By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff
After an 8-1 combined weekend record, the Huskies found themselves sitting nationally ranked and recognized with Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and Hockey East weekly awards.
The men’s hockey team followed, knocking off then-No. 19 Merrimack College on Oct. 10 by stunning the then-No. 1 and reigning national champions Boston College Eagles on Saturday with a 3-1 win. The two wins over ranked teams propelled them from unranked – having only received six votes in Oct. 8’s United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) Poll – to No. 14 this week. The Huskies just missed the top-15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, receiving 49 votes behind No. 15 Northern Michigan’s 52.
“The rankings are the rankings,” head coach Jim Madigan. “It’s a nice number early in the year, but it’s not something we’re really, quite frankly, focused on. We have such a long way to go. It’s nice to be recognized that we’ve had a good start, but theres 32 to more games to go and i’m more worried about the rankings come late-March, April.”
This national ranking is the first time the Huskies have been ranked since Oct. 12, 2009. The last time the Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 start was the 1999 season, which earned the team Hockey East Team of the Week.
The conference also recognized freshman forward Kevin Roy as Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. After his first two collegiate games, Roy has already tallied three points (2 goals, 1 assist).
Off the women’s bench, Women’s Hockey East recognized the superb play of sophomores Chloe Desjardins and Kendall Coyne for the second straight week.
Goalie Desjardins was named WHEA Defensive Player of the Week for her second shutout of the season against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Saturday at Matthews. Forward Coyne, who currently leads the team with points (eight), was named Athletic Republic Player of the Week.
The team’s 2-0 weekend also earned them WHEA Team of the Week Honors.
The CAA also recognized strong efforts by Huskies on the the soccer pitch.
Men’s soccer senior forward Don Anding was named CAA Player of the Week after a four-point week against University of Delaware and Georgia State University. Anding leads the Huskies with nine goals (seven assists).
Anding was also named to College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week.
Redshirt sophomore Hannah O’Donnell’s three goal weekend earned her women’s soccer CAA Player of the Week. She was responsible for both game winners in the Huskies’ wins over Towson University on Friday and George Mason University on Sunday.
Even teams not yet into their preseason schedule couldn’t escape the limelight. At CAA Basketball Media Day, the men’s and women’s basketball team were recognized with preseason laurels.
Men’s basketball senior guards Jon Lee, Joel Smith and sophomore forward Quincy Ford were named to All-CAA teams, while the team was picked to finish fifth in the conference.
From the women’s side, senior guard Deanna Kerkhof and junior forward/center Jewel Tustull were tabbed with Preseason First-Team All-Conference and Preseason All-Conference Honorable Mention respectively.
To cap off the the week’s award, the field hockey team picked up a sixth consecutive week in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll with a 10th place finish in Tuesday’s poll.
