Box Score

Stalemate reigns supreme atop the Hockey East table tonight as No. 7 Northeastern (15-5-2, 9-2-2 WHEA) tied No. 4 Boston College, 1-1, to keep WHEA's top two teams' conference records identical.

Freshman Lucie Povova put the Huskies in front midway through the second period, and senior Florence Schelling kept the Huskies level with 31 saves. BC's Corinne Boyles stopped 40 Northeastern shots.

Freshman Kendall Coyne had the first chance of the game just 40 seconds in, after chasing down a loose puck in the neutral zone and breaking behind the BC defense. She deked across Corinne Boyles' goal to her backhand side, but the BC netminder made the initial stop and denied a rebound chance as well to end the early threat.

Play cooled over the next few minutes as Hockey East's top two sides felt each other out after two months away from one another. After six minutes Northeastern was caught on a change and had to scramble to backcheck on BC's three-on-one opportunity, but Taylor Wasylk forewent her passing options and fired straight at Schelling. The Huskies responded immediately with a two-on-one chance led by Coyne, whose third shot on goal in the opening six minutes was summarily disposed of by Boyles.

BC drew the game's first power play against the nation's fifth least penalized team when freshman Ann Doherty bodychecked Melissa Bizzari against NU's defensive zone boards at 8:43. The nation's fourth-ranked penalty kill lived up to its billing, however, allowing no shots on Schelling's goal and allowing little activity in the slot.

The opening frame's final minutes were played in end-to-end harmony, with both sides exchanging half chances until Schelling rescued the Huskies from a possible early deficit. Meagan Mangene gained the zone and broke in wide to Schelling's right; she cross the goal line and flicked the puck across the mouth of goal where Dru Burns was waiting unmarked in the slot, but a reflexive left pad save kept the Huskies level.

Northeastern got its own turn on the power play to finish out the period when Ashley Motherwell went off for holding with two minutes to play following a scrum in front of Boyles' cage. The Eagles matched the Huskies' earlier performance with a man down, however, and Boyles went untroubled as the buzzer sounded for intermission with no score.

The second period began much as the first one had ended, with both teams rather tentative through the neutral zone. Schelling yielded a rebound off a Danielle Welch wrist shot, but Bizzari's rebound effort squirted wide of goal. After the Huskies brought play down to the other end, Allison Szlosek tripped junior Brittany Esposito to give the Huskies their second power play at 2:43. Coyne tried to jam one in from point blank, but Boyles held fast to snuff out the threat. It was the 15th consecutive power play failure for Northeastern, in a streak dating back to Jan. 5 when Esposito netted against Clarkson.

Boston College began to control the run of play as the halfway mark neared, but Schelling kept the Huskies in it with a series of pad saves. First Bizzari got a second chance at the Swiss international only to be denied with the left pad, and moments later, BC leading scorer Alex Carpenter wasted a chance in the slot that Schelling did well to deny.

The Huskies' diligent defense would then pay off in the form of the game's first goal. Tape-to-tape combination play from Povova and sophomores Claire Santostefano and Maggie DiMasi put the latter in on Boyles. DiMasi's wrister met Boyles' pad, but Povova pounced on the rebound to bury her sixth of the season at 10:02. Both DiMasi and Santostefano now have three assists over their last four games.

DiMasi found herself in the sin bin minutes later after tripping an Eagle at 12:21. Northeastern surrendered not a goal but another power play to Boston College when senior tri-captain Stephanie Gavronsky tripped Emily Field at 12:53. Here the Northeastern penalty kill was truly tested, but the triangle held firm for the 88 seconds of five-on-three until DiMasi returned.

BC gifted the remainder of the power play over to the Huskies when Blake Bolden leveled Coyne at 15:17 for a bodychecking minor, but it was the Eagles who reaped the golden opportunity during four-on-four play. One-time passing from Mangene and Motherwell gave the former a golden chance low in the slot, but Schelling's butterfly stoned her once again with her 21st save of the evening. The Swiss international would have 24 by period's end as the Huskies took their 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Third period play carried on in typically quiet fashion – save for Coyne's setting up Esposito for a wrist shot that flew high – until Carpenter wrong-footed Colleen Murphy and the Northeastern freshman tripped her up at 3:28. The NU power play continued to earn its keep, however, with Santostefano's forechecking particularly effective amidst a relatively routine kill.

Play remained stuck in the Northeastern zone, however, and it wouldn't be long before Boston College equalized. Mary Restuccia set up Motherwell at point blank, and though Schelling made an outstanding save on her first effort, she was in no position to deal with the rebound at 6:38 of the final frame. The goal was Motherwell's seventh of the season.

And still BC kept the heat on the Huskies; just 91 seconds later, sophomore Sonia St. Martin went to the box for checking Wasylk deep in the Northeastern zone. St. Martin returned with the game still tied, but the momentum belonged to the home side as the minutes wound down.

The Huskies seemed finally to regain a foothold in the game after a solid five minutes on the defensive, resulting in a Coyne effort on Boyles' goal, but the shot flew high and junior tri-captain Casey Pickett couldn't tee up the rebound as the puck caromed back off the boards. The duo reprised their efforts moments later with a two-on-one chance, but Boyles denied Pickett's close-range try with a sprawling save to her right.

St. Martin then took a receipt on her earlier check on Wasylk when she drew a tripping call on the BC sophomore at 14:15. Dave Flint's timeout a minute deep in the power play nearly yielded game-winning dividends when, after Coyne won the ensuing faceoff, Gavronsky through a dangerous cross in front of goal, but Coyne was a fraction too late to tap it in with Boyles slow to react.

In a reversal from the middle of the period, Northeastern looked much the better side as regulation ended, but chances from Coyne, Esposito and sophomore Katie MacSorley all went begging amidst a scrum in front of net with just seconds to play.

Boyles started overtime with a stylish glove swipe on a Coyne wrist shot from the slot after just 30 seconds. Later, a St. Martin slapper from just right of center caused a pile-up near the goalmouth, but Boyles held strong in typical fashion to keep the game deadlocked. With both sides looking fatigued and both goaltenders looking unbeatable, they were the best chances either team would receive.

Schelling made 31 saves in Northeastern's second tie of the season. The Huskies are now 0-1-2 in overtime games, having drawn at New Hampshire on Dec. 3 and yielded a late winner at Dartmouth on Nov. 26.

Though both teams still hold identical records in Hockey East, Boston College has inroads on a possible top seed in the WHEA playoffs by virtue of its 2-0-1 season record against Northeastern, which maintains a healthy seven-point lead over Providence and Maine for second place.

The Huskies will be back on home ice at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21, against New Hampshire. It will be the first women's college hockey game ever to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.