CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- After the cancellation of Thursday's Frozen Fenway event due to heavy snow, the Northeastern women's hockey team (7-10-1, 3-5-1 HEA) will now travel to No. 4/5 Harvard for a road game Saturday at Bright-Landry Hockey Center at 2:30 p.m.
The Huskies have not played since Dec. 3, a 5-2 defeat to No. 9 Boston University at Matthews Arena. Northeastern will be looking for its first win over Harvard since Dec. 7, 2001, a span of eight games without a victory over its cross-town rival.
Last Time Out
The Huskies fell to No. 9 Boston University, 5-2, on Dec. 3 at Matthews Arena. Northeastern battled back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game, 2-2, early in the third, but three unanswered goals in an 11-minute span helped BU stay unbeaten in Hockey East play (8-0-0) with a 5-2 win.
Sophomore
Tori Hickel and junior
Colleen Murphy lit the lamp for NU, while junior
Chloe Desjardins made 29 saves. Redshirt senior
Kelly Wallace notched an assist to extend her point streak to six straight games.
Louise Warren (2 g, 2 a) and Sarah Lefort (3 g, 1 a) led the way for BU with four points apiece. Warren broke the 2-2 tie at 8:40 of the third period with a shorthanded goal, before setting up Lefort for an insurance marker just 3:12 later. Lefort then completed her hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:21 to round out the scoring.
Northeastern outshot Boston University, 40-34, and fell to 1-1 on the year when recording 40 or more shots. The Huskies' power play went 0-for-6 on the night and has not scored in its last 23 opportunities since a second-period PP goal by Hickel on Nov. 15 vs. Wisconsin.
Scouting Harvard
Harvard is off to a fast start, having won nine of its first 12 games (9-1-2) to vault into the top-5 in the national polls. The Crimson have been exceptional in the defensive zone, allowing just 0.92 goals per game, which leads the nation. Harvard has also excelled in special teams situations, ranking fifth nationally on the power play (20%) and first in the country on the penalty kill (98%).
The Crimson own the third longest current unbeaten streak in the country at nine games (7-0-2). Over the course of the streak, Harvard has beaten a pair of top-10 opponents in No. 6 Clarkson (2-0) and No. 9 BU (3-1), while earning draws vs. No. 3 Cornell (3-3) and No. 7 BC (1-1). Harvard's only blemish this season was a 2-1 loss at Rensselaer on Nov. 1, during which the Crimson outshot RPI, 30-15.
Harvard goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer ranks second nationally with a 1.08 GAA and leads the country with an impressive .964 save percentage. Maschmeyer also ranks fifth with four shutouts and an .800 winning percentage (7-1-2).
At the offensive end, sophomore Miye D'Oench paces the squad with 12 points on seven goals and five assists. Junior Samantha Reber leads Harvard with eight assists and also owns a team-best +13 rating.
Harvard has had Northeastern's number as of late, winning eight of the past 10 meetings in the series. The teams last met on Nov. 27, 2012, a 3-1 Harvard win at Matthews Arena.
Katie MacSorley scored NU's lone goal, while
Chloe Desjardins kicked away 32 shots in net.
Beanpot Preview
The Northeastern/Harvard matchup will be a preview of the first round of the 2014 Women's Beanpot, which will be played Feb. 4 at Conte Forum. The Huskies have won the last two Beanpot titles, knocking off Boston College for the title in 2013 and Boston University for the championship in 2012.
Coyne Named to 2014 Olympic Roster
Junior forward
Kendall Coyne was named to the 2014 USWNT roster for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, as announced by USA Hockey on Jan. 1.
Coyne was named to the preliminary roster on Jun. 24 and has been training with the National Team since. The Palos Heights, Ill., native has donned the USA jersey before, helping the team to IIHF World Championship titles in 2011 and '13.
In two seasons with the Huskies, Coyne has amassed an incredible 113 points on 63 goals and 50 assists in just 65 games. As a sophomore in 2012-13, Coyne was a Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist and was the Most Valuable Player at the Women's Beanpot, which Northeastern won for the second straight year.
Wallace Has the Hot Hand
Redshirt-senior
Kelly Wallace is currently riding a career-best six-game point streak, during which time the Libertyville, Ill. native has notched three goals and four assists. Wallace recorded an assist on Dec. 3 vs. BU and played hero just days earlier at Dartmouth when she scored her first career overtime goal to lift the Huskies to a 2-1 win. Wallace is currently tied for the team lead with 15 points this season.
Lights, Camera, Mac-Tion
Senior
Katie MacSorley has been one of the Huskies' offensive leaders all season long. The Stratford, Ontario native is tied for the team lead with 15 points and owns a team-best nine goals.
MacSorley has four multi-point efforts in her last eight games and is tied for 10th in Hockey East with 0.83 points per game.
Hey, Shorty
Northeastern currently ranks second in the nation with six shorthanded goals this season.
Katie MacSorley,
Chelsey Goldberg and
Kelly Wallace each have two shorthanded tallies this season; all three are tied for the Hockey East lead in the category and are tied for fourth in the nation overall.
Working Overtime
With a 2-1 overtime win at Dartmouth on Nov. 29, the Huskies earned their first extra-time victory since Dec. 5, 2012, a 3-2 victory over the same opponent, Dartmouth. The result also marked Northeastern's first overtime win away from Matthews Arena since the 2012 Beanpot championship game Feb. 7, 2012, a 4-3 victory at Boston University.
Fire Away!
Northeastern fired a season-high 42 shots on goal in a 2-1 overtime win at Dartmouth on Nov. 29. The total was NU's most since tallying 48 shots against Vermont in the Hockey East Quarterfinals on March 2, 2013.
Scamurra Sparks the Rally
Rookie forward
Hayley Scamurra gave the Huskies a lifeline on Nov. 29 at Dartmouth, scoring with 6:58 remaining in regulation to knot the score at one apiece and send the contest to overtime. The goal was the first of her collegiate career and her first point since notching an assist in Northeastern's 6-1 loss at Boston College on Nov. 10. After missing the first six games of the season, Scamurra now has seven points (1-6-7) in 12 contests and ranks 25th among all Division I freshmen in points per game (0.58).
I'm Coming Home
Northeastern's home game vs. Boston University on Dec. 3 ended a 31-day hiatus from playing at Matthews Arena, the team's longest span away from home since 2008. During the 31 days, Northeastern visited four different states and wrapped up a season-long six-game road trip, during which the Huskies went 2-4-0.
Haganey Sets First Point Streak
Following her first collegiate goal Nov. 23 at Vermont, freshman
Melissa Haganey notched a helper on
Hayley Scamurra's goal on Nov. 29 at Dartmouth to earn her first-ever two-game point streak.
Wasting No Time
Senior
Katie MacSorley opened the scoring Nov. 22 at Vermont by giving the Huskies the lead 25 seconds into the second period -- the fastest Northeastern goal to start a period this season.
Assisting - That's Her 'Mottau'
Freshman
Heather Mottau tallied a helper in each of Northeastern's games at Vermont Nov. 22-23, giving her six assists and propelling her into a tie for the scoring lead among Northeastern rookies with seven points (Scamurra). Mottau is tied for ninth among Hockey East freshman scorers with 0.39 points per game.
Chloe in the Clutch
Junior netminder
Chloe Desjardins made 30+ stops in three straight games 31 and 32 saves at Vermont Nov. 22 and 23, respectively, giving her three consecutive games with at least 31 saves for the first time in her career. The Huskies went 1-2-0 in that stretch and are 4-3-0 this season when Desjardins makes at least 30 saves.
Close Calls in Colorado
Northeastern's six-game November road trip took the team to the National Collegiate Hockey Weekend in Vail, Colo. for a pair of games against WCHA foes Wisconsin and St. Cloud State on Nov. 15-16. Making their first-ever appearance in the state of Colorado, the Huskies battled hard in a pair of 3-2 losses. Northeastern led No. 2 Wisconsin, 2-1, with seven minutes to play in the third period, before the Badgers rallied for the win.
Ending the Drought
Four Huskies snapped scoreless streaks on Nov. 15-16 against Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. Freshman
Heather Mottau tallied an assist against the Badgers, her first helper since Oct. 29 vs. Boston University, while sophomore
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 State, junior defenseman
Colleen Murphy notched her first assist since Oct. 25 vs. Providence and junior
Chelsey Goldberg registered her first assist since Oct. 26 at Providence.
Power Play Turns in a Season-Best
The Northeastern power play converted two of its three opportunities Nov. 15 against Wisconsin, the No. 5 penalty kill in the country, marking the first time this season the Huskies have potted two power-play goals in a game.
Masters-ful Play
Freshman
Hayley Masters netted her first collegiate goal Nov. 16 against St. Cloud State. Masters is one of four NU freshmen to light the lamp so far this season (Mottau, Scamurra, Haganey).
