck to the left of Jackson and buried it home.
Maine played a ferocious third period, generating a total of 15 shots on goal, and nearly tied the game several times. Hartman ended up spending the final minute and 39 seconds in the penalty box for slashing, but Aerin Frankel was up to the task.
After today’s 2-1 victory, the Huskies have earned the right to play UConn tomorrow in the Hockey East Championship game. WRBB will have complete coverage, with puck drop set for 1:30 p.m.
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