Women’s Hockey East Wrap: Northeastern Tops Providence In Championship Game

Northeastern is your 2021 Women’s Hockey East champion.

The No. 1 Huskies topped the No. 3 Friars 6-2 in the championship game at Matthews Arena on Saturday. Providence went 0-3 against Northeastern during the regular season.

Katie Cipra, Tessa Ward, Maureen Murphy, Molly Griffin, Michaela Sindoris and Skylar Fontaine scored for the Huskies. Caroline Peterson and Giana Savastano had the Friars’ pair of goals.

Sandra Abstreiter stopped 41 of 46 shots she faced. Aerin Frankel pushed away 29 of 31.

Here’s how it all went down:

NORTHEASTERN FINDS EARLY EDGE
The Huskies struck first, and fast.

Cipra flicked one past Friars netminder Sandra Abstreiter on a beautiful back-handed play just 4:07 into the game.

Providence gradually gained confidence despite a cross-checking penalty on Ariane Julien late in the frame. Northeastern went 0-1 on the power play.

The Huskies outshot the Friars 20-13 in the first 20 minutes. They also led 11-10 in face-off wins.

GOALS GALORE
Both teams put points on the board in the second.

Northeastern was first, with Ward tossing a shot at Abstreiter from the blue line that deflected off the netminder’s skate and trickled over the goal line to make it 2-0 Huskies.

Peterson got the Friars back in it just 1:40 later with a tally of her own on a juicy rebound off Frankel’s right blocker.

Savastano made her way to the box for goaltender interference at 12:30, and Northeastern made Providence pay for the penalty.

Murphy gave the Huskies their two-goal lead back off a brilliant feed from Fontaine.

The period ended with Peterson and Lauren MacInnis incurring matching roughing penalties, which led to a 4-on-4 setup entering the third.

WE HAVE A WINNER!
It didn’t take long for Northeastern to seal the deal.

Griffin potted her first-ever playoff goal just as time expired on the dual penalties to open up a three-goal lead.

Sindoris delivered the dagger four minutes later by flying around the Friars’ net and sneaking one upstairs to make it 5-1 Huskies.

Savastano got one back for Providence with 6:32 left to play to trim Northeastern’s lead to three. (It was the first of her career, by the way.)

Both teams drew one more penalty before the final horn sounded.

Fontaine finished things off with an empty netter with 1:44 to go.

The Huskies went on to win 6-2 and claim the Women’s Hockey East title.