BOSTON – Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 7/7 Northeastern women's hockey team (8-1-1, 4-0-0 WHEA) will take on Hockey East foe Merrimack (2-8-0, 1-3-0 WHEA) for a home-and-home series this weekend. The Huskies topped the Warriors by a 5-1 score at Lawler Rink on Oct. 30 in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
LAST TIME OUTFreshman goaltender
Brittany Bugalski stopped 33 shots and sophomore
Ainsley MacMillan registered a goal and an assist to lead Northeastern to its sixth straight win, 3-1 at Maine on Nov. 6. Northeastern scored once in each period and went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, including a huge kill on a lengthy Maine 5-on-3 early in the third period. Freshman
Maddie Hartman and sophomore
Christina Zalewski also lit the lamp, while junior
Hayley Scamurra added two assists.
HUSKIES ASCEND TO SEVENTH IN BOTH POLLSThe Huskies were ranked seventh in both national polls this week, up one spot from last week's ranking. The last time Northeastern was ranked as high as No. 7 was in the Oct. 29, 2012 national polls. The Huskies have not been ranked higher than seventh since Jan. 23, 2012 when NU came in at No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll.
HUSKIES ON INTERNATIONAL DUTYSenior
Kendall Coyne and sophomore
Denisa Krizova have returned to the United States after successful spells with their respective national teams. Coyne helped the United States capture the gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweden last week, adding a goal and an assist in four games. Krizova tallied four assists in four games with the Czech Republic at the Five Nations Tournament in Hodonin, Czech Republic, as the team took second place behind Russia.
STARTING STRONGAt 8-1-1, Northeastern has tied its second-best 10-game start in the eight-year tenure of head coach
Dave Flint. The Huskies started 9-1-0 through the first 10 games in 2011-12, and also started 8-1-1 in 2012-13. Northeastern went on to win over 20 games in each of those seasons.
KRIZOVA ON THE SCORESHEETDating back to last season, sophomore
Denisa Krizova has tallied at least one point in 16 of her last 17 games (9-24-33 during that span). Krizova ended the 2014-15 campaign on an eight-game point streak, and after being held scoreless in the 2015-16 season opener, has tallied points in each of her last eight games this year. During her current eight-game point streak, Krizova has racked up 19 points on five goals and 14 assists.
ON THE PLUS SIDEJunior defenseman
Heather Mottau has been on fire over the last five games, posting seven points (two goals, five assists) and a plus-15 rating. Mottau's 0.90 points-per-game clip ranks fourth among Hockey East defensemen, while her plus-16 rating ranks third on the team and sixth in the league.
STREAKING SCAMURRAHayley Scamurra enters the weekend riding a six-game point streak, during which time the junior has compiled 11 points on four goals and seven assists. Scamurra has posted multi-point performances in five of the six games, including a pair of assists in the Huskies' most recent game, a 3-1 win at Maine on Nov. 6.
MAC ATTACKSophomore
Ainsley MacMillan scored her first collegiate game-winning goal on Nov. 6 at Maine. The tally snapped a streak of 41 consecutive games without a goal for MacMillan, who last lit the lamp on Oct. 17, 2014 at Mercyhurst. MacMillan also added an assist against the Black Bears for her second collegiate multi-point game.
SOPHOMORE SURGENortheastern's eight-member sophomore class has produced 49 of the team's 126 points so far, good for 39 percent of NU's overall offensive output. With 49 points, the group ranks second nationally among the highest-scoring sophomore classes in the NCAA. Only Boston College's five-member sophomore class has notched more points (53) than NU's. Minnesota and Wisconsin's sophomore classes (47 points each) are tied for third in the category.
