As it happened, and perhaps appropriately given the off-putting elements at hand, New Hampshire had to focus a little less on their own characteristics and utterly drain the defining traits out of Northeastern to win yesterday’s Frozen Fenway battle.
NU had sculpted a 3-1 lead within the first 40 minutes, had yet to authorize more than three goals in a single game, and owned a sparkling 8-0-0 record when leading after both the first and second periods. And the regal Wildcats don’t exactly specialize in wearing the “comeback kids” label.
Regardless, by the time Kristina Lavoie had bumped her mates ahead with 5:30 to spare, Huskies’ goaltender Florence Schelling (28 saves) had allowed as many goals within one closing stanza as she had in 15 cumulative third periods all year. And from there, the Wildcats –who had received encouraging contributions from the lesser-productive likes of Julie Allen, Sarah Cuthbert, and Shannon Sisk- paced themselves to a 5-3 triumph.
By night’s end, the scoresheet was all but picture perfect for UNH skipper Brian McCloskey. Eight individuals had at least one point, most notably Lavoie (2 goals), Micaela Long (goal and assist), and tireless puckslinger Courtney Birchard (3 assists). Meanwhile, five skaters –Allen, Raylen Dziengelewsi, Lavoie, Long, and Kelly Paton- each took four registered stabs at Schelling, who was barely a full day removed from a hasty transatlantic flight back from the German-based MLP Cup.
To her credit, Schelling was quite like her usual self leading up to the Wildcats’ cast-iron comeback, as were her praetorian guards. Between Sisk’s strike at 3:59 of the first, which ended a deceptive three-goal flare-up after Northeastern had just converted twice, and Allen’s goal at 1:30 of the third, the Swiss Save-ior pushed away 18 consecutive shots. On the whole, UNH had logged a whopping 38 shot attempts in the first two periods, but thanks to gobs of blocks and wide attempts, only half of them needed to be played by the goalie.
Furthermore, the Huskies got an encouraging glimpse of the Brittany Esposito they had so opportunistically recruited last spring. The former scoring queen in the Alberta major midget ranks had a mere two goals in her first 16 college games prior to the December deceleration. Since play resumed last week, she has sprinkled on four in a matter of three games, including two in Friday’s contest, both of them assisted by Boston-area captain Annie Hogan.
Esposito got things going 89 seconds after the opening draw, following Hogan as she carried the remnants of a Schelling save up the far alley. Hogan would leave a drop pass along the circle top, which Esposito snapped home over the mitt of Wildcat starter Lindsey Minton (3 saves), who ultimately gave way to Kayley Herman (12 saves) to commence the second period.
Fellow rookie Casey Pickett wasted no time augmenting the lead to 2-0. By the time the clock had shed a mere 3:41, Pickett had ambushed a puck-carrying Dziengelewsi behind the New Hampshire cage, toured the stolen biscuit around the near post, and beat Minton near the same catching-glove area.
Only one face-off later did the Cats perk up. And none other than Sisk, who came in utterly pointless in 18 games on the year, was on the beat in the slot awaiting an unusual kick pass from Cuthbert, which she one-timed low through a screen at 3:59.
Hardly what one would anticipate in a battle of the top two defenses in Hockey East. But after Sisk connected, it was the last of the defensive detonations at either end (for a time, anyway).
Schelling didn’t show a stronger specimen of her regular self than when she stoned a would-be nightmarish breakaway from Allen in the fifth minute of the second period.
Fresh out of the penalty box after a relatively numb NU power play, one that otherwise could have given the Huskies’ a boa constrictor’s stranglehold on the game, Allen collected the fugitive puck and cut down the Broadway lane. And unlike Paton on a previous break, she would not fumble the puck in an unfortunate build-up of snow. Instead, Schelling had to fuse her borders and shut the door on two quick bids.
Esposito redeemed the previous power play when, at 7:28, she gave a simple tap at Hogan’s feed from behind the net and watched it squirt between Herman’s legs for a semi-commanding 3-1 lead.
Trouble was, Allen and Co. garnered their own second chances. An even 90 seconds into the third, Allen recompensed her missed opportunity, absorbing a pass from Kristine Horn along the blueline, circumventing backchecker Casie Fields, and burying her own rebound around Schelling’s left boot.
From there, the Cats outshot the Dogs, 9-1, and patiently converted the 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 lead along the way. With 8:58 remaining in regulation, just as Northeastern’s Kristi Kehoe was making her jailbreak from a two-minute interference sentence, Birchard sent a diagonal feed from the center point to Long, who let her one-timer from the near circle nip the stick of defender Katy Applin and scoot through Schelling’s five-hole.
Three-and-a-half minutes later, Lavoie was parked right on Schelling’s porch for a pass from Long and nimbly laced the deciding score in around the spent, sprawling stopper.
Lavoie and Birchard capped their three-star worthy nights and cemented the 5-3 upshot with 15.8 seconds remaining, Lavoie cutting free to absorb Birchard’s butterknife of a pass across the center circle and flicking a backhander home from the blue line.
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