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PROVIDENCE – Goals by redshirt senior Kelly Wallace (Libertyville, Ill.), freshman Hayley Scamurra (Williamsville, Ill.) and junior Colleen Murphy (Cary, N.C.) propelled the Northeastern women's hockey team to its seventh straight win in a 3-1 victory over Providence on Saturday at Schneider Arena.

Wallace scored for the sixth straight game to break a scoreless deadlock in the final minute of the second period and Northeastern (14-12-2, 9-6-2 WHEA) never looked back, extending the lead to 2-0 on Scamurra's strike early in the third, before holding off a Providence (11-19-0, 6-11-0 WHEA) rally late in the frame. With the Friars' net empty in the final minute, Murphy intercepted a pass at center ice and scored into the gaping cage to salt away the win for the Huskies.

Junior Chloe Desjardins (Saint-Prosper, Quebec) made 29 stops to earn her 14th victory of the season, while Providence netminder Sarah Bryant made 20 saves in a losing effort to fall to 11-15-0.

Desjardins kept the Friars at bay early in the first period, making several key stops to preserve the scoreless tie. The Huskies' netminder first denied Rebecca Morse from the right circle with a blocker save at the 16:40 mark, before eating up a point-blank shot from Beth Hanrahan following a turnover in the low slot.

Northeastern also had its share of quality chances in the opening 20 minutes. Redshirt senior Brittany Esposito (Edmonton, Alberta) nearly put the visitors in front when she collected a feed from sophomore Paige Savage (Johns Creek, Ga.) between the circles and unleashed a hard wrister, but Bryant slid across the crease to make a shoulder save with 8:30 remaining.

Savage then generated a chance on her own when she deked around a defender on the right wing, before cutting to the middle for a snapshot that Bryant squeezed in the butterfly with just over four minutes to play in the opening period.

The back-and-forth play carried over to the second stanza as both teams pressed for the game's first goal. The Friars' Janine Weber came close to breaking the deadlock when she redirected a point shot inches wide on a Providence power play early in the frame.

The Huskies nearly grabbed the opener minutes later when Savage gained the Friars' zone with speed and let loose a shot from the left circle that zipped just wide of the right post.

Northeastern finally broke through in the final minute of the stanza when sophomore Tori Hickel (Anchorage, Alaska) blocked a shot at the left point, leading to a partial breakaway for Wallace. The redshirt senior scooped up the loose puck at center ice and breezed into the Providence end, before sniping a wrister over the glove of Bryant and under the crossbar to give NU a 1-0 lead with 20.5 seconds showing on the second period clock.

The Huskies doubled the lead 3:36 into the third on a beautiful individual effort by Scamurra. After picking up a pass from freshman Heather Mottau (Milton, Mass.) in the Northeastern zone, Scamurra streaked up the right wing and gained the Providence zone with speed. Scamurra then cut to the middle to elude a defender, before wristing a shot inside the right post to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.

Providence cut the lead in half when Molly Illikainen found a loose puck amidst heavy traffic in front of the NU net and buried her sixth goal of the season at the 6:34 mark to make it 2-1.

Desjardins preserved the scoreline with a huge save on a Victoria Virtue one-timer with 3:47 left in regulation, sliding across the crease to deny the Friars an equalizer.

After calling timeout with 45 seconds remaining, the Friars pulled Bryant in a last-ditch attempt to tie things up. Northeastern promptly squashed the comeback effort, however, when Murphy picked off a pass at center ice and fired it down the ice and into the empty net with 13 seconds left to make it 3-1 Huskies.

Winners of seven straight, the Huskies will now turn their attention to Tuesday's Women's Beanpot Final against Boston College at 8 p.m. A win would give Northeastern its 17th Women's Beanpot title and third consecutive crown.

Notes

• Wallace scored for the sixth straight game.
• Wallace extended her point-streak to eight straight games; the redshirt senior has nine goals and three assists during that span.
• Murphy has goals in two straight games and points in five of her last six games overall.
• Scamurra extended her point-streak to four straight games (2 g, 4 a).
• Northeastern improved to 11-3-0 when Wallace scores this season.
• The Huskies picked up their eighth road win of the year.
• Northeastern owns a win streak of at least seven games for the second straight year; last year the Huskies won nine straight games between Jan. 20-Mar. 9.
• The Huskies dressed just 12 skaters for the game: eight forwards and four defensemen.