Hockey East Roundup: Jan. 17-21, 2025

Hockey East! Another week in conference, and with just over a month left in the regular season, we’re getting down to the wire. There’s a lot of points up for grabs this weekend, and there was some shuffling last weekend as well. Off we go! 

Series Rewind: Providence sweeps the legs out from under Northeastern 

If Providence sweeping the season series from Northeastern was on any bingo card, it certainly wasn’t on mine. 

The Friars played two strong games this weekend, including a 5-1 win on Friday and a 3-2 win at the Huskies’ home arena on Saturday. After a three goal effort in the first period of the weekend, Providence never really looked back, as they never allowed Northeastern to lead through 120 minutes of game action. 

As mentioned, Friday’s contest started early. Mégane Quirion opened the scoring, as she took advantage of a rebound in front to put it past sophomore goaltender Mattie Robitzer – who was making her first NCAA start. Just over a minute later, Kiara Kraft extended the lead for the Friars as she also found the back of the net. To close out the period, senior Hannah Johnson added her seventh goal of the season with 5:43 on the clock. 

Another Hannah, this time Clarke, had her second assist of the opening period on the tally. Reichen Kirchmair, who eventually added the fourth goal in the final period, added another assist to her growing point total with the other helper on Johnson’s goal. 

For Northeastern, it was a dismal first period. Coming off a Beanpot semifinal win against Boston College, the Huskies registered just six shots on goal in the frame. They rebounded greatly in the second, with 14 SOG, but senior Hope Walinski was steady in net and kept them from converting. 

In the third period, some chippiness and choice words led to two power play chances – one for either team. Northeastern’s Lily Yovetich took an interference infraction 4:26 into the period, but the top penalty kill unit in the nation easily killed it off. On the opposite side, the Huskies were able to finally get on the board after sophomore Audrey Knapp was shown the gate with a major interference penalty in the last five minutes of regulation. 

On the advantage, captain Taze Thompson buried yet another power play goal for Northeastern to bring the score to 4-1. However, with Robitzer pulled and any icings waved off, Lily Martinson shot for the open cage and buried it for the third shorthanded goal of the season for Providence. 

Saturday started better for Northeastern, in that they didn’t allow any goals in the first 10 minutes. A late goal by Kraft pushed Providence in front, before Brooke Becker took a penalty less than a minute later, sparking some life in the Huskies. 

Once again, the Northeastern power play struck in the form of Allie Lalonde’s first goal of the season. The sophomore forward missed the entire first semester, but has been playing well since rejoining the team for the spring. She rifled a shot off from above the faceoff circle to beat Walinski and to tie the game at one. 

The tied contest only lasted 10 minutes, before two goals five minutes apart put the Friars ahead for good. First was Martinson again, who now has three goals in her last four games. Five minutes later, Kirchmair also added her second goal of the weekend with what was the eventual game winner. 

The Huskies rebounded in the third period, after Jules Constantinople brought them within one 4:20 in. However, even as they limited Providence to five shots, they couldn’t quite get over the hump themselves, and dropped their first series of the season. 

After starting the season 7-8-3, the Friars have now won six in a row, and have clawed their way into the contention for the top spots in the conference. They’re now three points behind Northeastern in fourth with just over a month left to go, and are within 10 points of Boston College and UConn in the top spot. 

Weekly Awards:

Player of the Week: Reichen Kirchmair, F, Providence – Junior 

With a three point weekend, including the aforementioned game winner on Saturday, Kirchmair was on fire for Providence. And the junior has only looked better and better as the weeks go on this season. She is now second in the conference in scoring, with 13 goals and 11 points in 25 games played. 

Pro Ambitious Rookie of the Week: Hannah Deck, D, Holy Cross – Freshman 

In back-to-back ties (and shootout wins) against Merrimack this weekend, Deck scored her second of the season to tie the game while HC was on the power play Saturday. It was the first point since Nov. 15th for the freshman, and she topped the game tying goal with the winner in the seventh round of the shootout in the same Saturday game. 

Defender of the Week: Julia Shaunessy, D, Boston University – Graduate Student 

In last week’s Beanpot semifinal, Shaunessy was instrumental on both goals for the Terriers, picking up her 12th and 13th assists of the season on the two goals scored by BU. She now leads the Terriers in points with 14, and her 19 blocked shots through 23 games played is third on the team overall. 

Stop It Goaltender of the Week: Sedona Blair, G, New Hampshire – Sophomore 

Despite some ups and downs for the Wildcats this season, Blair has been outstanding so far, with a .928 save percentage through 20 starts. Her most recent start was a 26 save shutout of BU, the fifth blank sheet she’s recorded in 2024-25. The sophomore also had an insane stick save while BU was shorthanded to keep the score knotted at one. The save is No. 2 on the Hockey East plays of the week roundup, linked below. 

Complete Scoreboard: 

Non-Conference Matchups In Bold

Friday: 

Boston College 3 vs. Vermont 0 
Maine 2 at UConn 2 – Maine Won SO 1-0
Holy Cross 1 vs Merrimack 1 – Holy Cross Won SO 1-0
Providence 5 vs. Northeastern 1

Saturday: 

New Hampshire 2 vs. Boston University 0 
Holy Cross 2 at Merrimack 2 – Holy Cross Won SO 2-1 
Providence 3 at Northeastern 2
UConn 3 vs. Maine 0 

Tuesday: 

Boston College 4 vs. Harvard (ECAC) 1 – Beanpot Consolation Game at TD Garden 

Northeastern 4 vs. Boston University 0 – Beanpot Championship Game at TD Garden

What to Watch: New Hampshire at Maine 

Friday at 6 PM | Saturday at 4 PM 

It’s Border Battle time again folks! New Hampshire is making the trip up to Maine for a weekend set at the Alfond, and it’s no time like the present for one of these teams to make a move for potentially the top half of the conference. 

Through 17 games in Hockey East this year, UNH is 8-9-0, with 22 points. While they are a bit of a ways away from the top half of the league, they’re still right in the mix with nine games left to play. 

Maine though is right behind them, with 19 points through 18 games (5-12-1). It’s not been a kind season for the Black Bears, although since the calendar changed to 2025, they have won two games and collected an extra point in a shootout victory against UConn over the weekend. 

One of their two wins was a game against UNH early in the month, a 4-1 victory in Durham. It was just the second game all season the Black Bears scored more than four goals in a game. They narrowly outshot the Wildcats 35-34, but crushed them in the faceoff circle, with 34 wins on 60 draws. 

After giving up three goals in the second period, including two in under 30 seconds, Blair was given the hook in favor of Noemi Martinez. Since being pulled, Blair has started two more games against Vermont and BU, where she made a combined 56 saves in back-to-back wins. She will need to be sharp this weekend in order to keep Maine from scoring at the same level they did earlier in January. 

On the opposite side of the ice, sophomore Julia Bachetti has finally returned for Maine after missing two-and-a-half months. Since returning to the lineup, the netminder has given up eight goals on 94 shots, good for a .914 save percentage in over 203 minutes of action. Last weekend against UConn, Bachetti made 60 saves in two games, leading Maine to that shootout win over the Huskies in Storrs. 

For what it’s worth, these are two vastly different teams when it comes to the metrics on both sides of the puck. New Hampshire is scoring at a 2.1 goals per game clip – not the highest, but not the lowest in Hockey East either. They’ve also kept their opponents to just 2.2 goals per game, a very solid mark considering the offensive performances from some of the teams in the conference this season. 

Maine however… They can’t score and they’re struggling to keep the puck out of the back of the net. The Black Bears are scoring just 1.6 goals per game, and are giving up 3.4. Out of the 10 teams in HEA, they have the second lowest total goals (39, only ahead of Vermont), and have given up the most goals with 85 scored against them. 

They played well against New Hampshire though! And that can be crucial, especially in their own barn. If you’re looking for a lot of goal scoring this weekend, I’m not sure how much you’ll find here. Regardless it should be two entertaining games between these two rivals. 

Full Upcoming Schedule:

Streaming Details Available Here

Friday: 

Boston University at Holy Cross – 6 PM
New Hampshire at Maine – 6 PM
Boston College at Providence – 6 PM
UConn at Vermont – 6 PM 
Merrimack at Northeastern – 7:00 PM 

Saturday: 

Providence at Boston College – 2 PM 
Holy Cross at Boston University – 4 PM 
New Hampshire at Maine – 4 PM 
UConn at Vermont – 6 PM 
Northeastern at Merrimack – 7:30 PM