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NCAA Game of the Week: Northeastern at Providence

It’s an early-season rematch of the 2021 Hockey East title game

Our first Game of the Week for the 2021-22 season is a battle between two of Hockey East’s top teams! Northeastern heads to Providence in a rematch of last year’s Hockey East Tournament championship game.

You can watch the game for free on College Sports Live here.

Northeastern (2-0-0) at Providence (0-0-0) | Saturday, Oct. 9 | 3 p.m. ET

This will be the first action of the year between the two teams and the first official weekend of the regular season for the Friars. Last time they met, the Huskies skated to a 6-2 win in the Hockey East title game. Providence has worked their way into the conference championship conversation over the past few years—they’ve posted five straight winning seasons with three top-3 finishes—but Northeastern is still the clear team to beat. This is a good early-season test to get a vibe check on the Hockey East title race. It’ll be each team’s second game of the weekend; Northeastern plays BU and Providence plays New Hampshire on Friday.

Players To Watch

Northeastern: Skylar Fontaine

The 5’4” defender, who returns to Boston for her fifth year after missing out on selection for the United States’ Olympic residency program, has been one of Northeastern’s most offensively productive players — and was the NCAA’s highest-scoring defender in 2020-21.

Providence: Claire Tyo

On the opposite blue line from Fontaine is Claire Tyo, who won Providence’s program Rookie of the Year award last season. She’s a solid two-way defender who has shown she can drive play up ice and contribute in the offensive end. She scored 11 points in 21 games as a rookie, and she’ll be a key piece for the Friars as they look to contend this year.

Our Thoughts

Gabriella Fundaro: The Huskies are runaway favorites to win the conference again and they had no problem overpowering the Friars back in March with their depth and scoring bravado. I think Providence will be eager to prove that they are better than that last showing, but Northeastern just has so many dynamic pieces throughout their lineup. Goaltender Sandra Abstreiter could help keep it close, but the Friars have Aerin Frankel to contend with at the other end. I think Northeastern wins this one by multiple goals.

Anne Tokarski: I agree with Gabs on this one. Providence has more to prove than Northeastern does after their respective postseasons, but I don’t know if the Friars have the offensive firepower to keep up with Northeastern. When you add Aerin Frankel into the equation, that makes scoring a lot tougher. Providence is going to have to rely on their back end a lot on Saturday.

Around the (rest of the) NCAA:

Thursday, October 7:

  • Clarkson 3, Syracuse 2 (OT)/

Friday, October 8:

  • UNH at Providence at 2 p.m. ET (College Sports Live)
  • Maine at Long Island at 3:15 p.m. ET (NEC Front Row)
  • Holy Cross at Penn State at 3 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • Sacred Heart at Post at 4 p.m. ET (CACC Network)
  • Lindenwood at Minnesota State at 4 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • Franklin Pierce at Mercyhurst at 6 p.m. ET (Stretch)
  • Rensselaer at Union at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
  • Saint Anselm at Quinnipiac at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
  • UConn at RIT at 6 p.m. ET (Stretch)
  • Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth at 7 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • Northeastern at Boston University at 7 p.m. ET (College Sports Live)/

Saturday, October 9:

  • Maine at Long Island at 2 p.m. ET (NEC Front Row)
  • Franklin Pierce at Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. ET (Stretch)
  • UConn at RIT at 2 p.m. ET (Stretch)
  • Boston College at Merrimack at 2 p.m. ET (College Sports Live)
  • Boston University at New Hampshire at 2 p.m. ET (College Sports Live)
  • Colgate at Vermont at 2 p.m. ET (College Sports Live)
  • Union at Rensselaer at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
  • Saint Anselm at Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
  • Syracuse at Clarkson at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
  • Lindenwood at Minnesota State at 3 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • St. Cloud State at Wisconsin at 4 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m. ET (B1G+)
  • Holy Cross at Penn State at 5 p.m. ET (B1G+)/

Sunday, October 10:

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