PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College women's ice hockey team recorded a 5-1 loss against No. 10 Northeastern in their final home game of the regular season on Saturday night at Schneider Arena. The Friars record moves to 14-14-5 in overall play and 8-9-3 against Hockey East competition.
At 3:42 of the first period, Paige Savage gave Northeastern a 1-0 lead when she scored a goal while the Huskies were on the penalty kill. Casey Pickett fed Savage with a pass as she skated in on a breakaway on Friars freshman goaltender Sarah Bryant (Bethlehem, Pa.). Savage fired a shot that went straight into the top of the net to give the Huskies the advantage.
Sophomore Victoria Virtue (Walpole, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal at 6:32 of the second period to tie the game. After a sequence of events in the Huskies zone, sophomore Haley Frade (Marion, Mass.) found Virtue, who was set-up on the blue line, with a pass. Virtue blasted a shot from the point to even the score at 1. Freshman Molly Illikainen (Grand Rapids, Minn.) also earned an assist on the goal.
Northeastern found the back of the net twice more before the second period ended with goals a minute apart from Kelly Wallace and Casey Pickett to take a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
In the third period, Northeastern added two more goals. Casey Pickett scored the second shorthanded goal of the game for the Huskies at 6:57 of the frame when she stole the puck along the boards in the Friars zone and scored on an unassisted breakaway on Bryant.
Rachel Llanes completed the scoring for the Huskies at 14:03 while on the power-play when she finished off a play that was started by a wraparound attempt. The puck slid through the crease to Llanes who tapped the puck into the open net to make the score 5-1.
Bryant finished the game with 23 saves for the Friars, including 11 in the third period. Northeastern netminder Chloe Desjardins stopped 25 shots in the game. Providence outshot the Huskies, 13-6, in the third period but Northeastern ended the game with the shot advantage, 28-26.
The Friars play their final game of the regular season tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 24 when they finish the home-and-home series against No. 10 Northeastern at Matthews Arena at 4:00p.m.