The UConn women’s hockey team (26-8-2, 17-6-1) hasn’t beaten Northeastern University (28-7-1, 21-2-1) in almost two years. They’ve lost seven straight contests, including all three this season.
Each of the three games this season saw UConn lose by two goals or less. One came down to an Ella Lloyd goal for Northeastern with less than 30 seconds left for a 1-0 win. Another saw the second one-goal win for Northeastern in the season series, this case a 3-2 victory just one minute into overtime.
Even in the playoffs, the Huskies couldn’t get it done in that stretch, losing to Northeastern in the Hockey East semifinals in 2025.
However, for the second straight season, UConn will get a fourth chance against their fellow Huskies as Northeastern travels to Storrs on Saturday to take on UConn in the Hockey East Championship.
“They’ve been a great opponent,” said UConn head coach Chris MacKenzie after practice on Thursday. “We’ve had a lot of matchups with them in the past and I think we’ll have a great game here.”
While the game is taking place on UConn’s home ice, the Northeastern Huskies are the ones with the clear upper hand. Though Northeastern sits as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, the championship is being played at the Toscano Family Ice Forum due to the closure of Matthews Arena, formerly the world’s oldest operating ice hockey facility, in 2025. With Northeastern still waiting on a new permanent home, the favorites will have to hit the road for a chance to win their first Hockey East Championship since 2023.
Northeastern has lost in the last two Hockey East championship games, falling to UConn in the 2024 edition. That 1-0 overtime win was UConn’s last victory in the series.
UConn will be looking to put an end to their seven-game slide and ensure that Northeastern loses a third-straight championship game in the process.
A big part of that push will be senior captain Kyla Josifovic. The forward scored the first goal of her postseason career in the quarterfinals and notched another in the semifinals.
“We’re super excited just to get after it,” Josifovic said after practicing on Thursday. “We’ve been having a lot of fun this week getting ready, so it should be a really good game.”
Sophomore Claire Murdoch has also been a force to be reckoned with throughout the playoffs to this point and was named Hockey East Player of the Month on Wednesday. The forward has largely recaptured the form that propelled her to being named the unanimous Hockey East Rookie of the Year last season. The 2026 Hockey East second teamer posted her first-career four-point performance in the quarterfinals with a goal and three assists against the University of Maine and rides a seven-game point streak into this contest.
“From day one, she’s been a solid contributor offensively,” MacKenzie said. “Just a really smart player that makes everyone around her better.”
Josifovic and Murdoch will be playing in front of goalkeeper Tia Chan. Chan was awarded as the Hockey East Goaltender of the Year last month for the second straight season and is coming off back-to-back 20-plus save games in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
“It’s just nice to see her get rewarded for so much that she’s gone through over the years,” MacKenzie said. “She’s had surgeries, she’s had setbacks and she’s been a warrior for us for five years. I think I would say the league is going to be happy to see her graduate. We’ll be sad, but she’s rewritten, I think, every record we have for goaltending.”
Chan received her biggest honor yet on Thursday when she was named a top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award, the top honor in Division I Women’s Hockey.
“There’s no one more deserving of that recognition or even for that award,” team captain Emma Eryou said following practice on Thursday. “Tia [Chan] has been the backbone of this program for all five…years that she’s been here. Quiet work, dedication, commitment, everything. She’s just been a catalyst for us, so to have her means everything for us.”
The rest of the All-Hockey East first team was largely made up of Northeastern players, with Jules Constantinople, Lily Shannon and Stryker Zablocki all finding their ways onto the list.
Zablocki, in particular, had an exceedingly outstanding season. Named both the Hockey East Player of the Year and Co-Freshman of the Year, Zablocki posted 42 points and was tied for the team lead in assists with 24.
Shannon held the other end of that tie, along with the team lead in goals with 19.
Constantinople, too, got her hands on some hardware after being awarded the Defender of the Year.
“Good gritty, gritty little player,” MacKenzie said of Constantinople before adding that the senior has improved each season of her collegiate career.
Lisa Jönsson, the All-Hockey East second team goalie behind Chan, would have had a case for the top award most years. The freshman will likely make a run at it next year after stopping 667 shots, .939 percent of the shots she faced.
Puck drop at Toscano on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on ESPN News and will also stream on ESPN+.