With its most wins and highest national ranking in 10 years, and a slew of individual awards along the way, Northeastern women's ice hockey enjoyed a 22-7-4 season, its first Hockey East Regular Season Championship in program history, and its first Beanpot championship since 1998.

Led by Hockey East Co-Coach of the Year and All-New England Coach of the Year Dave Flint, the Huskies' 15-3-3 conference record edged Boston College by single point to take the regular season crown. Behind outstanding skill players up front and an often-impenetrable defense, Northeastern led league play with a +37 goal differential.

With that kind of success, the individual accolades are sure to come, and for senior goaltender Florence Schelling they came in bunches. In March, Schelling became the third player in Northeastern history to stand among the top three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the nation's top player. The nomination came on the back of her unanimous selection as Hockey East Player of the Year and Division I All-American First Team recognition. Schelling also won the Bauer Goaltending Championship, the Army ROTC Three Stars Award, and the Joe Bertagna Award as the Beanpot's top goaltender.

The Oberengstringen, Switzerland native had the stats to back up the hardware: she led the nation with a .950 save percentage – also a new single-season program record – and was second in the country with a 1.42 goals against average. She established new Northeastern career records in minutes (5,878:40), goals against average (1.74), saves (2,681) and save percentage (.940).

The rest of the Huskies quickly followed suit in the awards department. At least one player won one of Hockey East's three individual weekly awards over each of the season's first six weeks, and nine out of the first ten weeks. At least one Northeastern player also took home a WHEA monthly individual award every month from October to February. Schelling once again led the way for the Huskies, winning seven WHEA Defensive Player of the Week Awards and two WHEA Goaltender of the Month Awards. Right behind her was junior tri-captain Casey Pickett – the Beanpot MVP and two-time WHEA Pure Hockey Player of the Week – and freshman Kendall Coyne, who thrice won Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week, along with January's Rookie of the Month Award and the Athletic Republic Player of the Month in November and December. Freshman Lucie Povova also took home Rookie of the Week honors.

By season's end it had become clear that numerous postseason laurels would be in the offing, and college hockey's awards season did not disappoint. With 26 goals and 19 assists in her debut season, Coyne was named the unanimous Hockey East Rookie of the Year and, with Schelling, was a WHEA First Team All-Star and a top 30 Kazmaier nominee. Pickett won the league's Best Defensive Forward Award and, with senior tri-captain Stephanie Gavronsky, was a WHEA Second Team All-Star. Coyne, Gavronsky, Pickett and Schelling were also named Div. I New England All-Stars.

Expectations were high to start the season as Northeastern looked to back up its third-place ranking in the Hockey East preseason poll, the highest finish in program history. The Huskies quickly set about surpassing them, however, with four convincing home wins out of the gate against Syracuse, Colgate, Union and Quinnipiac. Northeastern outscored those four opponents by a combined 15-4, with Pickett exploding for five goals and Coyne, junior Brittany Esposito and sophomore Katie MacSorley netting two goals apiece.

The Huskies' first brush with defeat came October 21st at Princeton, in a 5-3 defeat that included goals from MacSorley, Gavronsky and junior Kelly Wallace. The following day, Schelling, coming off one of the worst performances of her career – four goals surrendered on just 11 shots – rebounded in vintage style to stop all 30 Yale shots in a 7-0 Northeastern rout. Povova got the scoring started at 9:48 of the first period, in something of a coming-out party for the Cizkovice, Czech Republic native – with two goals and three assists on the day, she registered Northeastern's only individual five-point game in 2011-12. Gavronsky also netted a pair, with graduate tri-captain Dani Rylan, junior Rachel Llanes and sophomore Maggie DiMasi doing the rest of the damage.

The win over Maine sparked a run of six successive victories that launched Northeastern to a 10-1-0 record to begin the season. In her Hockey East debut, on Oct. 28 at Maine, Coyne sparked a 3-2 victory by converting a first-period penalty shot, and freshman Colleen Murphy made her first career goal a game-winner. The next weekend, in a two-game home and home series against Connecticut, Schelling took over: with 47 saves over the two games, the Swiss international kept UConn off the board all weekend with a pair of 3-0 shutout wins. On Nov. 11-12, the Huskies went to Vermont without Coyne, who was away on national team duty, but still the good times rolled: Pickett bagged three goals in wins of 4-2 and 5-1, with DiMasi recording her first career two-goal game in the latter game.

Northeastern met true adversity for the first time in a three-game losing streak spanning Nov. 17-26. Povova drew the Huskies level at 1-1 after one period against Boston College on Nov. 17, but the Eagles pulled out a 3-1 win at Matthews Arena. The game marked the first time in 11 collegiate games to date that Coyne had failed to score a point.

The next night at Conte Forum, MacSorley's power play goal gave Northeastern a momentary advantage, but four unanswered BC goals dashed the Huskies' hopes once again in a 4-3 defeat. Then, down 3-1 in the third period at Dartmouth on Nov. 26, Coyne netted twice to send the game to overtime, but Sally Komarek's goal in the extra frame sent the Huskies back to Boston winless in three games.

A five-game unbeaten streak followed as Northeastern righted the ship heading into the spring semester. The run included a pair of impressive wins over rival Boston University: Coyne scored both goals in a 2-0 win on Nov. 30 – with Schelling stopping 32 shots for the shutout – before potting the game-winner in a 4-1 win on Dec. 7. The games sandwiched a weekend home and home series with New Hampshire in which the Huskies took four points of the Wildcats, winning a 5-1 decision after a 3-3 tie.

After a strong 5-2 triumph over Clarkson to begin the new year on Jan. 5, Northeastern dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker at home to St. Lawrence – Esposito and Claire Santostefano brought the Huskies back from two goals down only for the Saints to grab a late winner.

As was quickly becoming a trademark of the team, however, Northeastern rebounded with a run of gutty performances. First Llanes and Coyne brought Northeastern out of an early hole in a hotly contested 2-1 win over Providence; then Povova found the net as the Huskies took their first point off Boston College in a 1-1 draw at Conte Forum on Jan. 17.

Those contests kept the energy level high going into an emotional game against New Hampshire on Jan. 21. In the first women's college hockey game ever to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, Northeastern tallied early and often in an 8-0 thrashing of the Wildcats. Pickett tallied her first career hat trick in what would turn out to be the first of two tricks in two games for the Huskies; the next day, Coyne netted thrice in a 5-1 rout of Vermont.

Northeastern would taste defeat for the final time in the regular season in a close 3-2 loss at Boston University on Jan. 28, but refused to let the loss stymie its momentum heading into the Beanpot semifinal against BC just three days later. Llanes, who scored Northeastern's only goal of the game, found herself on the center dot after a scoreless overtime period sent the game to a shootout. She rose to the occasion and beat BC's Corinne Boyles, Esposito followed suit, and Schelling – who was outstanding with 35 saves – stopped both of BC's shootout efforts in a dramatic 2-0 shootout win.

After a 3-2 win over UConn, it was on to the Beanpot finals where host Boston University awaited. Coyne and Povova netted within 101 seconds to put NU on top, but the three unanswered Terriers had the Huskies in dire straits. It was the perfect time for sophomore Sonia St. Martin's only goal of the season, tying the game with five minutes to play to send the game to overtime. At 5:27 of overtime, a blocked shot skittered out to neutral ice where Coyne gained possession to ignite a two on one; her pass found Pickett perfectly, and the Northeastern tri-captain coolly found the net to give Northeastern its first Beanpot title since 1998.

The Huskies rode that emotional high to a pair of wins over Maine, outscoring the Black Bears by a combined 7-1 on the weekend, and needed three points from two games against Providence to secure the WHEA Regular Season Championship. In the first of what would become three straight games between the two sides, Schelling (38 saves) and PC's Genevieve Lacasse (42 saves) went save for save in an extraordinary 0-0 draw at Schneider Arena. The following afternoon, Esposito and Pickett found a way past Lacasse in the 2-1 victory that clinched Northeastern's first regular season title in program history.

The Hockey East Tournament only yielded disappointment – Schelling made 25 saves, but none of Northeastern's 41 shots could beat Lacasse – but the 2-0 defeat obfuscates an undoubtedly bright future on Huntington Avenue. Graduating are Gavronsky, Rylan and Schelling, and in their stead will come three new freshmen as the bulk of the team that finished the year tied for fifth in the Pairwise Rankings returns to bring the program closer to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance.