Freshman goalie Florence Schelling’ has made 125 saves in her last three games, including a career high of 53 at Providence Friday.
Schelling has shined despite splitting time with sophomore Leah Sulyma. Her performance has earned her this week’s Huntington News Player of the Week honors and she was also honored as the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Schelling is a native of Oberengstringen, Switzerland.’ In her native country she played for the national team since the age of 13. She got this chance because of a few injuries.
‘I had the chance that a few goalies were injured and they called me up,’ she said. ‘And I never had to leave.’
She took advantage of this opportunity and hasn’t looked back since.
In Switzerland, she was the first woman to ever play in the Swiss Men’s National B League, when she played for the ZSC Lions.’ She is still the only woman to have played in the league. Schelling said she hopes to compete in the Olympic Games next year for Switzerland.
Schelling’ said she started playing hockey at age 4. She got her start when her older brothers, 6 and 8, decided to throw her in net and shoot at her.’ She said she is an athletic person and is successful in many other sports. She also enjoys golf, swimming, tennis and squash.
This season she has appeared in 16 games (15 starts) and posted a 1.99 goals-against-average and .940 save percentage. Her goals-against-average and save percentage are sixth and second, respectively, in Hockey East.
Schelling said she chose Northeastern for a variety of reasons. She said she loved the atmosphere of a large city.’ She also said she felt Northeastern had a good academic basis, especially with the co-op program. She said she had good chemistry with the team when she visited NU.
‘ ‘They asked me if I would want to come here,’ she said. ‘So I was looking at the school and the reason I think I came here is Boston. I love being in a big city. Then the thing with the co-op, I love that idea. Last but not least the team. The two days I was with them, I enjoyed my time here and I thought it would be a great place to play.’
Schelling is a self-described ‘competition junky.’ She said she loves competition and always feels a drive to work harder.
English is her third language, behind her primary language German, and French. Schelling said the language barrier is an obstacle, but she has proved capable of overcoming it. The business major said she has also had to adjust to the schoolwork and heavier workload that college entails.
‘ ‘- Nathan Vaughan,
News Staff