BOSTON - Two goals from senior Katie MacSorley (Stratford, Ontario) helped the Northeastern women's hockey team (12-12-2, 8-6-2 WHEA) earn its fifth straight win with a 4-2 victory over Vermont on Saturday at Matthews Arena.
Redshirt seniors Kelly Wallace (Libertyville, Ill.) and Brittany Esposito (Edmonton, Alberta) also scored for the Huskies, who reached the four-goal mark for the fourth straight game. Wallace also added an assist and extended her point-streak to six straight games, while Esposito scored for the fifth straight game and notched her 99th career point.
Sophomore Paige Savage (Johns Creek, Ga.) also stayed hot with an assist on MacSorley's first goal to give her points in six straight games. Savage has at least one helper in each of those games and has two goals and eight assists during that span.
The Catamounts (11-13-4, 7-7-1 WHEA) held a 32-24 edge in shots, but junior goaltender Chloe Desjardins (Saint-Prosper, Quebec) was up to the task for NU, stopping 30 pucks to earn her 12th win of the season.
Vermont's aggressive forecheck led to the game's first goal early in the opening period. After Brittany Zuback forced a giveaway outside the Huskies' blueline, Bridget Baker scooped up the loose puck and skated in alone on the left wing. Baker snapped a shot that appeared to handcuff Desjardins, as it spun of her left pad and trickled across the goalline to make it 1-0 for the visitors with 12:26 remaining in the frame.
Northeastern nearly tied things up in the final minute of the period when Tori Hickel's point shot deflected off a Vermont stick and struck the crossbar, but the rebound bounced over the cage and away from danger.
The Huskies finally broke through at the 4:23 mark of the second stanza when Wallace found a loose puck in the goal-mouth and flicked a backhand inside the right post to make it 1-1.
Northeastern kept its foot on the gas and went in front just 2:57 later on a tic-tac-toe passing play. In her first game back from injury, senior Claire Santostefano (Wilmette, Ill.) found Savage open along the right boards. Savage quickly collected the puck and dished a perfect pass across the crease to MacSorley for the one-time tap in at the back post.
Desjardins then did well to hold the scoreline at 2-1 when she kicked away an attempt from Amanda Pelkey on the rush, before stopping Dayna Colang on the rebound at the side of the net.
The Huskies carried the 2-1 advantage into the third period and quickly added some insurance when Santostefano curled behind the Vermont cage and found MacSorley open in front for her second goal of the game just 47 seconds into the frame.
Northeastern further padded its lead at the 8:10 mark when Wallace won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Esposito, who unleashed a quick wrister over the glove of UVM goaltender Roxanne Douville (20 saves) from the top of the left circle to make it 4-1.
Vermont pulled a goal back in the final minute as Klara Myren banked a shot off Desjardins from behind the net following a scramble in front. The goal came with Douville on the bench in favor of an extra attacker and cut the NU lead to 4-2 with 13 ticks showing on the clock.
Northeastern won the ensuing faceoff and killed off the remaining time to earn its fifth straight victory and pick up the season series win over Vermont with two wins in three games against the Catamounts.
The red-hot Huskies will now turn their attention to Tuesday's Women's Beanpot and a matchup with No. 5 Harvard. The two-time defending Beanpot champs will be looking for a bit of payback against the Crimson, who handed NU a 3-2 setback on Jan. 4.
Notes
- Northeastern is 9-1-1 in its last 11 meetings with Vermont.
- At 12-12-2, the Huskies are at .500 for the first time since Nov. 3 when they were 5-5-1.
- Wallace extended her point-streak to six straight games; she has six goals and three assists during that span.
- Esposito scored for the fifth straight game.
- Savage earned an assist for the sixth straight game.
- MacSorley turned in her third two-goal effort of the season.
- MacSorley scored her team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the year.
- Santostefano registered her first multi-point game since Dec. 1, 2012 against UNH.
- The Huskies improved to 7-2-0 when leading after two periods this season.