Problem inviting a friend online

So me and my friend want to play skullgirls with each other online. When I invite him to a game or when he invites me to a game, the other person successfully joins the game but then it just sits there, continuously loading, I believe the step is “Gathering information” or something similar.

We are both on university internet so we can’t change anything with that. Also we’re on separate coasts so there is a considerable distance between us.

Is there a way to fix this so that the two of us can play?