BOSTON – The Northeastern women's hockey team (8-3-1, 4-1-0 WHEA) will look to build on its two-game winning streak this weekend when it battles Merrimack (4-6-1, 2-3-0 WHEA) in a home-and-home series beginning Friday at Lawler Rink at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Northeastern completed a perfect weekend in Hockey East on Nov. 5-6 with one-goal wins over Maine and Providence.
McKenna Brand,
Shelby Herrington,
Denisa Krizova and
Paige Savage each had two points on Saturday as the Huskies edged Maine by a score of 3-2. The following day, Brand and Krizova each scored shorthanded goals and goaltender
Brittany Bugalski made 32 saves as NU held off Providence by a 2-1 count. With points in both games, Krizova extended her point streak to 11 straight contests.
LAST TIME VS. MERRIMACK
Goals by Felila Manu, Paige Voight and Emily Volpe helped Merrimack claim its first-ever win over Northeastern on Oct. 28 at Matthews Arena. Trailing 3-0 into the third period, Northeastern mounted a comeback when freshmen
Codie Cross and
Matti Hartman scored to make it a one-goal game. The Huskies were unable to complete the rally, however, as Warriors' netminder Lea-Kristine Demers made 35 saves to preserve the win for the visitors.
BUGALSKI EARNS THIRD WHEA WEEKLY HONOR
Sophomore goaltender
Brittany Bugalski picked up WHEA Defensive Player of the Week honors for the third time in the last four weeks on Monday, as announced by the league office. Bugalski stopped 56 of 59 shots (.949 save percentage) last weekend to backstop NU to victories over Maine and Providence. In addition to her three weekly accolades, Bugalski was also named the Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Month for Sept./Oct. in WHEA after posting a 6-2-1 record with a 1.78 GAA over the first month of the season.
KRIZOVA AMONG NCAA'S BEST
Junior
Denisa Krizova enters the weekend riding an 11-game point streak, during which she has compiled eight goals, nine assists and 17 points. With 111 career points, the Czech Republic native ranks fifth in the NCAA among active scoring leaders, and 19th all-time in the Northeastern record books. Krizova is one of only 10 players in program history to reach 100 career points in less than 100 career games.
JUNIORS CARRY THE LOAD
Northeastern owns the highest-scoring junior class in the nation with 20 goals, 26 assists and 46 points. With 46 of the Huskies' 101 total team points, the junior class has accounted for 45.5 percent of NU's total offensive output, which ranks as the fourth-best mark in the NCAA. Only the junior classes from Sacred Heart (69.2% of team's total scoring), Syracuse (48.9%) and Connecticut (48.6%) have produced more of their team's total offense than Northeastern's third-year players.
DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE
Senior
Heather Mottau ranks 10th in the nation in scoring among defensemen with seven points (2-5-7) this season. In 117 career games, Mottau has racked up 73 points, making her the seventh-highest scoring defenseman in NU women's hockey history. Donna-Lynn Rosa (1985-89) holds the program record for defenseman scoring with 121 career points in 96 games.
BRAND-NAME RECOGNITION
Junior forward
McKenna Brand is off to a hot start with eight goals and five assists in 12 games. At this scoring rate, Brand is on pace for a 37-point season, which would smash her previous single-season best of 21 points, set last year.
COYNE WINS GOLD AT FOUR NATIONS CUP
Alumna
Kendall Coyne helped the U.S. Women's National Team capture the gold medal at the 2016 Four Nations Cup in Finland in November. Coyne finished fifth in scoring at the tournament with four points (one goal, three assists) in four games, including a goal and an assist in the championship game against Canada.
