The Northeastern women’s hockey team had a lot to play for Saturday. Yes, there was a trip to the Frozen Four on the line, but there also was a chance for the Huskies to get revenge on Wisconsin, the team that defeated them in 2021 national championship game in heartbreaking fashion.
And in the latest edition of what has turned into a bitter national rivalry — ignited again during some heated press conferences Friday — Northeastern got it done at Matthews Arena, dominating Wisconsin 4-2 to eliminate the Badgers from the NCAA tournament.
Four different scorers logged points for the Huskies, with Maureen Murphy — who finished the regular season as the nation’s leading scorer — potting the eventual winner at 11:22 of the second period.
Katy Knoll, Skylar Irving and Alina Mueller also scored for Northeastern, and Knoll and Murphy were credited with assists. Brooke Hobson and Maddie Mills also had multi-point games with two assists each.
Northeastern got on the board early in the first period, but Casey O’Brien scored for the Badgers to make it a 1-1 game less than 10 minutes in. But Northeastern scored a pair of unanswered points, then tacked on another to increase the distance early in the final period.
Aerin Frankel, who is a finalist for the National Goaltender of the Year Award, finished with 39 saves.
The third-seeded Huskies await the winner of Minnesota-Minnesota Duluth and will play again Friday.
