The Yale women’s ice hockey team (2-1-1) remained one game above .500 after a wildly inconsistent performance in Boston this weekend. Yale lost 6-3 to Northeastern University Saturday before surging for a 5-0 shutout victory against Boston College Sunday.

Despite outshooting Northeastern 40-24, the Bulldogs appeared to be playing catch-up on the scoreboard throughout most of the game. Northeastern opened the scoring at 9:15 of the first period when Mia Mucci’s centering pass found Crystal Rochon, who blasted it top-shelf past Yale goalie Sarah Love ’06.

Yale reciprocated with 1:19 remaining in the first period when forward Christina Sharun ’07 connected on a one-timer pass from Jenna Spring ’07, ruining Northeastern goalie Katy Augustyn’s 78-minute shutout streak dating back to Nov. 2. Spring had two assists in the game.

But the Huskies pulled away early in the second period with two goals 28 seconds apart. Shortly after Marie Desrosiers beat Love on a wrist shot, Cyndy Kenyon poked in a rebound. Once again, the Elis narrowed the gap in the waning seconds of the period, when Regan Gilbride ’07 recorded an unassisted goal with 25 seconds remaining in the second. After getting rejected twice by Augustyn, Gilbride finally lifted a rebound over a falling Northeastern goaltender.

The Elis dominated the third period in every facet of the game — except the scoreboard. The Bulldogs outshot Northeastern 18-6 over the final 20 minutes, but trailed 5-2 with 2:42 to go in the game thanks to some timely Huskies scoring. At that point, Yale added a tally by forward Sheila Zingler ’07, and later pulled Love for a skater advantage, but Northeastern scored into the empty net with 38 seconds left to ice the game.

Yale came out with a vengeance on Sunday against Boston College, jumping to a 1-0 lead on a score by Natalie Babony ’06 at 5:41 in the first period. Babony’s goal would turn out to be all Yale needed, as Love made 12 saves for her second shutout of the season. While peppering Boston goaltender Lisa Davis with shots, Yale extended its lead on Zingler’s goal at the 15-minute mark, to put the game out of the Eagles’ reach.

The Elis continued to roll when Deena Caplette ’06 blasted the puck past Davis less than two minutes into the second period. Caplette had two goals and one assist in the effort. Nicole Symington ’05 also scored in the 5-0 whitewash. The Bulldogs outshot Boston 39-12.

One of the reasons for the dramatic turn-around was the Yale power-play, which went 0-3 in the loss to Northeastern. On Sunday, Yale connected on two of their three opportunities with the man advantage.

Due to a late departure from Boston, Yale players and coaches could not be contacted for comment.

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