By Madeline Sattler, News Correspondent
The women’s hockey team is heading into playoffs after its best year in a decade. The Huskies finished the regular season with a 22-6-4 record, a Beanpot championship and the Women’s Hockey East Association (WHEA) regular season title.
“This season has been a pretty exciting one for us up to this point,” head coach David Flint said Tuesday in a teleconference with Hockey East coaches. “We’ve done a lot of great things.”
The Huskies will take on the Providence College Friars in the semifinal game of the Hockey East tournament Saturday, after earning a first round bye. The Huskies were 2-0-1 against Providence during the regular season.
“Providence is a well-coached team, and they always seem to be going during playoff time,” Flint said.
Since WHEA was founded 10 seasons ago, the Friars have made it to at least the semifinal game each year. They have three WHEA Championship titles.
The Hockey East semifinals and finals will be played at the Hyannis Youth and Community center on Cape Cod. This is the first time games will be played at a neutral site instead of the arena of the top-seeded team.
“I think the community of Hyannis and the women’s hockey community down on the Cape deserve this event,” Providence head coach Bob Deraney said.
Should the Huskies come out on top in Saturday’s game, they will play the winner of the semifinal match between the Boston College Eagles and the Boston University Terriers. The Huskies have never won the Hockey East tournament, whereas the Eagles and Terriers have each earned one title.
“I told my team the last week and a half that there are no easy games from here on out,” Flint said.
As the regular season came to an end, the Huskies’ hard work this season was not unnoticed by the hockey community.
Four players garnered WHEA postseason awards. Freshman forward Kendall Coyne was unanimously selected to the All-Rookie Team, which all eight Hockey East coaches vote on.
Junior forward Casey Pickett was voted Gladiator Best Defensive Forward for her play on the penalty kill unit. Pickett leads the nation with four shorthanded goals and has taken just nine penalties all season.
Junior forward Kelly Wallace won the Turfer Athletic Award, which is given to a player who demonstrates tenacity, commitment and innovation.
Senior goalie Florence Schelling was named WHEA Goaltending Champion. Schelling is also a finalist for WHEA Player of the Year, and the winner will be announced at a banquet dinner tomorrow night.
Northeastern will run a free shuttle bus for fans who wish to come support the Huskies this weekend. The shuttle will depart from Chicken Lou’s Saturday at 10 a.m., and arrive in Hyannis before noon for the 12:30 p.m. puck drop.
If Northeastern wins on Saturday, a bus will leave from Chicken Lou’s at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday to transport fans to the championship game.
“It’s a new season and if you lose, you go home,” Flint said. “So I think we’ll be prepared and ready to go.”
The Huskies are in contention to gain a bid to the NCAA tournament, sitting at No. 6 in the PairWise rankings. NCAA selections are March 4, and quarterfinals are March 9 and 10.
