CANTON, N.Y. – The Northeastern women's hockey team will open its 36th varsity season this weekend when it travels to northern New York for a pair of games vs. St. Lawrence. The Huskies are 23-7-5 all-time in season openers, including an 8-6-4 mark in road contests. Northeastern opened its season at St. Lawrence once before, in 2004, a game won by the Saints, 4-1.
MATCHUP OF OLD CONFERENCE FOESThe Huskies and Saints will rekindle an old ECAC rivalry this weekend. The teams were both official members of the conference from 1996-01, during which time Northeastern won seven of 10 matchups against St. Lawrence. The Huskies own a 23-10-0 edge in the all-time series vs. the Saints, however, SLU has won the last seven meetings dating back to Northeastern's last victory on Oct. 27, 2001.
LAST TIME VS. ST. LAWRENCEThe Huskies and Saints will be meeting for the first time since Jan. 3, 2013, when SLU claimed a 6-0 victory at Appleton Arena. Four players on Northeastern's current roster appeared in that game:
Kendall Coyne,
Ann Doherty,
Tori Hickel and
Paige Savage. Coyne led all players with five shots, but a three-point game from forward Rylee Smith and a 27-save shutout from Carmen MacDonald helped the Saints stake an impressive victory at home.
COYNE EYES CENTURY MARKSenior captain
Kendall Coyne enters the season needing nine goals to hit 100 for her collegiate career. The Palos Heights, Illinois, native ranks first among active career leaders in the NCAA with 91 goals and needs to light the lamp 23 more times to break the Northeastern scoring record held by Hilary Witt (113 goals). Since 2000, only 16 Division I players have eclipsed the 100-goal plateau for their careers.
CHASING WITTCoyne enters her final collegiate season with 165 career points, which ranks as the fifth-most in Northeastern program history. Hilary Witt (1996-00) holds the Huskies' all-time scoring mark with 208 points on 113 goals and 91 assists. Witt is the only player in program history to surpass 200 career points.
TOP NINE SCORERS RETURNThe Huskies welcome back 91 percent of their offensive production from a season ago, including the top nine scorers on the squad. Northeastern scored 95 goals in 2014-15, 91 of which were potted by players that return in 2015-16. Likewise, the Huskies registered 151 assists last season, and return players that accounted for 133 of those helpers.
DEFENSIVE DEPTHIn addition to the wealth of attacking options returning to the fold this year, NU also returns seven letterwinners along the blueline in 2015-16. Junior
Heather Mottau headlines the group after posting 25 points and 52 blocked shots last year en route to Hockey East Honorable Mention All-Star accolades. Including Mottau, five of NU's returning defensemen are juniors or seniors, lending veteran leadership and experience to the blueline.
A NEW ERA BETWEEN THE PIPESFollowing the graduation of three-year starter
Chloe Desjardins, the Huskies will feature a new look between the pipes this season. Desjardins left the program as Northeastern's all-time leader in saves (2,808) and minutes played (5,970), but NU will be in good hands going forward with three talented netminders on the roster. Junior
Sarah Foss turned in several impressive performances in 2014-15, including a 38-save effort against Boston University in the Beanpot. Named an alternate captain prior to this season, Foss will also help in the development of rookie goaltenders
Brittany Bugalski and
Brianna Storms.
CARRYING IT OVERThe hottest player on the Northeastern roster at the end of last season was
Denisa Krizova, who finished the year on an eight-game point streak. During that span, Krizova racked up four goals and 10 assists en route to Hockey East All-Rookie laurels. The rising sophomore also established an incredible chemistry with linemate
Kendall Coyne, who notched points in seven of her last eight games of the 2014-15 season. The duo finished as the top two scorers on the team, combining for 87 points, or 35 percent of the squad's total offensive output.
WELCOME BACKNortheastern will welcome back a pair of offensive weapons that missed significant time last season in redshirt junior
Paige Savage and junior
Hayley Scamurra. Savage sat out the final 28 games of 2014-15, but will return to the lineup after posting 29 points in her last full season (2013-14) with the Huskies. Scamurra will also give the lineup a huge boost after racking up 10 goals and 15 points in the first 19 games last year, before picking up an injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the season. Despite playing only half the season, Scamurra's 10 goals were the third-most on the team in 2014-15.
SOPHOMORES STEP FORWARDNortheastern's eight-member sophomore class will look to take a step forward in 2015-16 after combining for 90 points as freshmen last season. The group accounted for 37 percent of the Huskies' offensive output a year ago, led by
Denisa Krizova (35 points),
McKenna Brand (18 points),
Lauren Kelly (13 points), and
Taytum Clairmont (12 points). Krizova ranked fifth in the nation among rookies with 1.06 points per game last year, while Kelly's seven goals ranked 10th nationally and led Hockey East among all rookie defensemen.
MASTERING THE ART OF THE GOALOf all the non-freshmen on last year's roster, no player saw a greater increase in goals scored than
Hayley Masters. The rising junior netted eight times in 2014-15–five more than her three goals scored as a freshman in 2013-14. Masters also showed a penchant for scoring goals in big moments, as evidenced by her overtime winner against Providence on Feb. 6, and her tally against Boston University in the Beanpot on Feb. 10.
DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCEEntering the 2015-16 season, no player on the Northeastern roster has played more games than senior
Jordan Krause. The Kelowna, British Columbia, native has appeared in 104 contests in three collegiate seasons with Minnesota-Duluth and Northeastern. Krause played in 70 games with the Bulldogs between 2012-14, before suiting up in 34 games with the Huskies last year. In her debut season with NU, Krause tallied 11 points from the blueline, while blocking 49 shots.
WORKING OVERTIMEDating back to the 2013-14 season, Northeastern is unbeaten in its last eight overtime games (2-0-6). The Huskies posted a 1-0-5 mark in OT contests last season, earning the lone victory over Providence on Feb. 6. The last time NU lost in extra time was on Oct. 29, 2013 in a 3-2 setback against Boston University.
NORTHEASTERN RECEIVES VOTESThe Huskies are receiving votes (11) in the inaugural USCHO.com national poll, released Monday, Sept. 21. Northeastern earned votes in five weeks of the national polls last season, ascending as high as No. 10 in the nation in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll on Oct. 7, 2014. The last time NU was ranked in the top 10 of both national polls was on Sept. 23, 2013 when the Huskies checked in at No. 10/10.
HUSKIES PICKED THIRD IN WHEA POLLNortheastern was predicted to finish third in Hockey East in a poll of the league's head coaches, announced Monday, Sept. 21. The Huskies garnered 50 points in the poll, seven behind defending WHEA champion Boston University, and 14 points back of the unanimous preseason favorite, Boston College. Maine was slotted fourth with 34 points, Connecticut was fifth with 32, New Hampshire was tabbed sixth with 30, and Vermont (29) and Providence (20) rounded out spots seven and eight, respectively. Hockey East newcomer Merrimack was picked ninth with eight points.
