Euro stars aid NU women’s fast start
As if winning the Hockey East playoff title last season wasn’t enough, the Northeastern women might be even better this time around. The fifth-ranked Huskies (11-1-2) are riding an 11-game unbeaten streak heading into tomorrow night’s home showdown with No. 4 Boston College (10-3-0), which has won 12 of its past 13.
“Well, I think that the young kids have acclimated pretty quick. The upperclassmen have played well. Our goaltending has been solid, and the team chemistry has been pretty good. So, when you throw all that together, your start can be pretty good,’’ said Northeastern coach Dave Flint, who has the luxury of rotat- ing sophomore Aerin Frankel (6-1-0, 0.72 goals-against average, .972 save percentage) and senior Brittany Bugalski (5-0-2, 1.96, .926) between the pipes.
Flint has a diverse roster, with players from 12 different states, including five from Illinois. He also has Huskies from three Canadian provinces and two European countries. The two Euro skaters, both freshmen forwards — Alina Mueller of Switzerland and Chloe Aurard of France — are among the most accomplished players in the world.
“They are rookies by virtue of its their first year, but hockey-wise, they’re not really rookies. I mean, Alina has been to two Olympics. They play well together, and I think that (senior) Kasidy Anderson has brought that line together. No question they are our go-to line, but we’ve been getting timely goalscoring elsewhere, as well,’’ Flint said.
The 5-foot-5 Mueller (nine goals, 12 assists) hails from Winterthur and played in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics. She won a bronze medal for Switzerland at the 2014 Sochi Games, becoming the youngest player (15) in Olympic history to win an ice hockey medal. This year, she led the 2018 PyeongChang Games in scoring.
Aurard (seven goals, 12 assists) has helped the French national team gain promotion to Division 1 for the 2019 world championships.
“The kids see how hard they work, and it’s infectious. It carries over to practices,’’ Flint said.
BC garnered most of the notoriety in the past decade by virtue of eight straight 20-win campaigns, eight consecutive NCAA appearances and boasting the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner in Daryl Watts (eight goals).
“On paper, they have a team that can’t lose a game, but obviously the games aren’t played on paper,” Flint said. “”What I tell our kids is that we can beat anybody else if we play hard, but if we don’t play hard, anybody else can beat us, too.”
Quiz of the Week
Two former Bruins led the NCAA in shorthanded goals in 1995 and 1997. Who are they? Answer below.
Tip o’ the hat
Trinity senior Ryan Pfeffer of Canton erupted for four goals and an assist in a 6-4 win against Aurora . ...
University of New England senior captain Brady Fleurent registered eight points (three goals) in wins against Bowdoin and Southern Maine . ...
Quinnipiac’s Odeen Tufto had six points (three goals) in a sweep of Maine . ...
Southern New Hampshire junior goalie Kurt Gutting of Weymouth made 54 saves to stun Umass-Boston, 2-1 . ...
Becker’s Julia Johnson turned aside 50 shots in a 2-2 tie against Johnson and Wales.
Aiello mixes it up
A hat trick by Saint Anselm junior forward Troy Aiello featured even-strength, shorthanded, and empty-net tallies ... Johnson and Wales blanked Assumption, 1-0, behind 38 saves from senior Tyler Ellor . ... Harvard’s line of freshman Kristin Della Rovere (goal, two assists) senior captain Lexie Laing (goal, three assists) of Marblehead, and junior Kat Hughes (goal, two assists) were on fire in a 7-3 win against Holy Cross.
Quiz answer
Michigan State’s Anson Carter had seven shorties in 1995, and Miami (Ohio)’s Randy Robitaille had seven in 1997. Drop the puck!