What a weekend for Northeastern hockey! Not only did our women’s team beat UCONN (the Fake huskies) and win their 5th consecutive Hockey East Championship, but our men’s team beat Merrimack to become this year’s Hockey East regular-season champions. Two accomplishments that have never been seen before. To break down as to why this weekend was so monumental, I will first start by explaining the situation for the men’s team.
Going into this weekend, our men’s team was tied for second in the Hockey East Standings with Merrimack at 41 points and UMASS was in 1st with 46. Points in the standings are earned by winning games, a regulation win is three points with wins in other circumstances being less. To start off this massive weekend, our men’s team had an unbelievable senior night beating Merrimack 6-1, in regulation time. This adds three points to Northeastern’s standings putting us at 44, the important part though is that UMASS lost to Boston College meaning they did not gain any points for their Friday night game leaving them at 46 points.
Going into Saturday was big because we knew that we could potentially “snag” the regular-season title away from the dominating UMASS team. To do that though, UMASS would have to lose to Boston College again during their game Saturday afternoon, and our men’s team would have to beat Merrimack in regulation time. UMASS did end up losing to BC 4-3 and the only thought in my mind was we could actually do it, and we did, just not as easily as Friday when we were home.
To properly understand the events of Saturday night, I’ll explain how my evening went. Showing up at, right when doors open, to The Historic Matthew’s Arena is how early I usually get to games. Chatting and setting up with the other members of the Doghouse, everyone would occasionally check their phones for updates about the UMASS vs BC game. Through most of the setup, BC was ahead and, though I hate to say it, I was rooting for them. Counting out the final seconds to set in the fact the UMASS lost, meant that all the men’s team had to do was play like they did the night before and win.
By this point the women’s game had started and what a first period. We played hard, but in the final two minutes, UCONN scored. The thing is I have full faith in our women’s team, and I know once we get going, nothing is going to stop us, so I wasn’t worried. I was worried about the men’s game. A few people in the doghouse had the men’s game streaming on their phones so that in between periods and during media time outs we would be able to check how the game was progressing. When our women’s game ended their first period our men’s team was still tied 0-0.
Then the second period for the Women’s team started, and with less than a minute left Alina Müller (money Müller), scored tying the women’s game just as the second period ended. The men’s team still tied 0-0. The women’s third period started and only a few minutes after puck drop Müller scores again, putting our women’s team in the lead, our men’s team still tied. Then Chloe Aurard puts the final nail in the coffin by scoring and securing the Women’s team their fifth consecutive Hockey East Championship.
With the women’s game over, and only a few minutes left of the men’s game (still tied 0-0) we decided to celebrate the women’s team win, awards, and accomplishments. As the women’s team is receiving their trophy, a gasp is heard. Aidan McDonough had scored the game-winning goal, with 10 seconds left of the third period. Meaning that the men’s team was now the Hockey East regular-season Champions, the first time that our men’s team had ever been in program history. This paired with the women’s team setting a record with their 5th consecutive win made this a big night for Northeastern hockey.
After that, a lot of screaming and celebration happened. The women’s team had lifted the trophy to the doghouse section and the men’s team was bringing theirs back to Boston.
