Women’s Hockey East Championship Wrap: Northeastern Beats UConn 9-1 To Claim Title

For the third straight year, the Northeastern University Huskies are women’s Hockey East champions.

The Huskies claimed the title Sunday afternoon at Merrimack, dispatching UConn 9-1 in the championship game. Northeastern took a 3-1 lead in the opening period and never looked back, cruising to victory.

Skylar Fontaine, Jess Schryver (twice), Alina Mueller, Matti Hartman, Chloe Aurard, Katie Cipra, Codie Cross and Peyton Anderson had the goals for Northeastern, while Catherine Crawley scored UConn’s lone tally.

Aerin Frankel turned away 19 shots for Northeastern. Morgan Fisher made 27 saves for UConn.

EVENTFUL FIRST
A combined four goals were scored in the opening 20 minutes, three of them from Northeastern as it took a commanding 3-1 lead by the period’s end.

Fontaine continued her downright sensational postseason, scoring 6:27 after the opening face-off after a feed from Mueller. With the goal, Fontaine extended her streak of contributing either a goal or assist on eight straight Huskies tallies.

Northeastern doubled its lead nearly eight minutes later.

Aurard won a loose puck in the neutral zone, resulting in a 3-on-2 for Northeastern. Just before getting to the end line, Aurard pivoted and slipped a pass to Schryver, who finished on the doorstep. The play was reviewed for goalie interference, but confirmed as a goal.

However, UConn showed some life shortly before the period ended. A scramble in front of Northeastern’s net resulted in a puck kicking out to Crawley, who buried UConn’s first goal at 16:47.

But UConn’s excitement was short-lived, as Northeastern got one back just a minute before the break.

Aurard’s pass from the circle found Mueller at the point, and Mueller’s slap shot got through traffic and beat Fisher at 18:59 to push Northeastern’s lead to 3-1.

CREATING SOME ROOM
Though there was far less goal-scoring in the second, it was Northeastern that grabbed the frame’s lone tally to give itself a three-goal cushion.

Shortly after the period began, Paige Capistran threw a puck toward the net from the point, and Hartman got a piece of it as she dashed through the circle, redirecting the puck past Fisher to extend the Huskies’ lead to 4-1 at 0:43.

NORTHEASTERN SEALS IT
Though the result hardly was in doubt by the time the third period rolled around, Northeastern made sure not to let things get close.

Aurard, just 30 seconds after the third began, netted a power play goal to make it 5-1 Northeastern. Mia Brown’s shot attempt was stopped and swatted away by Fisher, but the puck slipped out to Aurard at the inner edge of the circle and she snapped home the goal with ease.

Just 12 seconds later, the Huskies added a sixth.

Cipra zipped down the right wing, then uncorked a shot upon reaching the dot that beat Fisher over her shoulder.

With the final horn nearing, Schryver scored her second of the afternoon after Mueller’s cross-crease pass gave Schryver a wide-open net at 13:29.

Cross then made it 8-1 with a shot from the point that deflected off a UConn skater and in at 14:34.

It didn’t stop there either.

Anderson collected a bouncing puck as she gained the offensive blue line, then zipped a wrister past Fisher for Northeastern’s ninth and final goal.