Howlin' Huskies in Ireland videos: Dublin Sights and Sounds |
From Dublin to Belfast |
Belfast Sights and Sounds
BELFAST, Northern Ireland – No. 3 Northeastern and No. 5 Clarkson will make history this weekend when the teams take part in the inaugural Ulster University Friendship Series, the first-ever NCAA Division I women's ice hockey games to be played outside of North America.
• This will be the second time a Northeastern team has represented Hockey East in Belfast; the Huskies' men's hockey team participated in the 2015 Friendship Four and posted a 1-1 record with a win over Colgate and a loss against UMass Lowell.
• The defending Hockey East champion Huskies enter the weekend ranked No. 3 in the NCAA, which represents Northeastern's highest mark since the end of the 2001-02 season, NU's final season in the ECAC.
• Northeastern is 3-1-0 against top-10 opponents in 2018-19. The Huskies split with No. 8/7 Colgate on Oct. 12-13, defeated No. 10 Maine on Oct. 19, and downed No. 4 Boston College in overtime on Nov. 27.
• The Huskies are 3-4-1 all-time against the Golden Knights. The teams met twice last season at Matthews Arena, playing to a 1-1 tie and a 5-1 Clarkson win. Northeastern's most recent win over Clarkson came on Jan. 4, 2013 (4-3).
• NU owns the No. 4 scoring offense (3.53 goals per game) and the No. 5 scoring defense (1.65 goals against per game) in the NCAA. The Huskies have scored at least three goals in each of the last nine games and have allowed three goals or less in 15 of 17 contests this season.
• Northeastern is 12-1-0 when scoring the first goal this season, compared to 1-1-2 when conceding first. In addition, the Huskies are 12-0-0 when leading after two periods this year and are 148-7-8 when leading after 40 minutes in the 10 seasons that head coach
Dave Flint has been in charge of the program.
• Sophomore goaltender
Aerin Frankel leads the NCAA in goals against average (1.00) and save percentage (.964), and is tied for the national lead in shutouts (5). Frankel has been named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week three times already this season, and was also honored as the National Goaltender of the Month for October as well as the Hockey East Player of the Month for October.
• Freshman forward
Alina Mueller currently leads all NCAA rookies in goals (12), assists (14), points (26), power-play points (9), and game-winning goals (3). Mueller is riding a 16-game point-streak entering the weekend, which represents the longest scoring streak of any player in the NCAA this season.
• Mueller and fellow freshman
Chloe Aurard (22 points) are the top two rookie scorers in the NCAA this season. Aurard has notched points in nine of her last 10 games – including seven multi-point efforts. After combining for 29 points during the month of November, Aurard and Mueller were named Co-Rookies of the Month in Hockey East. Both players notched at least a point in all seven November contests.
• Sophomore
Veronika Pettey became the third Husky to hit the 20-point mark this season when she scored the game-winning goal in NU's most recent game, a 3-0 win over Holy Cross on Dec. 2. Northeastern, Clarkson and Boston College are the only three teams in the country with at least three 20-point scorers so far this year.
• Senior
Kasidy Anderson continues to inch closer to the 100-point plateau for her career. Anderson enters the weekend with 81 collegiate points and has notched at least a point in eight of her last nine games overall.
• Sophomore
Brooke Hobson ranks second in the NCAA in points per game among defenders with a 0.88 clip. Hobson has tallied three goals and 12 assists in 17 games, which ties her freshman year scoring output of 15 points in 39 games.
• Senior goaltender
Brittany Bugalski needs one more win to move into sole possession of third place on NU's all-time wins list. Bugalski has amassed 55 collegiate victories during her time at Northeastern, tied with Chloe Desjardins for third in the record books. Only Erika Silva (61) and Shannon Meyers (57) have won more games in a Huskies' uniform.
