When Northeastern skated off the Conte Form ice at the end of the Women’s Beanpot, the last thing on the Huskies’ minds was winning a conference title.
The team finished last in the Beanpot in what already had been a disappointing season. Northeastern previously had upset Boston College and Wisconsin, so that lost potential stung all the more.
Coach Dave Flint (Merrimack, N.H.) did something he hadn’t done before, calling out his team at the following day’s 6 a.m. practice.
"I had the team skate the morning after we lost to Harvard," Flint said. "I laid into them pretty good and let them know I was disappointed, and it’s the first time I ever did that. We had a no-puck practice."
Something resonated with the Huskies, and suddenly, that disappointing start didn’t matter any longer. When the Huskies knocked off UConn, 2-1, in a tight contest in the Hockey East championship game, the Beanpot loss seemed like a long time ago.
"We sit down after every game and talk. Not winning the Beanpot really hit us," said Huskies sophomore Andrea Renner. "It was time to shift things back into perspective — we can still win Hockey East, but we had to refocus. Not having that (focus) at BC’s building motivated us."
After the Beanpot, the Huskies went 5-1 in a half-dozen games entering the NCAA tournament. Those final four were all one-goal victories, two of them in the Hockey East quarterfinals against New Hampshire. Finally, the Huskies were finding ways to win.
"We were on to the Hockey East tournament," said Renner. "Everything changes if things don’t go the way they are supposed to. The coaching staff did a great job changing those things and made us successful."
For the first time in their college career, the Northeastern seniors got to taste the postseason. First, the team toppled Maine, which had just swept Boston University. Then, Northeastern found itself in a battle against the seventh-seeded UConn Huskies, who had just taken down Boston College. Senior McKenna Brand scored twice and freshman goalie Aerin Frankel made 30 saves to elevate Northeastern to its first-ever conference title.
"My thoughts were, ‘We’re hosting the Hockey East championship, and we might not even get out of the first round,’" Flint said. "For us to turn it around, I knew they had it in them, but it was really rewarding that we put it together."
Other than Boston College, Hockey East was wide-open all season, which gave teams like UConn and Maine the opportunities to advance. Eventually, that gave Northeastern its window as well, but early on this season, the Huskies were not taking advantage of it. "At that point, I was pretty disappointed in our season," Flint said. "Even beating Wisconsin and Boston College — and we tied Clarkson — we proved we could play with the best, but dropped games we shouldn’t have. I didn’t know what would happen after Harvard."
Would the Huskies have turned their season around without that last-place Beanpot finish? Perhaps, but that loss was the motivation to knowing they weren’t playing real Northeastern hockey.
"We had a disappointing showing in the Beanpot," said Flint. "A bad showing there can send you spiraling, and on the flip side, if you win, it can boost you. For us this year, it was a turning point.
"From that point on, we got refocused. The whole season was a roller-coaster ride. Good games, bad games, good games. We never got that consistency. After the Beanpot, we got rolling, and it was the right time of year."
Brand and Denisa Krizova led the team in points, with 34 and 30, respectively, but the narrative that followed the Huskies was that the seniors needed to play better. Flint disputes that, calling the seniors the backbone of the group, the leaders toward the first Hockey East title.
"We had a lot of inconsistencies," said Renner. "We were playing great and on top, then at times we weren’t playing our best hockey. Our coach told us it’s how we play in February and March, and our best hockey was in the tournament."
The Huskies were knocked out in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Colgate, the ECAC winners and eventual national runner-up, but getting to the big dance sent a strong message to Flint’s returning players.
"It was such an honor to be in the tournament in the first place," said Renner. "Our juniors and seniors have been there before, but freshmen came up to me asking me things, and I was like, ‘I’m in the same boat as you.’"
Renner, who had 11 points this season, scored in the Colgate game. She’s one of several underclassmen who stepped up as the season went on. The lesson of this season especially resonates with those returners, who will look to defend the Hockey East title next season.
"Our coaches knew we could do it," Renner said. "If we were to win that (conference) tournament, this team would be united forever. We were the first team to put the banner up."
