BOSTON - The No. 7/7 Northeastern women's ice hockey team (5-1-1, 1-1-0) used two second period goals and received 23 saves from Chloe Desjardins to shutout Maine (1-5-0, 1-3-0) on Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena.
The Huskies received goals from Kendall Coyne and Kelly Wallace ten minutes apart in the second period, including Coyne's third power play goal of the season five minutes into the frame. NU outshot the Black Bears 36-20 in the game and went 1-of-5 on the power play, notching a goal on the man advantage for the third straight game. Maine went 0-of-4 on the power play.
The Huskies dictated the style of play in the first period, outshooting Maine 12-2 and pinning the Black Bears in their defensive zone for a majority of the period.
NU applied pressure on Maine throughout the frame, testing Treacy with shots from all angles. Northeastern's first chance of the day came when Brittany Esposito flung a long outlet pass into the stick of Paige Savage, who fired a shot on goal that was steered aside.
Later in the frame, Ann Doherty sent a pass into the slot, where Casey Pickett was stationed to redirect it on goal. At the other end of the ice, Desjardins kept the Black Bears quiet, while Rachel Llanes thwarted a scoring chance late in the frame when she lifted the stick of Brittany Doughtery as she prepared to receive a pass from the right side.
Northeastern's offense got going in the second, outshooting Maine 13-7 and potting two goals in the stanza. The first came less than five minutes into the frame with the Huskies on the power play as Coyne scored her eighth goal of the season. After picking up a loose puck, Coyne controlled the disk below the goal line before skating out and flinging a shot on net that went off a Maine defender and past Treacy.
Ten minutes later, Wallace buried her first goal of the season on a rebound. After Claire Santostefano won a faceoff back to Katie MacSorley, MacSorley sent a shot on goal that was stopped by Treacy. The Black Bear netminder left the rebound out in front of the crease, where Wallace promptly cleaned up the mess for the score.
The Huskies thought it had taken a commanding 3-0 edge two minutes after the Wallace tally when Casey Pickett's shot from the point trickled over the goal line, but video replay overturned the initial call on the ice.
Desjardins and the NU penalty-killing unit kept the Black Bears quiet in the third period, killing off back-to-back penalties in the first 10 minutes of the frame. Maine took chances throughout the frame in an effort to claw back into the contest, but Desjardins stood her ground before Coyne added an empty net goal to help NU to its first league victory of the season.
The Huskies will be back in action next weekend as Northeastern faces off with Connecticut in a home-and-home series, beginning Friday night in Storrs, Conn. at 7 p.m.
Game Notes: Northeastern is now 22-15-5 all-time against Maine ... The Huskies extended its unbeaten streak against the Black Bears to eight games, dating back to the 2009-10 season; it is the second-longest active streak against any NU opponent this season ... Coyne has at least one point in each of her last three games (three goals, one assist) ... Wallace's second period goal was her first goal in 33 games, dating back to Oct. 21, 2011 against Princeton.