The Northeastern women's ice hockey team looks to make it three straight wins on Sunday when the Huskies travel to Burlington, Vt. to faceoff with Vermont at 2 p.m. in Gutterson Fieldhouse. NU is 1-0-1 this season against the Catamounts.
NU was won each of its last two games, including a 3-1 road victory at New Hampshire on Thursday. NU also defeated Providence last Sunday in the highest scoring game in WHEA history, 8-7. With just nine games remaining in the regular season, the Huskies currently sit in third place in the Hockey East standings with 15 points (7-6-1), and are looking to secure a top-four and right to host a quarterfinal game in March.
Sophomore forward
Kendall Coyne leads the team with 41 points this season (22 goals, 19 assists), and has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in her last four games. Coyne enters the game ranked seventh in the nation in points per game (1.86) and tied for fourth in goals per game (1.00).
Coyne is flanked by linemates
Casey Pickett (14 goals, 13 assists) and
Rachel Llanes (nine goals, 16 assists). So far this season, the trio has combined to produce 52% of the team's goals and 43% of the squad's total scoring.
The matchup with Vermont
NU holds a 22-3-4 advantage in the all-time series with Vermont, and has not lost to the Catamounts since Feb. 14, 2009, a span of 12 games (10-0-2). The Huskies have also found success at Gutterson Fieldhouse, going 11-1-2 all-time in Burlington, including the last seven straight dating back to the 2007-08 season.
The Catamounts enter Sunday's game winless in their last six games (0-5-1) following a six game unbeaten streak from Nov. 11 to Jan. 5. UVM sits in sixth place in the league standings with 11 points (4-5-3), including a 5-2 loss to No. 5 Boston University on Friday.
UVM is led by sophomores Brittany Zuback and Klara Myren, who have 19 (10 goals, nine assists) and 18 (five goals, 13 assists) points this season, respectively. They are joined by classmate Meghan Huertas with 14 points (eight goals, six assists), including a team-high six goals in conference play.
Junior Roxanne Douville, the WHEA Goalie of the Month for December, has played a majority of the time between the pipes for first-year head coach Jim Plumer this season, posting a 4-11-3 record with a 3.17 goals against average and .910 save percentage.
Last time out
Sparked by a career-high 27 saves from junior
Kelsey O'Sullivan and two goals from
Kendall Coyne, Northeastern (13-9-2, 7-6-1) skated to a 3-1 victory at New Hampshire (10-12-2, 6-5-1) on Thursday night at the Whittemore Center.
O'Sullivan topped her previous career-best by 10 in the contest, collecting her first career victory. The Huskies netted a power play, shorthanded, and even strength goal in the contest despite being outshot 28-24 for the game. NU was 1-of-2 on the power play while UNH was 0-of-3.
Coyne climbing the charts
Kendall Coyne burst onto the scene for the Huskies last season, leading the team in points (45), goals (26), shots (223) and game-winning goals (seven). Her point total was the highest for any Husky player since Hillary Witt in 1999-20 (55 points), while her goals were the highest at NU since 2001-02 (Brooke Whitney; 32).
Coyne has showed no signs of slowing up this season for the Huskies, and has posted 41 points (22 goals, 19 assists) in 22 games. She recorded career-highs in assists (five) and points (six) on Nov. 3 against Connecticut.
A three-time WHEA Player of the Week honoree in 2012-13, Coyne is seventh in the nation in points per game (1.86), tied for fourth in goals per game (1.00), tied for third in game-winning goals (five) and second in power play goals (eight).
Her two-goal performance on Thursday at New Hampshire moved her into 20th place on the NU record list for career goals, as well as into a tie for 18th on the single-season goals record list. She also became the first player since 2002 to record 40 points in back-to-back seasons (Brooke Whitney; 2000-01, 2001-02).
In her 53 career games, Northeastern is 29-11-3 when she records at least one point and 27-3-1 when she records a positive +/- rating.
One for the record books
Sunday's game against Providence was the highest scoring game by both teams in the 11-year history of WHEA. The previous high was 12 combined goals, which had occurred four times, most recently on Feb. 11, 2012 when Boston University defeated Vermont, 8-4.
Sunday also marked only the second time in program history, and the first since Feb. 5, 1994, that the Huskies had allowed seven goals and still won the game. NU defeated Toronto in the Concordia Tournament, 8-7.
The win on Sunday was the program's 550th all-time victory since the Huskies reached varsity status in 1980-81. It was also head coach
Dave Flint's 150th career victory. Flint entered the season 21st among active coaches in career wins and career winning percentage.
Shouldering the burden
The line of
Kendall Coyne,
Rachel Llanes and
Casey Pickett have carried the torch this season for the Huskies. The trio has produced 43% of Northeastern's total scoring (93-of-216) and 52% of NU's total goals (45-of-86). Coyne leads the teams with 22 goals and 19 assists, while Pickett has 14 goals and 13 helpers and Llanes with nine goals and 16 assists.
Power play hitting its stride
Entering the game 0-of-19 on the man advantage dating back to Dec. 1 at New Hampshire, the Husky power play came alive on Wednesday night at Boston University. NU tied a season-high with three tallies on the man advantage, going 3-of-8 on the night.
NU continued its productivity on the power play in the last two games, going 2-of-3 and 1-of-4, respectively.
Overall, Northeastern is fourth in the nation in power play percentage (23-of-86; 26.7%) and is one of only eight schools in the country with at least 20 power play goals.
NU has received power play goals from nine different players, led by
Kendall Coyne's eight (second in the nation). Coyne is also tied for second in the league in power play points (8-4-12), trailed closely by
Rachel Llanes in fourth (4-6-10).
20/20
Kendall Coyne's four goals in her last two games brought her to 22 this season. This marks the second straight season that NU has had a 20-goal scorer. The last time Northeastern had a 20-goal scorer in back-to-back seasons was when Brooke Whitney scored 26 in 2000-01 and 32 in 2001-02.
Wallace can dish it out
Last week at Walter Brown Arena saw junior
Kelly Wallace assist on the final three NU goals of the game, a new career-high in both helpers and points.
Since being paired on a line with
Paige Savage on Dec. 1, Wallace has seven points (three goals, four assists) in her last six games, and is fourth on the team with eight goals and eight assists this season.
Hit the road, Jack
After spending most of the first half of the season at home, the Huskies will head out on the road for six of its final nine games of the season. NU is 6-3-0 on the road so far this season.
League play heats up
With the exception of Northeastern's two Beanpot games in February, all of NU's remaining regular season games will come against Hockey East foes. The Huskies currently sit in third place in the league standings with 15 points, and are looking to secure a top-four seed for the right to host a WHEA quarterfinal game in March.
Filling the net
NU's 8-7 win against Providence on Sunday was the third time this season that NU had scored eight or more goals (8 at UNH, Dec. 1; 9 vs. UConn, Nov. 3).
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 on Dec. 1, which was the second straight game that the Huskies had potted eight against the Wildcats, dating back to last season.
O'Sullivan filling in nicely
Facing a 4-1 deficit midway through the second period at No. 5 BU last week, NU turned to
Kelsey O'Sullivan to make her third career appearance between the pipes. O'Sullivan didn't disappoint, making 17 saves as NU tried to mount a comeback.
The Medway, Mass. native has gotten the start in goal in each of the past two contests, and recorded her first collegiate victory with a career-high 27 stops at New Hampshire on Thursday.
Scoring spurts
When the Huskies score, they score in bunches. Northeastern is averaging 3.61 goals per game through 23 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 10 seconds at Boston University last week, and two in 14 seconds on Dec. 1 at New Hampshire.
Before NU's four-goal first period vs. Providence on Sunday, the Huskies scored four goals in the first period at Syracuse on Oct. 6, marking the first time since Jan. 22, 2012 against UNH that NU 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 out of the top-10 in both major polls this week for the first time all season. NU is the first team receiving votes in the USCHO Division I Women's Poll, and is second in votes received in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine 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 38 USCHO.com polls, dating back to March 7, 2011.
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 13 of NU's 24 games this season. Northeastern is 9-2-2 in those games.
Century club
Junior forward
Brittany Esposito was the latest Husky to reach the 100-game plateau on Thursday at New Hampshire. She joins fellow seniors
Siena Falino,
Rachel Llanes, and
Casey Pickett, who all played in their 100th career games last season, while
Casie Fields reached triple figures on Nov. 3 vs. Connecticut. Llanes and Pickett are tied for the team lead in career games played among active players at 127 games, each. Falino dressed for her 100th career game in the season finale against Providence.
Next on the list is
Claire Santostefano, who has played in 94 career games at Northeastern.
Jumping into the offense
Junior defenseman
Maggie DiMasi is tied for fifth on the team, and first among defensemen, with 14 points this season. She tied career highs for goals and points with two goals at New Hampshire on Dec. 1.
DiMasi has five points in her last four games (five assists), which is tied for her longest career point streak (four games; Jan. 17-28, 2012). She is also third in the league in defenseman scoring, and is Northeastern's active leader in career points among defensemen with 39 (nine goals, 30 assists).
Beanpot tickets now on sale
Tickets for the 2013 Women's Beanpot, hosted by Northeastern University at Matthews Arena, are now available for purchase. The tournament, entering its 35th season, features Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern in a battle for Boston bragging rights.
The tournament begins with semifinal action on February 5 at 5 p.m. when the Terriers and Crimson facing off before the Eagles and Huskies square off in the nightcap at 8 p.m. The losers of the semifinal contests will meet in the Consolation Game one week later, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. before the semifinal winners meet in the title game at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the tournament are $5 for adults and $3 for children, and are good for admission to both games on the date printed on the ticket. Students, faculty and staff from the participating schools will be admitted free of charge with a valid school ID. Tickets for groups of 15 people or more will cost $2 each, and must be purchased at least 72 hours in advance. Please contact the Ticket Office at 617-373-4700 or huskytix@neu.edu for more information.
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The road ahead
Northeastern closes out its three-game road trip on Feb. 2 when the Huskies head back to Walter Brown Arena for a Beanpot tune-up with Boston University at 3 p.m.
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