BOSTON --Â The Northeastern women's hockey team travels to Burlington, Vt., this weekend as it looks to get back into the win column against Hockey East rival Vermont. The two-game series kicks off Friday night at 7 p.m. with the rematch slated for Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Last time out
The Huskies visited Vail, Colo., Nov. 15 and 16 to participate in National Collegiate Ice Hockey Weekend, but they came away empty-handed, dropping 3-2 decisions to Wisconsin and St. Cloud State in back-to-back games.
Northeastern gave No. 2/2 Wisconsin all it could handle in Friday night's opener, opening up a 2-1 lead in the second period courtesy of power play goals by redshirt-senior
Kelly Wallace and sophomore
Tori Hickel. But the Badgers scored two unanswered late in the third period to secure the 3-2 win. Junior netminder
Chloe Desjardins made 33 saves in the loss, tied for her second-highest total of the season, while senior
Katie MacSorley added two assists and the Huskies scored a pair of power play goals in a game for the first time this season.
Looking to bounce back in only its second-ever contest against St. Cloud, Northeastern dug out of an early 1-0 deficit as freshman
Hayley Masters potted her first career goal to knot the score at one apiece midway through the first period. After St. Cloud regained its lead with a power play goal, Wallace found the back of the net for the second consecutive game to level the score at 2-2. But a second-period goal by Julia Gilbert proved to be the difference as St. Cloud handed the Huskies their second consecutive 3-2 loss. Freshman
Sarah Foss turned away 26 shots in her first career start, including 13 in the second period alone, and five different Huskies found the score sheet in the losing effort.
Scouting Vermont
The Huskies will be looking to snap their three-game losing streak when they travel to Burlington this weekend, but they'll have to overcome a hot Catamounts club to do it.
Vermont enters this weekend's play on a three-game unbeaten streak -- tied for the seventh-longest active streak in the country -- and touting a 5-6-2 record and 3-2-1 mark in Hockey East play, good for third place in the conference standings. The Catamounts swept Maine in a pair of games in Orono last weekend after battling New Hampshire to a 3-3 tie the previous weekend. Each of their last four losses have come to teams ranked in the top-10 nationally or receiving votes in the national polls (Boston College, Boston University and Robert Morris.)
The Vermont offense, which ranks 13th in the country with 2.85 goals per game, is led by Amanda Pelkey, a junior forward tied for 11th in the NCAA in points per game (9-9-18, 1.38 PPG) and ranked eighth in goals per game (0.69). Three skaters on the Vermont roster join Pelkey with at least 10 points, including junior Brittany Zuback (6-10-16), tied for 19th in the country in assists per game (0.77), freshman Victoria Andreakos (4-7-11) and sophomore defenseman Dayna Colang (5-5-10).
Two netminders have seen time between the pipes for the Catamounts this season, starting with senior Roxanne Douville, who has started nine games and accumulated a .910 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average with one shutout. Freshman Madison Litchfield has made four starts and six appearances overall, notching a pair of wins to go along with a .850 save percentage and 4.37 goals against average. As a team, Vermont ranks 27th nationally in scoring defense (3.31). The Catamounts have the No. 11 power play in the NCAA, clicking in at 19 percent (11-for-58), while their penalty kill holds the No. 26 spot nationally, killing 50-of-62 attempts (80.6 percent).
The Huskies are unbeaten in their last 14 contests against Vermont (12-0-2), going 2-0-1 in three regular-season games against the Catamounts before a 5-1 win in the Hockey East quarterfinals last season. Northeastern has not lost in its last eight trips to Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Feeling right at home
Gutterson Fieldhouse has proven to be a welcoming environment for the Huskies. In 14 total games in Burlington, Northeastern has gone 12-1-2, including a perfect 8-0-0 in their last eight contests in the venue. The Huskies have not lost at Vermont since Feb. 22, 2008 (4-1).
Foss' first
Freshman netminder
Sarah Foss made her first career start against St. Cloud on Saturday, turning away 26 shots in the 3-2 loss. The North Reading, Mass., native's 26 saves were the most for a Northeastern netminder in her first career start since senior
Kelsey O'Sullivan stopped 27 shots in her first-ever start at New Hampshire on Jan. 24.
Power play finds its rhythm
The Northeastern power play converted two of its three opportunities Friday against Wisconsin, the No. 5 penalty kill in the country, marking the first time this season the Huskies potted a pair of man-advantage markers. Their power play conversion rate is now up to a season-high 8.5 percent.
Masters-ful play
Freshman
Hayley Masters potted her first career goal against Wisconsin, making her just the second Northeastern rookie to score a goal this season. Her four points (1-3-4) are good for eighth on the team and third among Huskies rookies.
Ending the drought
Four Huskies snapped scoreless streaks in last weekend's play. Freshman
Heather Mottau tallied an assist against the Badgers on Friday, her first helper since Oct. 29 vs. Boston University, while
Tori Hickel scored her first goal of the season in the loss to Wisconsin, ending a 12-game goalless drought to open the season. The following afternoon against St. Cloud, junior defenseman
Colleen Murphy notched her first assist since Oct. 25 vs. Providence to tie her for seventh among Hockey East blue-liners in points (1-4-5), and junior
Chelsey Goldberg registered her first assist since Oct. 26 at Providence.
Scoring in bunches
Redshirt-senior
Kelly Wallace scored a goal in each game last weekend, giving her goals in back-to-back games for the second time this season; the Libertyville, Ill., senior also scored in three consecutive games from Oct. 5-12. Wallace's two-game point streak is one short of tying a season-high, while her seven goals this season are tied for fourth in Hockey East and 25th in the NCAA.
Light, camera, Mac(Sorley)-tion
Senior
Katie MacSorley handed out a pair of helpers Friday vs. Wisconsin, tying a career-best for assists in a game and marking just the fourth multi-assist game of her career. She also tallied a pair of assists Nov. 21, 2010, vs. Providence, Nov. 3, 2012, vs. Connecticut and Nov. 11, 2012, vs. Vermont.
Pursuit of imperfection
The Huskies committed a season-low two penalties Saturday, but St. Cloud made the most of both of their opportunities, potting a pair of power play goals on its way to a 3-2 victory. It marked the first time a Northeastern opponent was 100 percent on the power play since the Hockey East Championship on March 10, when Boston University converted its only power play of the game in a 5-2 win.
In a hole
The Huskies are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, their longest since Jan. 15-30, 2009, when they lost five consecutive contests. They are three games below .500 (5-8-1) for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when they finished 12-20-3.
Scamurra lending a helping hand
Rookie
Hayley Scamurra had the only assist on
Brittany Esposito's goal Nov. 10 at BC, giving her three assists in her last two games. She is currently on a career-best two-game scoring streak for the second time this season and is tied with sophomore
Paige Savage for the team lead in assists (5).
