STORRS — Kyla Josifovic scored on a two-on-on breakaway with 4:37 left in the second overtime period to lift the UConn women to a 2-1 victory over Northeastern in the Hockey East championship game Saturday.
The goal rush began with possession from Ashley Allard, who passed to Claire Murdoch, who bore in on goalie Lisa Johnsson. Josifovic was in the right spot to end nearly 86 minutes of hockey, both teams dealing with exhaustion. But tireless Tia Chan, who starred in this game two years ago, turned in another clutch performance, making 56 saves, including 31 during 25 1/2 minutes of sudden death overtime, many of then spectacular. Chan was the tournament MVP.
Toscano Family Ice Pavilion was just about filled to it’s 2,600 capacity, a sizeable portion from Boston where Northeastern, which had earned the right to host this champsionship game but had to travel as its rink is being renovated. Northeastern was making its 10 straight appearance in the conference championship game, but was denied its seventh title. Northeastern beat UConn three times during the season, all in Storrs.
Instead UConn (27-8-2) won its second in three years. Both teams are headed for the NCAA Tournament, the 11-team field to be revealed Sunday.
Though UConn had the edge in shots most of the game, Northeastern (28-8-1) consistently created the more dangerous opportunities, especially in overtime when Chan was at her best, 17 in the first 15-minute period. UConn had one very dangerous shot in the first OT, but Christina Walker hit the crossbar.
Early in the second overtime, Chan stopped a straight-on breakaway by Stryker Zablocki, the conference player of the year. UConn could not get possession for any length in the second OT period, and Chan seemed to keep getting better as the game wore on (and on, and on). Julia Pellerin had a breakaway late in the period, but Northeastern’s Lisa Jonsson stopped it with his 53nd save.
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It was an even, uneventful game for the first 15 minutes or so, then UConn began to assert itself. Coach Chris MacKenzie pulled his goalie to gain an advantage, and ended up getting a power play chance out of it, but UConn couldn’t cash it in.
Early in the second period, UConn continued to apply more pressure and started to accumulate a big margin in shots. Finally, 2:22 in, Sadie Hotles broke through, punching the puck through the congestion passed Jonsson. Livy Dewar and Walker assisted.
UConn’s momentum was tripped up by a penalty, and Northeastern quickly capitalized on the power play and scored at 7:03, when Rylie Jones, from the top of the right circle, flipped the puck over Tia Chan’s left shoulder and into the net.
UConn had two power play chances, and again MacKenzie pulled Chan for a a possession, but the period ended with the score tied 1-1, UConn with a 29-20 edge in shots. At the end of the period, Northeastern, shorthanded, stole the puck and staged a 2-on-1 break, but Chan made the save. Each team picked up a penalty in the aftermath. UConn started the third period with a 4-on-3 advantage for 21 seconds, but couldn’t mount anything and it was back to even strength.
Neither team could muster much offense in the third, and the game went to overtime, as it in the UConn rink in 2024.
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