BOSTON – The No. 3 Northeastern women's hockey team will wrap up the season series against Providence this weekend when the Huskies take on the Friars for a home-and-home affair, starting Saturday at Schneider Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday's home game will also begin at 2 p.m. and will be televised live on NESN.
QUICK HITS
• No. 3 Northeastern can clinch the outright Hockey East regular season title with a win or tie (or a BC loss/tie) this weekend. With a point, NU would lock up the outright regular season crown for the second time in program history (2012).
• At 19-2-2 in WHEA play, Northeastern has already clinched a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 overall seed in the league playoffs. The Huskies will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series on March 1-3 at Matthews Arena.
• With a win this weekend, the Huskies would hit 20 Hockey East victories for the second time in program history. The 2015-16 squad finished 20-4-0 in league play en route to an NCAA tournament appearance.
• A point this weekend would break NU's program record for most points in a Hockey East season. The Huskies currently have 40 points in the league standings, which matches the program record set by the 2015-16 team.
• Northeastern will put its 12-game home winning streak on the line Sunday vs. Providence. This is only the third time in program history that NU has posted a 12-game home winning streak in a single season: the 1983-84 team won 13 straight home games, while the 1987-88 squad won 21 straight home games.
• Ranked No. 3 for the eighth straight week, the Huskies are 5-3-2 in games against ranked opponents this season, and 6-3-3 vs. teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the polls.
• NU owns the top scoring offense in Hockey East (and fifth-best offense in the nation) at 3.55 goals per game. The Huskies have scored at least two goals in all but one game this season – the Beanpot consolation game on Tuesday vs. BC.
• Northeastern boasts the top-ranked penalty kill in the NCAA at 90.5%. Since the start of 2019, the Huskies have held their opponents to only three power-play goals, negating 36 of 39 opportunities over 12 games (92.3%).
• The Huskies lead the nation in goals scored during the final two minutes (18:00 - 20:00) of a period with 26. No other team in the country has scored more than 21 total goals in the final two minutes of a period this season.
• Northeastern is 18-1-1 this season when scoring first, compared to 3-3-3 when its opponent scores first. The Huskies are 13-1-1 when leading after the first period and 17-0-1 when holding a lead after two periods of play.
• The Huskies defeated the Friars, 2-0, in the first meeting between the teams on Oct. 26 at Matthews Arena. Sophomore
Aerin Frankel pitched a 31-save shutout, while junior
Andrea Renner and freshman
Alina Mueller provided the goals.
• Mueller was named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week in Hockey East for the fourth time this season on Monday. The two-time Olympian racked up five points in two games last week, including a goal, an assist and a shootout goal in Tuesday's Beanpot opener vs. BU.
• Mueller continues to lead all WHEA freshmen in goals (16), assists (26), points (42), power-play points (12), game-winning goals (5), plus/minus (+27), shots on goal (107) and faceoff wins (287). The Patty Kazmaier Award candidate has notched points in 26 of 29 games this season, including at least a point in all 10 games against ranked opponents.
• With a team-high 42 points this season, Mueller is the first NU freshman since
Kendall Coyne in 2011-12 to record at least 40 points in a year. Mueller is also one of 10 freshmen in program history to rack up 40 or more points in their rookie season.
• Sophomore goaltender
Aerin Frankel ranks third in the NCAA with a 1.67 goals against average, and ranks fifth in the NCAA with a .938 save percentage. At 16-2-2 overall, Frankel's .850 winning percentage ranks third nationally, while her five shutouts are tied for third in the NCAA.
• Frankel has been even tougher in Hockey East play, owning a 15-0-0 record with a 1.33 GAA and a .948 save percentage in WHEA games.
• Sophomore
Veronika Pettey leads the Huskies and is tied for first nationally with seven power-play goals this season. Pettey has scored in each of the last three games and has potted six goals in her last five contests overall, including her first collegiate hat trick on Jan. 26 against Vermont.
• Sophomores
Brooke Hobson (23 points) and
Skylar Fontaine (22 points) rank second and third in scoring among Hockey East defenders this season. Hobson's nine power-play assists are tied for the league lead among blue-liners, while Fontaine's +33 rating and 93 shots on goal both rank second among WHEA defenders.
• Senior
Kasidy Anderson scored her 50th collegiate goal in Northeastern's 6-3 win over Merrimack on Feb. 8. Anderson is the 22nd player in program history to reach the milestone and first since
McKenna Brand last season.
• Anderson has recorded at least a point in 18 of her last 21 games, including four straight contests entering the weekend. With an assist on Tuesday against Boston College, Anderson hit 30 points in a season for the first time in her collegiate career.
• Both Anderson and senior
Tori Sullivan are approaching 100 points for their careers. Anderson has 95 points in 141 games, while Sullivan has 94 points in 146 games at both NU and BC.
• Freshman
Chloe Aurard ranks second among WHEA rookies with 27 points this season. Of those 27 points, 26 have come against league opponents.
• Aurard has also shown a tendency to score in big situations, potting the game-tying goal with 1:21 remaining in the third period of a 5-4 OT win against BC on Nov. 27, as well as the game-tying goal with 1:36 remaining in the third period of a 2-1 OT victory at UConn on Feb. 1.
• Aurard has piled up a team-high eight points (three goals, five assists) in the final five minutes of the third period this season, while her 13 total third-period points rank as the second-most on the team behind Mueller's 15.
• Junior
Andrea Renner scored her ninth goal of the season (29 games) on Feb. 8 against Merrimack. Prior to her junior campaign, Renner had scored nine total goals in her first two collegiate seasons (69 games). Four of Renner's nine goals this season have been game-winners.
• Freshman
Miceala Sindoris notched her first collegiate goal (the eventual game-winning goal) on Feb. 8 against Merrimack. Sindoris is the 15th different Husky to score this season and the 11th different player to score a game-winning goal for NU in 2018-19.
• Head coach
Dave Flint enters the weekend with 196 career wins at Northeastern. With four more victories, Flint would become the second head coach in program history to eclipse 200 wins on Huntington Avenue (Don MacLeod won 210 games from 1981-92).
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