By Kathryn Uggerholt, News Staff
Many great women’s hockey players that have won the Beanpot, Olympic gold medals and World Championship gold medals have skated on the ice at historic Matthews Arena.
Next Saturday, the female skaters who call Matthews their home will take the national spotlight. The No. 7 Northeastern women’s hockey team will face the University of New Hampshire at home on ESPN3 at 2 p.m., for the first broadcast of women’s college hockey on the ESPN network.
The lineup of the women proudly donning the Huskies jersey is full of talent that is destined to do the same when they finish dominating Hockey East on a weekly basis.
Led by tri-captains graduate student Dani Rylan, senior Stephanie Gavronsky and junior Casey Pickett, the Huskies sit atop Hockey East with a 8-2-1 record (14-5-1 overall). They broke into the United States College Hockey Organization’s D1 Women’s poll Oct. 10 at No. 8. Since then, they haven’t dropped out of the top 10 since and now sit at No. 7.
“It’s something that we’re all really proud of,” Pickett said. “Seven’s great, but we’re really aiming for five or four so we’re a little bit safer come playoff time. But it’s definitely something we’re all really proud of.”
The team also ranks nationally for special teams and individuals. Its penalty kill ability currently ranks 4th in the nation. Senior goaltender and Swiss Olympian Florence Schelling’s save percentage has her tied for 5th in the nation. Additionally, three players, freshman Kendall Coyne and juniors Brittany Esposito and Pickett, are among the list of the leading scorers nationwide.
With ESPN’s first broadcast of a women’s college hockey game, the prominence as a women’s sport is recognized.
“Women’s ice hockey has seen a tremendous growth in our country,” Justine Seigal, director of sports partnerships at Sport in Society said in a phone interview Tuesday. “New England is leading the way for hockey, but you see it in the Midwest and other areas of the country as well.”
Seigal called Northeastern a pioneer with itswomen’s hockey program. She said their presence and success this season has visible effects in women’s hockey and in the Boston community.
“The more women’s sports are given the same coverage as men’s sports, you’ll see fans come. It’s about awareness and letting people know these are athletes that can play,” Seigal said.
Women’s ice hockey has been a varsity sport at Northeastern since 1980. Hockey East inaugurated the sport for the 2002-03 season. That first season, the Huskies finished with a 9-18-4 record (4-10-1 overall) and struggled up until recently.
Since Northeastern hired current head coach Dave Flint in 2008, the team has done nothing but improve. The Huskies soon found themselves being able to preface their name with a title such as “No. 7” in the 2009-10 season, where they often ranked on USCHO’s weekly polls.
That season of success could have been due in part to the addition behind the bench of assistant coach and alumnus Hilary Witt, Northeastern Women’s ice hockey all-time leading scorer. Witt joined fellow alumnus and former player Linda Lundrigan, who is in her ninth year of assistant coaching.
The following 2010-11 season the Huskies did not finish ranked, though they were throughout the season, but did reach the Women’s Hockey East Championship game for the first time since 2002.
Under Flint’s reign, the team has made the playoffs each season and this year’s squad has the potential to get into the NCAA Tournament, and hopefully, its first Beanpot win since 1998.
As much as the team has been changing – whether it is the roster, the rankings or the standings – the women’s hockey program is only getting bigger for the university.
“I’d like to say that we’re trying to build a role,” Pickett said. “I don’t think people pay too much attention to us right now, but I think that if we keep winning we’ll get a little bit more respect and more fans. That just comes with building the program.”
The team’s record is proof of their hard work on and off the ice.
“[The fan base of women’s hockey] not as big as you’d want it to be, but it’s definitely growing,” Esposito said. “We’re just always willing to compete. Even when we’re down, we always get back into the game. We never quit.”
Pickett calls her teammates “hardworking” and always wanting to push themselves both on and off the ice.
“We’re all really competitive and we’re all looking for that first line, that first power play, that first [penalty kill],” she said. “It kind of pushes everyone to work their hardest both on and off the ice. To be able to play, academically you have to push yourself so that you’re eligible to be on the ice.”
To prove how much bigger the role of the women’s team is gaining at Northeastern, Esposito pointed out the program’s growth is evident through recognition from ESPN to be included next weekend.
Northeastern has previously had games broadcast on NESN locally, but the team is excited for the national stage to give people the opportunity who cannot be at the game in person.
“It’s just a great thing in general for women’s hockey to get our games played,” Pickett said. “We’ve only had, in my three years, two games shown on TV and there’s been really good feedback about those and I hope it’s the same thing with these.”
