The UConn women’s hockey team lost against Northeastern University 3-1 in the Hockey East Championship semifinals on Wednesday, March 5. The matchup determined which team would make it to the tournament final. Despite battling hard in what was initially a defensive struggle, the Huskies fell to the Northeastern attack and were knocked out of the Hockey east tournament.
Coming into the contest, UConn had shut out Merrimack 4-0 last weekend in the Hockey East quarterfinal draw, fueled by the stalwart efforts of goalie Tia Chan and two goals from senior captain Jada Habisch. They had also received good news earlier in the week as freshman Claire Murdoch won the Hockey East rookie of the year award and Chris MacKenzie was anointed as the conference’s coach of the year.
Meanwhile, Northeastern was fresh off a quarterfinal win of their own, a close contest against Providence that was decided by a 3-2 score. In that game, Northeastern had to fend off a two-goal third period from Providence that culminated in a nervy ending for the ultimate victors.
The first period of Wednesday night’s semifinal saw some early heroics from Chan, who was in goal for both of UConn’s playoff matchups. With about three minutes gone in the first, Chan made a kick save which deflected the puck to her right side, where Northeastern’s Shannon tried to shoot the rebound into the net, but Chan excellently saved the second effort.
At the end of the first period, the teams were all knotted up at 0-0.
The second period finally saw a break in the scoreless deadlock. UConn was granted a power play halfway through the period after Northeastern’s Tuva Kandall was called for boarding. Pouncing on the advantage, Riley Grimley fired the puck past Northeastern goalie Lisa Jonsson to take a 1-0 lead, assisted by Christina Walker. The goal was Grimley’s fourth of the season. UConn also had a 23-20 advantage in shots heading into the third period and seemingly had the momentum going into the final stages of the game. There were just 20 minutes left to close out Northeastern for the win and move on to the final.
Then Northeastern woke up.
Northeastern’s Skylar Irving, a senior second-team Hockey East All-Star, got things started for her team in the third. Six minutes into the period, Irving scored a solo goal to tie the score at 1-1. Suddenly, UConn found themselves on the back foot.
Six minutes later, Irving struck again and fired another shot past Chan, this time assisted by Morgan Jackson and Eloise Caron. The goal was Irving’s 17th of the season and would prove decisive in the contest.
Though UConn made a good effort to fight back, compiling 14 shots in the third period, Northeastern didn’t let up and added a third goal off the stick of Lily Brazis. Morgan Jackson again provided the assist.
In the last two minutes, UConn pulled their goalie in an attempt to make one last push, but they couldn’t break through and Northeastern prevailed 3-1. This marked an end to Connecticut’s hopes to repeat as Hockey East champions following an excellent season in which they secured the first seed in the tournament. Interestingly, UConn captured their last Hockey East title by beating Northeastern 1-0 in Storrs in 2024. In 2025’s contest, however, Northeastern exacted their revenge.
As a result, Northeastern moved on to the Hockey East final against Boston University, which will be played on Saturday, March 8. The site of the final was set in September 2024 as the Toscano Family Ice Forum on the Storrs campus. Puck drop for the final will be at 2 p.m.