Renna Trembecky vies for starting spot as Northeastern trounces RPI

When Northeastern’s women’s hockey season began, it was expected that Lisa Jönsson would start behind the net. A semifinalist in last year’s National Goaltender of the Year award as only a freshman, Jönsson helped lead the team to victory in last year’s Beanpots, and put up an incredible .938 save percentage over her rookie season.

However, as the starting lineups were announced for Northeastern’s game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jönsson wasn’t in goal. Freshman Renna Trembecky was.

A true freshman from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Trembecky was making her college hockey debut, skating onto Matthews Arena ice for the first time as a starter. Now was her chance to prove herself if she wanted a shot at taking the starting job.

In a press conference before the game, Head Coach Flynn said that Jönsson, their former go-to, is no longer the automatic starter. For Trembecky, it was important to use these 60 minutes to prove her spot on the team – and prove, she did.

“I thought from start to finish, she was rock solid, making the saves that she needed to make,” Huskies assistant coach Nick Carpenito said.

Northeastern started the out-of-conference game out of touch. The team was playing sloppy - missing clear passes and struggling to put shots on goal. After an RPI penalty, Northeastern’s Holly Abella finally made the shot and scored a power play goal, putting the team in the lead. The small but enthusiastic doghouse of Northeastern fans roared.

That lead didn’t last long, with Trembecky quickly put to the test. As Abella’s goal was still being announced in Matthews Arena, RPI buried the puck down in Northeastern ice, and Charlotte Wensley knocked it in to tie the game.

It was a goal the coaches don’t blame Trembecky for. “We left her hung out to dry,” Carpenito admitted. “We told our team before the game. RPI wants to get pucks to the net and they’re going to try and bury one home, so we need to do a good job of picking up sticks and it’s not something we did for that goal.”

Her teammates were quick to offer her support, skating over and tapping her back, hoping their goalie would be able to rebound.

She did. That would be the only goal scored against Trembecky all game.

Meanwhile, Northeastern’s offense got themselves on a roll, straightening out the kinks and scoring three goals in the first period. For a team that was a third-period team just last year, always starting out slow before getting hot, their new-found pace in the opening periods marks a big change in the team’s makeup.

“We’ve been doing a great job coming out quick and producing offensive lead that way, but now we gotta find a way to finish it all the way through,” Carpenito said. After back-to-back three-goal periods, Northeastern could not get on the board in the third period. “I think we’ve put together 40-minute games this weekend.”

Although Trembecky didn’t have a lot to do in the game, with how dominant Northeastern’s offense was, some of the hardest games as a goalie come from when you aren’t getting many shots. Despite her inexperience, she still managed to take a difficult mental game and come out on top.

While the team continued dominating, Trembecky continued to look strong. As RPI attacked the net, she had a particularly strong section, saving three shots that RPI shot off in rapid succession. She ended the game with 11 saves in her team’s 6-1 win.

“It’s always important to have incomers make an impact right from the start,” Jaden Bogden, Northeastern’s graduate forward, said in the press conference. “Being able to use the freshmen wherever and have them play in big minutes, it’s awesome, and it’s only going to help us.” How many minutes Trembecky will get the rest of the season remains to be seen, as no full-time starter has been confirmed by the team yet.

All alone in her goal as her team continues to crash the opposing net, Trembecky knows she’ll have to do a lot of work to make it past Jönsson and become a full-time starter. 

She’s sitting right under a “Goalie U” sign hanging over the stands. Perhaps she’ll be the next star in the long line of successful Northeastern goalies. For now, however, she’s just a freshman, looking to become number one.