Womens' hockey splits games vs. Huskies

Providence College's Women's Ice Hockey Team saw its share of Huskies as it headed into its first full weekend of league action. The team earned a split against Hockey East opponents Northeastern and UConn.

After beating Northeastern at home a week ago in its first Hockey East contest of the season, Providence traveled to Boston for a rematch with Northeastern. For the second time this year, the team had the opportunity to take aim at (the net behind) former Friar goaltender Stacey Scott.

"We spent a year with her as a friend and teammate, so it was different seeing her in the Northeastern jersey," said PC senior Sonny Watrous. "She's always been a consistently strong goalie, so we knew it was going to take a lot of hard work and determination to get the puck behind her."

Both hard work and determination showed themselves on Saturday. Providence quickly took the fight to Northeastern and some opportunistic play lead to a wealth of scoring chances, Northeastern penalties, and power plays. Working with the man advantage, the Friars proved to be out of Northeastern's reach, as the power play unit struck three times in a four goal first period.

Providence's first marker came at 6:34 as sophomore Katy Beach drove to the net, found a loose puck in the slot area, and buried it past Scott for a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Mari Pehkonen struck just under three minutes later, as she followed a Watrous shot that snuck in behind Scott, poking it home to light the lamp. Sophomore Erin Normore added an even-strength marker at 11:52, chasing Scott, and junior Sarah Feldman ran the advantage to 4-0 as she redirected a Kristin Gigliotti point shot home with 5:48 remaining in the first period.

"It was crucial for us to be all over [Northeastern] to secure our first Hockey East series win," said Watrous, who also complimented the power play, "[It] has really been a strong point for us this year. We're able to connect on passes and have people in front of the net to either screen the goalie for point shots, or finish the play themselves."

Pehkonen struck again in the second, with PC on-what else but-a power play, as Feldman's centering pass wound up being the perfect introduction to Pehkonen's snapshot through the Northeastern netminder's five hole, giving PC, appropriately, a five-goal lead. Northeastern's third period goal did little except to erase thoughts of a shutout, and senior goalie Jana Bugden was otherwise outstanding in posting 27 saves-including 18 in the third period-in the victory.

"Hockey East games are always huge to win," said Feldman, a veteran of the league after two seasons with the Boston College Eagles before joining the Friars. "We were coming off a pretty good weekend [last weekend], but we knew we had to win, and we came out flying."

Another positive sign: In addition to showing up on the scorecard often, Feldman is quickly adjusting to-and thriving at-PC.

"I love it," she said, "I was cautious at first (transferring from BC), being a big rival school, but the coaches and the girls here are amazing, and we seem to be doing well as a team. It was surprisingly easy to come here and get started. Plus the transition was made easier by the three other transfers here (Pehkonen, junior Danielle Tangredi, and sophomore Danielle Ciarletta). I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully bringing the Hockey East Championship back to Providence."

Feldman also had good things to say about her other teammates.

"So far I've played with Mari [Pehkonen] a lot, and she's an unbelievable player," Feldman said. "She's skilled and knows the game, and it's great to play with her.

"And Jana Bugden has been playing absolutely amazing. It's nice to have her on our side instead of shooting against her."

But Sunday proved to be a different tale, one that brought back to mind PC's 2-1 defeat just a week ago at the hands of St. Lawrence. This time, it was a 1-0 heartbreaker to league rival UConn. But what made the defeat even more difficult to swallow was that PC generated its share of chances, had a significant measure of all-around "bad luck," and that the winning goal was scored just 2:11 into the game.

"It's always tough to lose a one-goal game, especially when the goal comes in the first period, and you have two periods to get it back," said Feldman, "But at the same time we get [to rematch] UConn two more times. That's the great thing about college hockey. You don't just play a team once."

Providence's offense plugged away all game, generating 31 shots, but PC's best opportunity didn't really end up being an opportunity at all. With about six seconds remaining in the second period, Pehkonen skated in on a clear breakaway, with no UConn defenders within range. But as fate would have it, the buzzer sounded before she could get a solid shot off. PC was unable to convert its other chances.

"We had many solid opportunities that we had difficulty finishing, but I'm excited because we're getting so many opportunities this early in the season," said Watrous, "As the season progresses, our team will mature and start putting those chances away."

"Our offense was there, but we need to do a better job finishing," Feldman added.

Things don't get any easier for Providence, as the team will now face undefeated No. 4 Mercyhurst in Pennsylvania twice this weekend, the beginning of a long road stretch, as the team's next home game is l Sunday, Nov. 19, when Robert Morris visits.

"They're extremely talented," said Feldman, "It should be a good weekend, and it should help us become even more well prepared when we return to Hockey East play."

"It's going to be a great weekend for us," Watrous said. "We'll have another opportunity to put ourselves on the national rankings and really make a statement about what kind of team we are this year."