Huskies vs. Orange
Northeastern begins the regular season at home as the Huskies face off against Syracuse. Friday's meeting with the Orange will be the second time that Northeastern and Syracuse have met; the schools tied, 4-4, in both teams' 2010 openers.

On the Orange
• The Orange enters its fourth season of varsity play in 2010-11. After just nine wins in its first campaign, Syracuse has racked up 32 victories over the last two seasons, and finished last year at 14-16-1, and 7-6-3 in CHA play.
• Syracuse will have to find new scoring outlets this year with the loss of their four top goal-scorers from last season.Isabel Menard led the Orange in goals and assists last year with 19 and 25, respectively. The Orange also lost Julie Rising (11 goals), Ashley Cockell (11) and Stefanie Marty (8). Thus far, sophomore Sadie St. Germain and senior Lisa Mullan have looked to pick up the scoring slack; they lead the team with a goal apiece through two games.
• After splitting goaltending duties last season, sophomores Jenesica Drinkwater and Kallie Billadeau have shared the opening two games this season, with each making a case to start Friday against the Huskies.  Drinkwater started Syracuse's opener and made 32 saves in a 2-1 victory over St. Cloud State, while Billadeau, in an heroic effort amidst a 4-0 loss to no. 4 Minnesota, stopped 46 shots.

Scouting the Huskies
• Northeastern is strong in all three facets of the game, with several key players returning to the fold in 2010-11. In goal, the Huskies have one of the best in the country in junior Florence Schelling. Schelling is the 2009-10 Hockey East Co-Player of the Year. She posted four shutouts last season with a goals against average of 2.02 and a save percentage of .930.
• On the blue line, the Huskies return senior tri-captain Stephanie Gavronsky to lead a defensive corps that figures to heavily feature the underclassmen. Gavronsky posted a 5-8-13 line last season.
• Up front, the Huskies have loads of talent, with five of their top six scorers from last season back for another year. Junior Rachel Llanes (12-19-31) keeps the offensive engine running along with junior tri-captain Casey Pickett (10-10-20), sophomore WHEA All-Rookie selection Katie MacSorley (15-6-21) and junior Siena Falino (6-13-19).  The Huskies will also receive an offensive injection from two players who missed time last year due to injury, in juniors Brittany Esposito (4-6-10 in 13 games last season) and Kelly Wallace (6-6-12 in '09-'10).

Round Two
Last year Northeastern and Syracuse opened their seasons against one another, and skated to a 4-4 draw at Tennity Ice Pavilion.  It was the first ever meeting between the two programs. The Huskies came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, and even took a 4-3 lead behind two third period goals from Katie MacSorley before the Orange tied it for good.  Florence Schelling stopped 34 Syracuse shots to preserve the draw.

Terrific tune-up
On Friday, Sept. 23, the Huskies started their season in style with a 6-0 victory over the Ottawa Jr. Senators at Matthews Arena.  Freshman sensation Kendall Coyne made her Matthews debut count with two goals and an assist, while Stephanie Gavronsky and Brittany Esposito both had a goal and two helpers.  Freshman Chloe Desjardins, Schelling and sophomore Kelsey O'Sullivan each took a period in goal and combined for 17 saves in the shutout.

Up next
After they take on Syracuse, the Huskies will rest up for another 3 p.m. home date on Saturday against Colgate.  Colgate will be making the commute to St. Botolph street after a season-opening showdown at New Hampshire on Friday.

Fresh faces
The Huskies welcome nine new faces to the team this season, including four forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.
• Kendall Coyne (F, Palos Heights, Ill.) is a highly touted forward who helped lead the U.S. National Team to the gold medal in the IIHF World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. She notched four goals and two assists for six points during the tournament. Coyne has also competed for Team USA in the past three World U-18 Championships, where she has compiled 22 goals and 11 assists for 33 points. She spent last season with Berkshire School, lighting the lamp 55 times and adding 22 assists for 77 points. “Kendall is a very dynamic hockey player and has the ability to control a game,” Northeastern head coach Dave Flint said. “She will make an immediate impact up front.”
• Ann Doherty (Park Ridge, Ill.) has played the past three seasons with Assabet Valley and served as captain in 2010-11. The versatile defenseman helped lead Assabet Valley to the U-19 National Championship in 2010. She also skated at the high school level with Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. “Ann is a smooth skating defenseman who has some real offensive abilities,” Flint said. “She will fit nicely into our system of play.”
• Ayla Frank (Labrador City, Newfoundland) is the lone goalkeeper among this year's recruiting class. She spent four seasons with Rothesay Netherwood School and was an assistant captain last season. She has also played at the national level, as she was part of Team Atlantic at the 2009 U-18 Canadian National Championships. There, she posted a .935 save percentage.  “Ayla has raw talent and is extremely competitive which are important qualities for a goalie to posses,” Flint said. “She will benefit greatly from playing next year behind Florence Schelling and making the transition to the college level.”
• Leanne Gallant (Newbridge, New Brunswick) is a reliable defenseman who spent the past season with Oakville of the Provincial Women's Hockey League. She totaled two goals and four assists for six points in 20 games with Oakville. Gallant also represented Team New Brunswick in the 2011 Canada Games. Serving as captain, she scored three goals and added five assists for eight points. “Leanne is a steady mobile defenseman who will add some depth to our defense next year,” Flint said.
• Chelsey Goldberg (Agoura Hills, Calif.) is a talented forward from the North American Hockey Academy. Last season she captained the U-19 team to a remarkable 74-8-6 record and the 2011 JWHL Championship. Goldberg notched 13 goals and added 35 assists for 48 points last year.  “Chelsey is an extremely smart hockey player and is a great two-way player,” Flint said. “She is the type of player you want on your line.”
• Chelsiea Goll (Winthrop, Mass.) is the only local product in this year's recruiting class. She spent four years at Brewster Academy, amassing 41 goals and 70 assists for 111 points during her career. She improved on her point total each year and posted a scoring line of 15-22-37 this past season. “Chelsiea is very quick to the puck and has great skill set,” Flint said. “She will be a nice addition up front.”
• Colleen Murphy (Cary, N.C.) arrives at Northeastern following four successful seasons as a defenseman for the North American Hockey Academy. She is an offensive-minded blue liner who notched 15 goals and added 40 assists for 55 points last season to help her team win the 2011 JWHL Championship. The year before that, she posted a scoring line of 12-37-49. Along with her offense, she played stellar defense and registered the best plus-minus rating on the team from 2009-11. “Colleen is a tough, gritty defenseman that isn't afraid to jump up in the play and get involved,” Flint said.
• Lucie Povova (Cizkovice, Czech Republic) is a member of the Czech women's national team that swept the competition en route to a gold medal at the IIHF Division II World Championships in early April. Povova finished fourth in the competition in scoring with two goals and three assists for five points. In addition to international competition, she skated for four years at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania. “Lucie is a strong power forward who has great skills to go along with a hard shot and a quick release,” Flint said.
• Chloe Desjardins (Saint-Prosper, Beauce, Quebec) comes to Northeastern from Brewster Academy, where she shined between the pipes. From 2009-11, she compiled 14 shutouts, which ranks third in Brewster history. Desjardins has also been terrific at the national level, as she represented Team Quebec at the U-18 Canadian National Championships in Surrey, British Columbia. There, she earned the Outstanding Goaltending award. “We are very excited to have Chloe join our team next year,” head coach Dave Flint said. “She is big, strong, athletic, and has the ability to develop into a great goalie at this level.”

Back behind the bench
Head coach Dave Flint enters his fourth season at the helm of the Huskies, having signed a contract extension through the 2015-16 season. Flint helped lead Team USA to a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Linda Lundrigan, who served as interim co-head coach last season, will return to her duties as assistant coach. Former Husky great Hilary Witt also returns for her second season as assistant coach.

Home sweet home
Northeastern plays its first five fixtures at home, the program's longest season-opening homestand since the 1992-93 season. The Huskies will not hit the road until an Oct. 21 tilt at Princeton, in the team's lone foray outside New England all season. It is the first time in program history that the Huskies play fewer than two games outside New England

Northeastern picked third in preseason poll
Northeastern was picked to finish third in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced Sept. 21. The prediction is the highest billing in program history. Last year, Northeastern finished fifth in Hockey East with a 6-10-5 conference record, before upsetting both Connecticut and Boston University on its way to the WHEA Finals.