Behind a pair of goals apiece for Rush Zimmerman and Hilary Greaves, Providence defeated Northeastern, 6-3, on Friday at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern came out to start the first period with a lot of spring in its legs. In the first four minutes of the game the Huskies hit two pipes and had several scoring chances. At 16:12 of the period the Huskies had a goal waved off as the official said the net was off its moorings.
Northeastern kept pressing Providence in its defensive zone and it paid off at 11:21 of the first period as senior Brooke White scored on a backhander from in the slot.
At 7:04 of the period it appeared that Providence had pulled even on a goal from senior Danielle Culgin, but after review the official waved that goal off as well.
Senior Michelle Lorion gave the Huskies a two-goal lead at 6:36 of the first when Providence goaltender freshman Jana Bugden lost the puck in her skates. Lorion skated out from behind the net and was able to slide the puck over the line before Bugden could sweep it aside.
With 3:44 left in the first, the Friars got on the scoreboard as Zimmerman found the puck in front of the net and wristed the puck through junior Chanda Gunn’s five-hole.
The Friars came out in the second period and scored three straight power-play goals to take a 4-2 lead over the Huskies.
Greaves scored the first goal of the period when she tipped in a shot from junior Kelli Halcisak at 12:33 of the period. Junior Meredith Roth also picked up an assist on the play.
With 10:40 left in the period, Zimmerman scored her second goal of the game when senior Melanie Ruzzi found her alone in the slot for a one-timer that beat Gunn. Freshman Katelynn Laffin got the other assist as the Friars got the go-ahead goal.
At 8:11 of the period, the Friars had their second goal of the day waved off because a player was in the crease. Greaves scored her second goal of the period with 7:40 remaining when Gunn left a rebound in front of her net off of a Roth shot from the point. Greaves tucked the puck around Gunn for the goal.
Providence added two more goals in the third to close out the game. Culgin kept the puck in the zone as the Huskies attempted to clear and made a nice pass down to senior Jenn Butsch. Butsch made a cross-ice pass to a cutting Halcisak, who redirected the puck past Gunn for the Friars’ fifth goal of the night.
White scored her second goal of the night at 10:38 of the third when she received a long clearing pass from sophomore Lori DiGiacomo that sprang her behind the Providence defense.
Junior Darlene Stephenson put the finishing touches on the game when she scored her 10th goal of the season with 4:36 left in the period. The assists were recorded by Zimmerman and Halcisak.
Providence outshot Northeastern, 52-15, while Bugden made 12 saves on 15 shots. Bugden improved her record to 8-3-2 on the year and helped the Friars move to 10-4-3 for the season, while Northeastern fell to 5-9-2.
