BOSTON— Powered by a five-point effort and hat trick from graduate student
Alina Mueller, the No. 5 Northeastern women's hockey team defeated the 10th-seeded Merrimack Warriors, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
Graduate student
Alina Mueller set a Hockey East tournament scoring record with her first goal of the game, passing former Husky great
Skylar Fontaine. Mueller now has 30 points in Hockey East tournament games. Additionally, the Winterthur, Switzerland native tied Kendall Coyne Schofield's program record and she now has 249 career points. Mueller's hat trick against the Warriors was just the 10th-ever Hockey East playoff hat trick. Muller's five points tie her career-high and mark the third time in her career she has recorded a five-point effort.
Graduate student
Chloé Aurard tallied three points to reach the 200-point milestone against the Warriors. The Huskies now have three active 200-point scorers in Aurard, Mueller and graduate student
Maureen Murphy. Aurard is just the fourth Northeastern player to reach 200 points in their career with the Huskies.
Senior
Katy Knoll also reached a milestone, becoming the 34th player in program history to reach 100 career points.
- Mueller got things started for Northeastern just 2:31 into the game, cleaning up her own shot for her first tally. Her linemates Murphy and Aurard picked up assists on the goal.
- Mueller's second of the game came at the 7:51 mark, burying a shot from the right circle, with passes from graduate student Maude Poulin-Labelle and Aurard. Mueller's eventual game-winner gives her nine on the season, which is tied to lead the NCAA.
- Northeastern held a 2-0 lead through a scoreless second frame and added on three goals in the final period, including two power-play tallies.
- Aurard's goal under five minutes into the last stanza counted as her 200th career point. She had assists from Mueller and freshman Jules Constantinople.
- The final two Husky goals both came on the power-play after Northeastern went on the player advantage for five minutes. Sophomore Skylar Irving got the first power-play goal with assists from Mueller and Knoll. Knoll's assist counted as her 100th career point.
- Mueller then got her hat trick, the third of her career, with just over five minutes left to play in the game. Knoll and Murphy recorded assists for the Huskies.
- Merrimack was able to make the final score 5-1 after scoring on the power-play at the 17:52 mark.
- Senior netminder Gwyneth Philips recorded her 31st win of the season, making 17 saves against the Warriors. Senior Megan Carter led all Huskies with three blocks.
The Huskies advance in the Hockey East playoffs and will host fourth-seeded Boston College in a Semifinal in Matthews Arena on Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
