BOSTON – The No. 8 Northeastern women's hockey team will open regular season play this weekend when it welcomes defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Clarkson to Matthews Arena for a pair of games. The Huskies and Golden Knights have not met since Jan. 4, 2013 when Northeastern knocked off No. 2 Clarkson, 4-3, at Cheel Arena.
STORYLINES: NORTHEASTERN VS. CLARKSON
• The Huskies enter the weekend as the No. 8 ranked team in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey national polls. This represents Northeastern's highest preseason ranking since 2000 when the Huskies were slotted at No. 7 in the first national polls of the year.
• The Huskies will be hosting a No. 1 team for the first time since Jan. 10, 2015 when NU welcomed top-ranked Boston College to Matthews Arena. Northeastern is 1-20-1 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams with its lone win coming on Jan. 5, 2001 against Dartmouth. Coincidentally, NU was also ranked No. 8 in the nation heading into that matchup.
• The Huskies are 3-3-0 all-time against Clarkson, including a 2-0-0 mark against the Golden Knights under the leadership of head coach
Dave Flint.
• Northeastern was tabbed second in the Hockey East preseason coaches' poll. Defending league champion Boston College earned the top spot in the poll, while Boston University, Providence and Vermont rounded out spots 3-5, respectively.
• The Huskies return 17 letterwinners from last year's team that won 22 games and advanced to the Hockey East title game. Among the 17 returning players, NU welcomes back its top three goal scorers from a season ago in
McKenna Brand (23 goals),
Denisa Krizova (18) and
Kasidy Anderson (14).
• The Red & Black also welcome eight new faces to the lineup this season, including seven freshmen and one transfer,
Tori Sullivan from Boston College. Sullivan put up 55 points in two seasons with the Eagles and skated in two Frozen Fours (2015 and 2016).
• Northeastern's seven freshmen are comprised of three forwards (
Katie Cipra,
Veronika Pettey,
Tessa Ward), three defensemen (Sky Fontaine,
Brooke Hobson,
Lauren MacInnis) and one goaltender (
Aerin Frankel).
• The Huskies earned a 3-2 win over Concordia in exhibition play on Sept. 23 at Matthews Arena.
Taytum Clairmont,
Codie Cross and
Tori Sullivan each scored power-play goals, while goaltenders
Brittany Bugalski,
Brianna Storms and
Aerin Frankel combined for 15 saves.
• Northeastern was the only team to defeat Concordia in exhibition play last weekend. The Stingers tied Boston University (2-2) and No. 9/10 Quinnipiac (3-3) as part of their U.S. tour.
KAZ WATCH: DENISA KRIZOVA
Northeastern senior
Denisa Krizova enters her final collegiate season as a contender for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for the top player in Division I women's hockey. With 139 points in 104 career games, Krizova is the NCAA's third-highest active scorer behind Wisconsin's Annie Pankowski (156 points) and Minnesota's Kelly Pannek (155 points). Both Pankowski and Pannek will take the year off to represent the U.S. National Team at the 2018 Olympics, meaning Krizova has a chance to finish the year as the NCAA's active leader in career points.
KRIZOVA CHASING RECORDS
In addition to the 'Kaz Watch' chatter, Krizova is also chasing a number of other statistical milestones. The Czech Republic National Team star enters the year as the 10th-highest scorer in program history with 139 career points, and the fifth-highest assist producer in the NU record books with 88 career helpers.
BRILLIANT BUGALSKI
In only two full collegiate seasons, junior goaltender
Brittany Bugalski has already etched her name all over the program record book. Bugalski's 41 career wins rank as the sixth-most in program history, her .923 career save percentage ranks as the fourth-best program mark, and her 2.09 career GAA is good for the sixth-best post overall. Last year, Bugalski set the single-season program record with 2,031 minutes played and became the first netminder in program history to win 20 or more games in two different seasons.
BRAND-NAME RECOGNITION
After scoring 10 goals as a sophomore in 2015-16, forward
McKenna Brand took a big leap forward as a junior with 23 goals in 2016-17. Brand's 13-goal improvement tied for the best mark in the NCAA among D-I players who also played a full collegiate season in 2015-16.
NORTHEASTERN EXTENDS FLINT THROUGH 2020-21
Northeastern director of athletics and recreation
Peter Roby announced on Sept. 11 that head coach
Dave Flint agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at Northeastern through the 2020-21 season. In eight seasons behind the bench, Flint has guided Northeastern a 156-103-28 overall record (.592 winning percentage), including a 99-59-16 mark in Hockey East play (.615 winning percentage). Flint has coached the Huskies to two Women's Beanpot titles (2012, 2013), the Hockey East regular season championship (2012), the program's first-ever NCAA tournament berth (2016), and garnered Hockey East Co-Coach of the Year and All-New England Coach of the Year accolades in 2012.
NORTHEASTERN TO HOST 2018 WHEA CHAMPS
Women's Hockey East Association Commissioner Joe Bertagna announced that Northeastern's Matthews Arena will serve as the host for the 2018 WHEA Championship, set for March 3-4. The tournament will decide the winner of the Bertagna Trophy and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
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