Box Score | Season Stats | Esposito Highlight-Reel Goal | Post-Game Interview

DURHAM, N.H. – Redshirt senior Brittany Esposito (Edmonton, Alberta) notched her first career hat trick to lead the Northeastern women's hockey team (18-13-2, 13-6-2 WHEA) to its 10th straight Hockey East win in a 4-2 victory over New Hampshire (9-22-2, 4-15-2 WHEA) on Sunday at Whittemore Center.

With the victory, the Huskies clinched the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East standings and will host No. 6 Connecticut on Friday, Feb. 28 in the WHEA Quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

A day after scoring two goals (and missing a third by the width of the crossbar), Esposito was simply dominant with a three-goal performance in Sunday's regular season finale. The Edmonton, Alberta native opened the scoring in the first period and added two goals in quick succession to start the second to record the Huskies' first hat trick since Kendall Coyne's three goals vs. Boston University on Feb. 5, 2013.

Sophomore Paige Savage (Johns Creek, Ga.) also scored for Northeastern, while senior Claire Santostefano (Wilmette, Ill.) notched two assists for her third multi-point effort in the last four games. Junior Chloe Desjardins (Saint-Prosper, Quebec) made 28 saves, while UNH netminder Vilma Vaattovaara stopped 26 Northeastern shots.

Esposito opened the scoring with a highlight-reel goal at the 5:05 mark of the first period. After taking a feed from Santostefano at center ice, Esposito weaved into the UNH zone and undressed a Wildcats' defender, before deking to the backhand and finishing over the blocker of Vaattovaara to make it 1-0 Huskies.

The hosts quickly tied the score at 1-1 when Jenna Lascelle found the back of the net on a rebound chance from between the circles just 1:34 later.

The Wildcats then nearly took the lead at the 10:45 mark when Hannah Armstrong skated into the NU zone and ripped a wrist-shot off the post from the right circle. Armstrong then produced two more scoring chances in the final minute of the frame, but Desjardins was up to the task with a pair of saves in tight.

The first seven minutes of the second period belonged to Esposito, who completed the hat trick with two goals in a span of 2:17 to give NU a 3-1 lead. Esposito's second strike came on a 2-on-0 break with Santostefano from the red line in. After receiving a pass from her senior linemate, Esposito streaked in and made another dazzling move to fool Vaattovaara, shifting forehand to backhand, before tucking the puck inside the right post to make it 2-1 just 4:30 into the frame.

Esposito then added a third goal on the power play at 6:47. After cycling the puck in the UNH zone, freshman Hayley Scamurra (Williamsville, N.Y.) tossed a pass into the crease where Esposito and freshman Hayley Masters (Shanty Bay, Ontario) were waiting. Masters was able to tip the puck on goal, forcing Vaattovaara to spill the rebound in the direction of Esposito, who stuffed home the disc while on her knees for her fifth goal of the weekend.

Desjardins came up big in the latter stages of the second period to keep the Huskies' two-goal cushion in tact. On a 2-on-1 break for the Wildcats, Desjardins slid post-to-post to deny Haley Breedlove's one-timer with less than three minutes to play in the frame.

After hitting the post in the first period, Armstrong made her shot count at 5:39 of the third when she wristed a shot by Desjardins from the high slot to cut the NU lead to 3-2.

Northeastern bounced right back, however, as Savage buried a rebound at the left of the net at 10:12. Junior Colleen Murphy (Cary, N.C.), playing in her 100th career game, initiated the play with a shot from the left point that was deflected in front by Savage. The tip attempt was stopped by Vaattovaara, but Savage stayed with the play and slid home the rebound to bump the Huskies' lead to 4-2.

Northeastern nearly added a fifth goal in the final minute, but Vaattovaara made a huge stop to deny Scamurra's one-timer on an odd-man rush from the left faceoff dot.

Notes

• Northeastern has won 10 straight Hockey East games.
• Esposito recorded her first career hat trick.
• It was the first hat trick since Kendall Coyne's three-goal performance vs. BU on Feb. 5, 2013.
• Esposito now has 108 career points (46 goals, 62 assists) to rank 21st all-time in the NU record books.
• Santostefano recorded her third multi-point performance in the last four games.
• Santostefano, Scamurra and Wallace each extended their point streaks to four games.
• Murphy played in her 100th career game Sunday.