By James Duffy, news correspondent

When Northeastern University (NU) senior forward Kendall Coyne fired a power play goal past Mercyhurst University freshman goalie Kerri St. Denis on Oct. 17, she made history.

That goal was the 100th of her career, putting her on hallowed ice. Coyne became the second Husky to ever reach this mark, following in the footsteps of former NU Hall of Famer Hilary Witt, and the 17th woman in college hockey to reach that mark since 2000.

Coyne has firmly placed herself in elite company in women’s college hockey history. She scored a second goal against Mercyhurst, followed by a pair of goals against Providence College to bring her total to 103 goals. She now sits just 10 goals shy of Witt’s school record that was set in 2000.

Coyne acknowledged it was a huge milestone but was humble about the accomplishment.

“I could not have done it without my teammates and my coaches,” she said.

Head Coach Dave Flint had nothing but praise for Coyne and her importance to the team.

“She’s a tremendous leader and has a great work ethic,” he said. “She brings it every day, and it rubs off on the rest of the team.”

Flint mentioned that Coyne’s skill has always been prominent, but what has impressed him the most in years of coaching her is how well-rounded she has become.

Junior forward Hayley Scamurra echoed Flint’s thoughts on what Coyne means to this Northeastern team.

“She’s such a supportive player, she’s so humble and she always thinks about the team,” she said.

Scamurra also discussed Coyne’s influence, reflecting on the difficulty of the 2013-14 season when Coyne missed the season for the Olympics.

“She just makes the atmosphere so much more positive,” she said.

Scamurra noted her teammate’s selflessness on the ice — the two make up a dominant starting line for the Huskies.

“She probably wasn’t even thinking of herself on that [100th] goal,” Scamurra said.

As the team captain and leading scorer, Coyne has played a massive role in the success the Huskies have enjoyed so far this season. While she reached a big milestone, Coyne would not let her focus be swayed. It was business as usual this weekend for her and the team.

“I don’t really look at the personal milestones,” she said after Saturday’s rout of Boston University. “I’m more looking forward to the next game after a good win.”

Coyne was just a cog in the machine that cranked out a 7-1 win over the Terriers in Northeastern’s first Hockey East matchup of the season. With that win and a 4-0 shutout of Providence on Sunday, the Huskies improved to 6-1-1 on the season and 2-0 in Hockey East.

Sophomore forward Denisa Krizova had another big weekend for NU, tallying six points between the two games to lead the offense.

With assists from Krizova, Coyne found the back of the net twice on Sunday.

Freshman goalie Brittany Bugalski was strong in the back end. She stopped 29 of the 30 shots she faced against BU before blanking Providence to wrap up the weekend.

Following the philosophy of Coyne, the Huskies are looking ahead to their next conference game, a road contest with Merrimack College on Friday.
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics