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BOSTON – Junior Kendall Coyne notched her sixth career hat trick, but the Northeastern women's hockey team (6-12-4, 5-7-1 WHEA) came up just short against No. 6 Boston University (14-5-2, 10-3-0 WHEA) on Sunday, falling by a 4-3 score at Matthews Arena. 

Coyne scored once in each period, all on highlight-reel plays, to post her second three-goal performance against Boston University this season. The Palos Heights, Illinois, native previously recorded a hat trick against the Terriers on Nov. 11 as part of a five-point game in which the Huskies won 6-3.

Sunday's result was different, however, as the Terriers scored three goals in a decisive second period to take a 4-1 lead with 12:13 to play in the frame. 

Marie-Philip Poulin struck twice for BU in the second stanza, before Rebecca Leslie tacked on a shorthanded marker to give the visitors a three-goal cushion.

Coyne took matters into her own hands in the waning minutes of the period, blocking a shot in the defensive zone and then racing down the ice for a shorthanded reply that made it 4-2 heading into the third.

The Terriers peppered the NU net with 20 shots in the final period, but senior Chloe Desjardins, who made a career-high 45 saves, shut the door with several big stops, including a breakaway denial on Sarah Lefort on a Northeastern power play.

With just over three minutes to play in the game, Coyne again made the impossible look easy with a ridiculous end-to-end goal to complete the hat trick and bring Northeastern within one, 4-3, with 3:01 showing on the clock.

The Huskies pulled Desjardins in the final minute, but could not find an equalizer as the Terriers escaped with a hard-fought victory.

Northeastern returns to action next weekend for a pivotal two-game series at Maine on Jan. 24-25. The Black Bears sit four points ahead of the Huskies in third place in the Hockey East standings. 

Game Notes
• Coyne notched her sixth career hat trick and second against Boston University this season.
• With three goals Sunday, Coyne moved into a tie with Jill Toney for the eighth-most points in NU program history (143).
• Desjardins made a career-high 45 saves.
• Desjardins also earned an assist in the first period on Coyne's first goal.
• Heather Mottau earned her team-leading 14th assist of the year with a helper on Coyne's first-period goal.

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