BOSTON -- Northeastern Athletics continued to accelerate competitive excellence in 2018-19 with one of the most successful seasons in school history, finishing 15th in the nation among Division I AAA institutions in the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup standings, highlighting Northeastern's unparalleled and widespread accomplish­ments.
 
Northeastern finished third among all schools in the CAA, behind only James Madison and Towson, and placed 141st overall among all Division I schools.
 
The 2018-19 season was another one for the record books on Huntington Avenue, with student-athletes from each Division I program combining to earn a total of 72 trophies and conference awards. From a CAA men's basketball title to the third NCAA men's hockey appearance in the last four seasons to back-to-back women's Hockey East crowns, there was no shortage of celebration and accomplishment for the Howlin' Huskies. 
 
Northeastern finished the 2018-19 season with five conference championships in men's basketball, men's ice hockey, women's ice hockey, women's rowing and men's track and field as well as a regular season title in women's ice hockey. In addition, eight teams competed at their respective national championships, the most in school history.
 
Picked as the favorite in the CAA for the first time since 2014-15, men's basketball battled injuries throughout the season and still managed to finish in the top two in the conference for the third straight season. Paced by First Team All-CAA selection Vasa Pusica, the Huskies ended the regular season with wins in 13 of their last 15 games, and continued their hot play into the conference tournament to capture the CAA title and return to the NCAA tournament for the ninth time in team history. Northeastern earned a 13-seed in the NCAA tournament, where it faced basketball powerhouse Kansas in Salt Lake City. Under the direction of head coach Bill Coen, Northeastern reached 20 victories in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1985-86 and 1986-87. 
 
Coming off its first Hockey East tournament title a season ago, women's ice hockey came back hungry for more in 2018-19 as the Huskies looked to continue to cement themselves as one of the top teams in the NCAA. This year's group rewrote the Northeastern record books, going 25-5-5 in the regular season to lock up the 2019 Hockey East regular season crown for the second time in team history before repeating as conference tournament champions with a thrilling overtime victory over rival Boston College. Northeastern went on to host an NCAA game for the first time in school history.
 
Hockey East Rookie of the Year Alina Mueller recorded 51 points, the second most of any freshman in program history, becoming the first freshman in team history to be named a Patty Kazmaier top ten finalist, while Hockey East Goaltender of the Year Aerin Frankel went 21-4-3 with a 1.81 goals against average that ranked 11th in the NCAA. Dave Flint was named the Hockey East Coach of the Year for the second time after leading Northeastern to its most wins in league play (21) in the Hockey East era. 
 
Despite losing its three top scorers to the NHL, men's ice hockey reloaded in 2018-19, solidifying its place as one of the nation's most elite teams. Using a combination of scoring depth, staunch defense and the best goaltender in the NCAA, the Huskies won a program-record 27 games, highlighted by the team's second straight Beanpot title on the back of tournament MVP and Eberly Award winner Cayden Primeau. Northeastern used the Beanpot as a springboard to victories in 11 of 12 games to capture its second Hockey East tournament championship since 2016 and return to the NCAA tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.
 
For the sixth consecutive year, the Northeastern women's rowing team is the champions of the CAA. The Huskies collected wins in the second varsity and third varsity and took second in the first varsity and varsity four to secure their ninth conference crown in the last 11 seasons and secure the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, where the Huskies finished 19th overall. Adrienne Orriols, Clara Karastury, Monica McEwan and Hannah Siemens collected CAA All-Conference accolades. 
 
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.  Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships, and is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men's and women's, in which all sports that the NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA offers a championship, along with Division IA football, and all student-athletes that compete in those sports, are treated equally.