PROVIDENCE – The Hockey East regular season champion Northeastern Huskies will look to book a place in the league title game for a third straight year when the WHEA semifinals commence Saturday against Providence at Schneider Arena. Puck drop is set for 1:35 p.m., while the second semifinal between Boston College and Boston University is set for 4:35 p.m.
QUICK HITS
• Northeastern locked up the 2019 Hockey East regular season title following a record-breaking league campaign that saw NU set new program bests for most wins in a WHEA season (21), most points in a WHEA campaign (45), and fewest losses in a WHEA slate (3).
• With a 25-5-5 overall record, NU has already compiled one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Huskies' 25 wins are tied for the sixth-most in a single season since the inception of the program in 1980. Since NU joined WHEA in 2002, only the 2015-16 team won more games (28) than this year's squad.
• In addition, Northeastern's five losses are the fewest in a single season for the program since the 1991-92 Huskies finished with a 20-5-2 overall record.
• The Huskies have been ranked No. 3 in both national polls for the last 11 weeks, despite playing the sixth-toughest schedule in the country according to USCHO.com. Northeastern is 5-3-2 against ranked opponents this season.
• Northeastern has been good on both sides of the puck this year, ranking first in Hockey East and sixth nationally in scoring offense with an average of 3.51 goals per game. The Huskies have scored at least three goals in 27 of 35 games.
• Defensively, Northeastern ranks third in Hockey East and eighth nationally with a 1.94 team goals against average. The Huskies have earned seven shutouts this season – the most for the program since posting eight shutouts in 2011-12 – and boast the No. 1 penalty kill in the NCAA at 90.2 percent.
• A unanimous WHEA All-Rookie Team selection, freshman
Alina Mueller has notched at least a point in 30 of 35 games this season, including all 10 games against ranked opponents. On Feb. 21, Mueller became the first freshman in program history (and 8th player overall) to be named a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
• In 19 league games this season, sophomore
Aerin Frankel led all WHEA netminders with a 1.59 GAA, a .938 save percentage, and a .917 winning percentage (16-1-1).
• Frankel's 16 WHEA wins represent a new single-season program record, surpassing the previous mark of 15 WHEA wins held by Schelling (2011-12) and
Brittany Bugalski (2015-16).
• In 26 total appearances, Frankel's 1.77 GAA ranks seventh in the NCAA, her .933 save percentage ranks 10th nationally, her .820 winning percentage (19-3-3) ranks fourth in the country, and her six shutouts position her second in the NCAA.
• With one more win, Frankel would become the ninth netminder in program history to win 20 or more games in a single season. With one more shutout, Frankel would become the third netminder in the NU record books to post at least seven shutouts in a single season, joining Erika Silva (9 shutouts in 1999-00) and Schelling (8 shutouts in 2011-12).
• Frankel is 6-0-0 lifetime in the WHEA tournament with a 1.17 GAA and a .952 save percentage in those games. Frankel was named the MVP of the 2018 Hockey East tournament after backstopping the fourth-seeded Huskies to the program's first WHEA tournament crown.
• SophomoreÂ
Skylar Fontaine is one of three defenders in the nation with 11 or more goals this season, joining BC's Megan Keller (19) and Robert Morris' Emily Curlett (11).
• With 32 points in 35 games, Fontaine ranks third in the NCAA in scoring among blue-liners. Fontaine's 32 points are also the most in a single season for any NU defender since Kim Greene put up 41 points in 2001-02.
• Fontaine's defense partner, sophomore
Brooke Hobson, has put up 26 points through her first 35 games. Hobson's 10 power-play assists are tied for the fourth most in the NCAA among defenders this season.
• Senior
Kasidy Anderson hit the 100-point plateau for her career with the only goal in a 1-0 win over Vermont on March 2. Anderson is the 30th player in program history to score at least 100 points, and is one of only five WHEA skaters with at least 20 goals this season.
• Senior
Tori Sullivan is also approaching the 100-point mark for her career. In 151 games at both BC and NU, Sullivan has racked up 97 points.
• Sophomore
Veronika Pettey is tied for the league lead and ranks second nationally in power-play goals with seven this season. Pettey has scored eight goals in her last 11 games entering the weekend.
• A unanimous member of the WHEA All-Rookie Team,
Chloe Aurard ranks second in the league in scoring (28 points) among freshman skaters. Aurard has 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.
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