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STORRS, Conn. – Junior McKenna Brand scored her NCAA-leading 20th goal of the season to help the Northeastern women's hockey team (14-9-3, 10-7-2 WHEA) hold off Connecticut (11-11-3, 6-8-1 WHEA) by a score of 3-2 on Friday evening at the Freitas Ice Forum. 

Playing in her 100th collegiate game, Brand snapped a 2-2 tie late in the second period for her team-high fourth game-winning goal of the year as Northeastern extended its unbeaten streak against UConn to 20 straight games (17-0-3). Junior Denisa Krizova added a goal and an assist, while senior Hayley Scamurra chipped in two helpers. 

Sophomore Brittany Bugalski was strong from start to finish, making 15 saves to earn her 34th career victory, good for the 10th-most all-time at Northeastern. 

Goal Recaps
• Northeastern grabbed a 1-0 lead just 3:47 into the game on a power-play goal from Savage. After exchanging passes with junior Ainsley MacMillan at the left point, senior Hayley Scamurra ripped a shot on goal that caromed off the pad of UConn netminder Annie Belanger right to the stick of Savage on the doorstep for the opening goal.
• UConn evened the scoreline at 7:38 of the first period when Catherine Crawley centered for Leah Lum to fire home with a one-timer from point-blank range. 
• NU regained the advantage 55 seconds later when Scamurra forced a turnover behind the UConn net, allowing Krizova to pick up the loose puck for a wrap-around that beat Belanger to make it 2-1.
• The back-and-forth game continued into the second period when UConn tied things up again on a beautiful individual effort by Lum at the 9:24 mark.
• Northeastern pushed back in front for good at 15:02 of the second stanza when Krizova teed up Brand for a snipe from between the circles to make it 3-2 for the Red & Black.

Noteworthy
• The Huskies extended their unbeaten streak against UConn to 20 straight games (17-0-3)
• McKenna Brand became the first Division-I women's player to hit 20 goals this season.
• The only two Division-I players, male or female, with at least 20 goals this season are Zach Aston-Reese (21) and Brand (20).
• Brittany Bugalski picked up career win No. 34, moving her into the top-10 all-time in career wins at Northeastern. 
• The Huskies outshot UConn by a 30-17 margin.
• Northeastern scored on the power play for the sixth straight game. Over that span, NU is 8-for-19 with the numerical advantage (42%).

Up Next
Northeastern will host Connecticut on Saturday at 3 p.m. as part of the Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer initiative. All proceeds from merchandise sales will be donated to the fight against the disease.