Women's Hockey Sweeps Weekend

A complete change of pace and third period goals helped UConn take its 13th win of the season, 4-1 Saturday at home against Hockey East rival Northeastern, then the Huskies traveled to Boston to complete the series on Sunday, with a 2-0 win.

"It's like Jekyll and Hyde," said head coach Heather Linstad. "If they understand the significance of winning, they should come out very focused and ready to play."

The first two periods of play were the epitome of UConn's recent run for the past month. The team came out looking flat, unable to control the puck and take shots on goal. UConn (14-10-2. 9-4-1 Hockey East) scored in the second period to give the Huskies' a 1-0 lead over Northeastern, on a shot by Nicole Tritter at 10:29, which was soon answered by Northeastern's Ginny Berg at 12:19 to tie the game at 1-1. As UConn skated off the ice, disappointment was on the players' faces and Linstad summed up that feeling, "We played well the last 20 minutes of the game."

"It's up to them to get it done," she said. "I had no strategy. If they play within our systems, they will be a good team. They needed to decide."

"We want to get our two points," said Dominique Thibault after Saturday's game. "They're really important and we can't afford to lose these games."

As the third period started, UConn came out looking completely different from the team that took the ice for the first 40 minutes of the game. Thibault scored at 2:48 near the goal crease, her first one in the period. Less than five minutes later, UConn scored again on a shot by Amy Holstein to put the team up 3-1. A final attempt to come back and win by Northeastern left an empty net with less than two minutes to play, which allowed Thibault to score from the opposite end of the ice.

"We had to dig deep and play our systems," Thibault said. "We came back as a team and won our 50/50 battles. It's going to be just as hard [on Sunday]. They're going to come out flying. We have to show up every period and every shift."

"We have to win them [the games this weekend]," Linstad said. "Every win is important for the outcome of the year."

Northeastern (3-22-1, 2-13-1 Hockey East) kept pace with UConn in the first two periods Saturday, winning many possessions and had almost as many shots on goal, often beating UConn to the puck. Neither team dominated the first two periods, though often UConn found itself on its own side of the ice more often than previous games.

"I thought it was a really great hockey game to watch," said Northeastern head coach Laura Schuler Saturday. "I'm happy with how the girls played. I thought we had as many opportunities as they [UConn] did and unfortunately capitalized on their chances and we didn't."

UConn goalkeeper Brittany Wilson, who won both Hockey East's, Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week last week, held Northeastern to one goal during the series.

"UConn's goalie played great," Schuler said on Saturday. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's always close when these teams play."

Sunday's game resulted in a shutout by UConn. UConn scored two quick goals in the second period, one by Natalie Vibert at 1:59 and the other by Kristen Russell less than thirty seconds later, according to Northeastern's athletic Web site.

Schuler said she felt that both Northeastern and UConn had changed since the first half of the season, saying they were more solid on defense.

"If you look back, I'd say there was a higher percentage of scoring," she said.

The road has not been easy for UConn the past couple months. The Huskies have dropped in conference standings, now sitting in fourth behind No. 9 Boston College, as well as No. 5 New Hampshire and Providence, after being the top seed in the conference from October to mid-December. The Huskies will face each of these teams at least once before the end of the regular season.