Read The Game Notes | 2012-13 Digital Media Guide | Pickett Named Player of the Month
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The Northeastern women's ice hockey team looks to cap off the first half of the season on a high note when the Huskies host Dartmouth in a non-conference matchup Wednesday night at Matthews Arena. This is the second straight season that the teams have met following a 10-year layoff from 2001-11.
NU is coming off a weekend split against New Hampshire that saw the Huskies coast to an 8-1 win in Durham before the Wildcats bounced back with a 3-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Matthews.
In Saturday's road win,
Casey Pickett notched three assists to become the 21st Husky in program history to record 100 career points. She is the first player since 2003 (Kim Greene) to accomplish the feat, and was also named the Athletic Republic Player of the Month on Tuesday.
Sophomore forward
Kendall Coyne has 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in her last 10 games, including seven multi-point games and three multi-goal games.
Northeastern's special teams has been the key to the Huskies' success in 2012-13; NU is third in the nation in power play percentage (30.4%), fourth in penalty killing (91.5%) and second in combined special teams (61.7%).
Following Wednesday's game, Northeastern will have nearly one month off for final exams and the holiday break before returning to the ice for two games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson on Jan. 3-4.
The matchup with Dartmouth
Northeastern owns a 25-10-3 record all-time against the Big Green, but hasn't defeated Dartmouth since Jan. 5, 2001. In the first meeting in more than 10 years last season, NU battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game and force overtime before the Big Green won it with a goal 51 seconds into overtime in Hanover, N.H.
The Big Green come into Wednesday night's matchup with a 4-3-2 overall record, including a 3-3-1 mark in ECAC play. Reagan Fischer (five goals, four assists) and Laura Stacey (two goals, seven assists) lead Dartmouth's offense, with nine points apiece.
Lindsay Holdcroft has had the majority of playing time in net, accumulating a 3-2-2 record with a 2.74 GAA and an .887 save percentage.
Jessica Gagner will be playing in her 100th career game on Wednesday, and Sally Komarek will be playing in her 99th contest. Gagner and Komarek hope to become the sixth and seventh active players with 100 career games on the Big Green roster.
Last time out
The Huskies and Wildcats squared off in a home-and-home series last weekend, with NU taking an 8-1 win in Durham before UNH responded with a 3-1 victory on Sunday at Matthews Arena.
On Saturday, Northeastern received goals from five different skaters as the Huskies defeated New Hampshire at the Whittemore Center, 8-1. 12 different Huskies tallied points in the game, including three apiece from
Kendall Coyne (one goal, two assists) and
Casey Pickett (three assists).
With her three assists, Pickett became the 21st player in program history to record 100 career points.
Sunday saw New Hampshire use two power play goals and 31 saves from Jenn Gilligan to knock off the Huskies at Matthews Arena. Coyne scored the lone goal for NU while
Chloe Desjardins 14 saves.
NU held a significant 32-17 edge in shots for the game and was 0-of-3 on the power play, snapping a string of five straight games with a power play tally. The Wildcats were 2-of-4 on the man advantage and won 29-of-54 draws.
Pickett nets No. 100
Senior captain
Casey Pickett had three assists against New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon to become the 21st player in program history to eclipse the 100-point plateau. Pickett is the first player since Kim Greene in 2003 to accomplish the feat.
She's been outstanding, and to reach 100 points is pretty amazing for any player,” said head coach
Dave Flint. “She works extremely hard at it and deserves it.”
Pickett, who has 50 goals and 50 assists in 119 career games, is also tied for 19th on the NU record list for career goals with Lisa Giovanelli.
Coyne tossing up numbers, again
Sophomore forward
Kendall Coyne is having another outstanding offensive season for the Huskies. Having recorded a point in all but two games this season, she is fifth in the nation in points per game (2.07) and leads the league with in points (29) and goals (14).
During a recent seven-game point streak, her seven goals and 11 assists catapulted her to the top of the Hockey East points list, while recording multi-point nights in seven of her last nine contests.
During Northeastern's five-game home stand (Oct. 12-27), Coyne scored seven of the Huskies' 12 goals during the stretch. She also assisted on one NU goal to play a factor in 67% of Northeastern's scoring.
The two-time Athletic Republic Player of the Week selection is one of five players in the country with at least 29 points, and had a career-high six point day (one goal, five assists) against Connecticut on Nov. 3. Her five assists in the game tied a school record.
Mac attack
Junior forward
Katie MacSorley has ratcheted up her scoring output since the end of October, recording 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in her last eight games. The Startford, Ontario native had a six-game point streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 16, during which the Huskies went 4-1-1.
She topped her previous career-best of three straight games with a point while also two multi-point nights in the process. MacSorley is fourth on the team in scoring this season (five goals, eight assists), and is tied for 18th in WHEA in scoring.
Espo returns to the lineup
Senior winger
Brittany Esposito returned to the Northeastern lineup last week against Harvard after missing the previous three games. The Edmonton, Alberta native made an immediate impact in the game, recording the primary assist on
Katie MacSorley's power play goal.
She then followed that up with a goal at New Hampshire, her first in nine games. Esposito is tied for fifth on the team this season with eight points (two goals, six assists).
Trickle down effect
Northeastern fans saw a change in the Husky lineup on Tuesday night when freshman
Tori Hickel made the shift back to defense. Hickel, who previously played defense earlier in her hockey career, saw the decision pay dividends when she recorded the primary assist on NU's first goal of the afternoon at New Hampshire on Saturday.
Hickel has two goals and three assists this season, which is second among NU freshmen.
Pickett named Athletic Republic Player of the Month
Coming off her 100th career point last weekend against New Hampshire, Northeastern women's ice hockey senior
Casey Pickett was named the Athletic Republic Player of the Month for November on Tuesday. Pickett totaled 13 points in seven games for the Huskies.
Pickett potted nine goals and four assists during the month, including a career-high six-point day against Connecticut on Nov. 3. The Wilmington, Mass. native had four goals and two assists that day, marking the first time since 2002 that a Husky had netted four goals in a game.
During November, Pickett recorded four multi-point efforts, and had at least one point in five of her seven games.
A Field(s) day at UNH
12 different Huskies registered at least one point at New Hampshire last weekend, including senior
Casie Fields' first goal of the season. It was the first goal in 56 games for the Buffalo Grove, Ill. native; the last came on Jan. 9, 2011, also at New Hampshire.
That's another Husky power play
Teams that have taken penalties against the Huskies in 2012-13 have paid the price. Northeastern has scored 31% of its goals this season while on the power play, and have scored a power play goal in five of the last six games, and 10 of the last 12 overall.
The Huskies are operating at 30% (17-of-56) on the power play this season, which is second in Hockey East and is third in the nation. NU has also netted two or more goals on the man advantage four times this season, including a season-high three power play tallies at Syracuse. NU is one of only six teams in the nation with at least 15 power play goals.
Rachel Llanes (4-5-9) is tied for second in the league in power play points this season, while
Kendall Coyne (5-3-8) trails closely behind in fifth. Coyne is also tied for the league lead in power play tallies with BC's Alex Carpenter and Providence's Nicole Anderson.
Killing it on the PK
The Huskies penalty killing is one of the best in the nation, having killed of 54-of-59 shorthanded situations this season. Their 91.5% conversion rate on the PK is fourth in the country.
NU had a string of 16 straight successful penalty kills snapped on Nov. 10 against Vermont. The only other power play tallys came against No. 3 Boston University on Oct. 16, at No. 6 Boston College on Nov. 18, and vs. UNH on Sunday.
Sophomore goaltender
Chloe Desjardins has made 93 of her 396 saves this season (23%) with the Huskies shorthanded. Additionally, NU has potted three shorthanded goals this season.
Filling the net
Northeastern's 9-1 victory against Connecticut on Nov. 3 was the most goals the Huskies' have scored in a game since Feb. 6, 2001 against Boston University (9-0) when the Terriers were a club team; the last time NU had nine goals in a NCAA contest was on Dec. 30, 1999 against Wisconsin (15-0).
Casey Pickett's four goals that day were the most for a Husky since Brooke Whitney scored four goals (Jan. 27, 2002 vs. Wayne St.).
Northeastern's combined 14 goals against Connecticut last weekend marked the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Huskies scored a combined 14 tallies in consecutive games; they defeated BC 7-2 on Jan. 31 and then beat BU 9-0 on Feb. 6.
NU also found the net eight times at New Hampshire last weekend, which was the second straight game that the Huskies had potted eight against the Wildcats, dating back to last season.
Scoring spurts
When the Huskies score, they score in bunches. Northeastern is averaging nearly four goals per game through 16 contests this season, which is third in WHEA. The Huskies have scored goals less than three minutes apart on several occasions in 2012-13, including two in just 14 seconds on Dec. 1 at New Hampshire.
NU scored four goals in the first period at Syracuse on Oct. 6, marking the first time since Jan. 22, 2012 against UNH that the Huskies netted four in the first. Northeastern's three-goal third period against Union was the first time since Dec. 4, 2011 vs. UNH that NU had three goals in the final period.
The Huskies also potted five goals in the first period alone against Connecticut on Nov. 3, marking the first time since Dec. 3, 2006 against Maine that NU scored five goals in a period.
Poll position
Northeastern dropped to No. 10 in this week's USCHO Division I Women's Poll. The Huskies have previously been ranked seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th at times during the season, and have been either ranked or receiving votes in each of the past 34 USCHO.com polls, dating back to March 7, 2011.
NU also stayed dropped to No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll this week. Six teams on this season's schedule are also included on the poll, including WHEA foes BC, BU, UNH and Providence.
Getting on them early
Scoring the first goal of the game was key to Northeastern's success in 2011-12. The Huskies were 18-3-3 when scoring first last season, compared to a 4-4-0 mark when their opponent was the first to score.
The Huskies have scored first in 10 of NU's 16 games this season. Northeastern is 7-1-2 in those games.
Four or more is best
Northeastern found its most success last season when the Huskies scored in bunches. When NU scored four or more goals in 2011-12, the Huskies were a perfect 12-0-0. Conversely, when the Northeastern offense scored two goals or fewer last season, the Huskies were 4-4-3.
The Huskies have continued the trend early this season; NU has scored at least four goals in 10 of the team's 16 games this season, and is 7-1-1 in those games.
Get in front of it
The Huskies had a season-high 21 blocked shots on the game against Boston University on Oct. 16. Through 16 games this season, NU has blocked 193 shots.
Rachel Llanes leads Northeastern with 17 block shots each, while seven Huskies have at least 10 blocks this season (DiMasi, 16; Doherty, 6; Murphy, 15; Pickett, 14; Hampton, 13; Coyne, 12).
On the plus side
Through 14 games this season, Northeastern has nine players with a positive +/- rating.
Casey Pickett leads the team with a +17 rating, which is tied for third in Hockey East, while
Kendall Coyne trails close behind at +14 (sixth in WHEA). Last season, NU had 16 in the black, led by Pickett's +34 mark.
Desjardins filling the void
In her first season as the NU starting goaltender, sophomore
Chloe Desjardins has showed that she is up to the task in replacing All-American netminder
Florence Schelling.
The WHEA Goaltender of the Month for October, Desjardins is 17th in the nation in goals against average (2.20) and 13th in save percentage (.921), and has been named the WHEA Defensive Player of the Week three times this season.
Desjardins also got into the act offensively against Union. She recorded her first collegiate assist on
Kendall Coyne's power play tally in the third period. It marked the first time since 2010 that a NU goaltender has recorded a point (
Florence Schelling vs. Princeton on Oct. 22, 2010).
Jumping into the offense
Junior defenseman
Maggie DiMasi is seventh on the team, and first among defensemen, with seven points this season. She recently tied career highs for goals and points with two goals at New Hampshire on Saturday.
DiMasi is Northeastern's active leader in career points among defensemen with 32 (nine goals, 23 assists).
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The road ahead
Northeastern will have nearly one month off for final exams and the holiday break until the team resumes play on Jan 3-4 at St. Lawrence and Clarkson, respectively.
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