BOSTON -- Sophomore Paige Savage had a goal and two assists and redshirt senior Brittany Esposito scored two goals as Northeastern took down No. 9 Boston University 4-2 on Sunday at Walter Brown Arena.
The Huskies (9-12-2, 5-6-2 HEA) took a 2-0 lead into the third period and held off a furious Boston University (16-6-1, 9-3-0 HEA) rally to earn their first win against a top-10 opponent this season. Junior Chloe Desjardins stopped 32 shots, including 16 in the third period, as NU picked up its second win in a row and sent BU to its second consecutive loss.
Northeastern scored with the man advantage for the second time in as many games and killed off all three BU power plays. Both teams recorded 34 shots, led by Esposito who fired a team-high seven attempts on goal.
After a scoreless opening period, the Huskies wasted little time getting on the board in the second as redshirt senior Kelly Wallace put the Huskies ahead just 31 seconds into the frame. Collecting a loose puck off a Desjardins save, Wallace carried the disc into the BU zone, before dropping a pass to Savage on the left wing. Savage stickhandled toward the net and slid a low shot toward the cage, which Wallace redirected inside the left post for her 10th goal of the year.
After scoring in the first minute of the second period, the Huskies struck again in the final minute of the frame to pad their lead. Senior Katie MacSorley started the play on the forecheck by forcing a turnover in the right corner. MacSorley then picked up the puck and threw a pass across the goal-mouth to Savage, who roofed a quick shot over the shoulder of BU netminder Kerrin Sperry (30 saves) to make it 2-0 with 47 seconds showing on the clock.
Down two goals heading into the third, Boston University quickly made things interesting when Louise Warren pounced on a loose puck at the left of the net and buried her 16th goal of the season to make it 2-1 with 15:10 to play.
Instead of sitting back and protecting the lead, Northeastern went right back on the offensive and regained its two-goal cushion less than five minutes later. With BU's Kaleigh Fratkin in the box for holding, the Huskies worked the puck down low to Savage, who emerged from the right corner to fire a hard shot on target. Sperry made the save, but the rebound popped out to Esposito, who made no mistake on the rebound to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead midway through the period.
Again Boston University had a response as Sarah Lefort cut the deficit to 3-2 at the 14:36 mark with a shot that banked off Desjardins from behind the net.
Boston University pulled Sperry for the final 90 seconds, but Northeastern defended well and iced the game when junior Colleen Murphy blocked a shot and fed Esposito up the ice for the empty-net clincher with 15 seconds remaining.
No. 1 Minnesota 5, Minnesota State-Mankato 0
MANKATO, Minn. -- The Golden Gophers scored four goals in the last 6:02 of the second period to blow open a 1-0 game and roll to a 5-0 win and series sweep against Minnesota State-Mankato at All Seasons Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Senior Kelly Terry scored two goals, including the game winner, and junior Rachel Ramsey recorded three assists. Sophomore Hannah Brandt also registered a multi-point game with one goal and one assist as Minnesota improved to 22-1-1 on the season. Sophomore Amanda Leveille made 19 saves in her second consecutive shutout for the Gophers.
Terry gave the Gophers an early 1-0 lead, solving Minnesota State goaltender Danielle Butters off a feed from senior Bethany Brausen at the 2:14 mark of the first period. Terry sent the puck into a wide open net when Brausen found her on the doorstep with Butters occupied on the far side of the net.
Terry's goal stood as the winner, but the Gophers extended their lead with four goals late in the second period.
Terry netted her second in a row at 13:58 to begin the scoring barrage before Brandt and juniors Meghan Lorence and Rachael Bona added goals of their own in the last five minutes of the period.
Bona, Brandt and Terry now share the team lead with 14 goals apiece on the season.
With the win, Minnesota (22-1-1, 16-1-1-0 WCHA) improved to 17-0-0 when getting on the board first. The Gophers are also 13-0-0 when leading after the first period and 17-0-0 when leading after the second period.
Leveille is now riding 126:41 of shutout hockey, including 6:41 of the Gophers' 2-2 overtime tie with Ohio State last weekend, and back-to-back shutout victories against the Mavericks. Minnesota skated to a 4-0 win against Minnesota State in Friday's Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium.
