BOSTON - Maureen Murphy scored the game-winning goal on the power play in the second period, while Tessa Ward added a goal and an assist and Brooke Hobson had a pair of helpers to lead No. 1 Northeastern (20-1-1) to a 6-2 victory over No. 9 Providence (12-7-1) in the Hockey East Championship Game on Saturday inside Matthews Arena. The top-ranked Huskies won their fourth consecutive tournament title and are unbeaten over their last 20 games.
Aerin Frankel made 29 saves and was named Most Valuable Player for the tournament. Frankel holds the league record with 15 tournament wins and only allowed three goals over the course of the entire championship run.
Katie Cipra, Molly Griffin, Miceala Sindoris and Skylar Fontaine all recorded goals for the Huskies. Northeastern has won 15 straight tournament games and the senior class has never lost a Hockey East tournament game. Head Coach Dave Flint increased his Hockey East record to 27 postseason wins.
Northeastern becomes just the third school to win four consecutive titles, joining New Hampshire (2006-09) and Boston University (2012-15). The Huskies are an astounding 52-5-3 over the last two seasons after leading the NCAA in wins in 2019-20 (32) and 2020-21 (20).
Cipra started the scoring just four minutes into the game as she beat the Providence defense and roofed a backhand to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Ward scored from just outside the blue line after it ricocheted off the post, hit the Providence goaltender, and crept across the goal line for a 2-0 lead. After the Friars scored, Murphy one-timed a nice feed from Fontaine to the top corner of the net as the lead grew to 3-1 after two periods of play.
Northeastern came out firing in the third period, getting goals from Griffin just two minutes into the final session and Sindoris found the back of the net just six minutes into the third as the Huskies took their largest lead of the game, 5-1. Providence tipped a goal in to make the score 5-2, but Fontaine added an empty-net goal to finish off the Friars and give the top-seeded Huskies their four-peat.
The top-ranked Huskies earn their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament berth and will find out on Sunday night who they will face in Erie, Pa. on March 15-16. The NCAA Selection Show will stream at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.
2021 Hockey East All-Tournament Team
G: Aerin Frankel, Northeastern, Senior, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
D: Brooke Becker, Freshman Providence, Orchard Park, N.Y.
D: Skylar Fontaine, Senior, Northeastern, East Greenwich, R.I.
F: Chloé Aurard, Junior, Northeastern, Villard-de-Lans, France
F: Alina Mueller, Junior, Northeastern, Winterthur, Switzerland
F: Caroline Peterson, Junior, Providence, East Falmouth, Mass.
MVP: Aerin Frankel, Northeastern, Senior, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
