6pts Picked Up In Storrs

Ahead of the latest Snowmageddon that’s forecasted for the New England region; we saw 2 opposing forces collide at the Toscano Family Ice Forum this weekend. The UConn Huskies hosted the Northeastern Huskies on Friday and Saturday night – instead of a home and home series – again don’t know if you heard, but we have a Snowmaggedon incoming. This was not only a battle of the leaders in Hockey East (we see you on the comeup Holy Cross), but 2 squads in the top 10 nationally.

On Friday night it was Renna Trembecky for NU up against Tia Chan for UConn. No surprise for Trembecky in net after Lisa Jönsson got the start in the 3rd place game for the Beanpot and for UConn? It would be a stunner if Chan was NOT in net. The Grad Student captain has made a mind-boggling 23 starts in net (so far!) and has a minuscule 1.55GAA to go along with her .952%SV.

It was NU that got on the board first when Éloïse Caron beat Chan over the glove when she was left with too much space in the high slot. Stryker Zablocki with the feed and Caron with the finish.

And at juuuuuuust about the end of the first, NU doubled up the score off the stick of Jaden Bogden. A late power play for NU saw Chan make a save on a Rylie Jones‘ drive from the left point. That led to a whistle and face-off deep in the UConn zone with 1.5 seconds to play in the opening frame. Northeastern HC Dave “The Gambler” Flint pulled Trembecky for an extra attacker in the form of Bogden. Lily Shannon won the face-off towards the net from the RW dot and Bogden drove the net for the tap in after Chan misplayed the initial shot.

I don’t remember who it was, but someone recently predicted the Bogden would start getting some puck luck around the net. Must be one of our leading hockey minds.

UConn must have had the smelling salts going in the locker room as they came out with some pace and had the best looks in the early going. And just past midway, the UConn captain put the home Huskies on the board. A turnover in the NU zone saw the puck come to Brooke Campbell in the high slot and she wasted no time in putting the puck on net. Trembecky made the save but the puck tumbled to Kyla Josifovic at the left post. Talk about never giving up on a play, Josifovic got dumped behind the NU net and but righted herself and got in position to tuck one home.

Less than 2mins later MF Holly Abela showed why she’s one of those players you love to watch. Abela had 3 or 4 attempts on this one before she punched it home. If you thought Josifovic didn’t give up on her play?Abela said hold my beer as she stuck with it to put NU back up by a pair. Great backhand feed by Allie Lalonde to find Abela in the high slot.

It looked like the 2 goal gap would carry into the third, but Zablocki had other plans. With less than 4 seconds to play, the freshman joined some illustrious Legends of Matthews when she became the first Northeastern player to tally 30 points in her freshman year since Alina Müeller and Chloè Aurard did it in 2018-2019.

Caron sent Zablocki away from the red line and Zablocki made no mistake rifling the puck over Chan’s blocker.

In the 3rd, UConn climbed back within a pair from the stick of who else? Josifovic. On a UConn power play the Huskies had good puck movement and worked the puck well around some tired NU defenders. Julia Pellerin put the puck on net and Rembecky made the initial save but through a scramble Josifovic punched this one home on her backhand at the right post.

That score held until the final horn even though Abela got another one that was waved off for goaltender interference. I think that still counts as a BTG Bump for Abela as she was a guest last week to talk about the Beanpot. I mean we can only do so much. You can find that episode here.

Quick shout out to Mia Langlois for playing in her 100th game as a NU Husky. “Million Dolla’s Worth of Game” always is a supportive teammate and has a smile and something nice to say every time we see her.

The teams squared off again on Saturday afternoon with no changes in the UConn lineup but the NU sheet had a few adjustments. First up was Jönsson back in the net for NU. I wonder if this goalie matchup contributed to the over 2000 people in the stands on a Saturday afternoon?

The 2nd adjustment for the Huskies was the NCAA debut of Brigitte Aube. The sophomore from Avon, CT has a tremendous story about not giving up on her dream and overcoming setbacks. She personifies everything that is right with college athletics. We hope to have her on the podcast here in the 2nd half.

Would this game live up the the goalie duel hype? Could we see better goaltending than just 20 hours prior? The early signs were pointing to a most definitive hell yeah.

With about 7mins gone in the opening frame Morgan Jackson was awarded a penalty shot on a holding call. Jackson came down wide and showed some different speeds before Chan denied her at the right post.

As the period progressed you could feel the tension rising in the arena. No one on either squad was yielding an inch and both rosters were willing to lay everything on the line for this one.

The physicality picked up right where last night’s game left off and all we could ask from Stripes was to be consistent throughout the contest. With these two excellent teams going at it, please let it be decided by the players and not the on-ice officials.

In the middle frame the pace ticked up a step if you can believe it. Both teams were breaking out with speed and hunting every loose puck in the neutral zone. No one had space anywhere on the ice as every puck was contested. And even though some great looks were generated, the net minders were absolutely dialed.

In the final frame it became apparent that this was going to be a next goal wins first goal wins kind of situation. I cannot express how filthy both of the goalies were playing. The highlights below don’t do justice to the pair of brick walls occupying the nets. I mean it’s no wonder why both of these ‘tendies are on the Women’s Hockey Goalie Watch List.

It looked as if this was headed to extra hockey until freshman Ella Lloyd called game for NU. With less than 20 seconds to go in regulation, Emy McDermid dug the puck out of the right wing corner (I challenge anyone to find me video of McDermid gliding during game play – that footage just doesn’t exist) and found Jones at the right point. Letterkenny moved the puck laterally to Lloyd at the left point and from there it was all Lloyd’s silky mitts. She dog-walked the UConn defender by pulling the puck to her backhand before unloading a heavy snap from the high slot that beat Chan over the glove with Bogden providing some traffic in front.

Northeastern heads home with a 12 point lead in Hockey East while UConn has to feel Holy Cross hot on their heels only 1 point back in the standings. UConn faces off against UNH next weekend while Northeastern matches up with the aforementioned Crusaders.

If you’re reading this you’re clearly a fan of the women’s game. Please give us a follow and check out our podcast. You can find us on all socials @BTGHockeyPod

_{You can read more about Brownie in his bio below or follow him:
Twitter: @abrow28
Insta: @a_brow28
Bluesky: @abrow28.bsky.social}