By By Patrick McHugh, News Staff

For most teams, a record of 7-13-1 in conference and 12-20-3 does not immediately sound like a successful season. But for the women’s hockey team, records are deceiving.
Although the Huskies finished sixth out of eight teams in’ Hockey East last season, they earned a berth in the conference playoffs, their first appearance since 2004. They lost 2-1 to third-seeded Boston University Feb. 28 in the quarterfinals.
Junior forward Kristi Kehoe said last season’s playoff appearance helped build the team’s confidence.
‘As a team, we were satisfied with making it to the playoffs last year,’ Kehoe said. ‘Something we want to do this year is not only make it to playoffs, but make it further. I think every team has a chance to make it to the championship and take home the Hockey East banner.’
As a sophomore last season, Kehoe led the team in scoring for the second year in a row. Building off her freshman season in which she was named the team’s rookie of the year, Kehoe recorded 16 goals and nine assists last year for a total of 25 points.
These contributions were important to a Northeastern team that was outscored 82-63 and held without a tally in nine games in 2009-09. Despite these unbalanced statistics, a new alignment on the ice helped the team make improvements. Using three defensemen and two forwards in contrast to the three forward, two defensemen lineup most commonly found in hockey, NU surrendered 72 fewer goals than they did in 2007-08.
Dave Flint, the team’s head coach, will not coach the team this season as he works as an assistant coach for the US National Team as it plays in the Winter Olympics Feb. 12-18 in Vancouver, coinciding with the final two weeks of Northeastern’s season. Instead, Linda Lundrigan and Lauren McAuliffe were promoted from assistant coaches to interim co-head coaches. Flint will rejoin the team next season.
Lundrigan said she and McAuliffe were excited when they learned Flint left them charge of the team for the season.
‘Coach Flint feels confident we can handle the positions that we’re in,’ Lundrigan said. ‘Obviously we’re going to work together and communicate just like we ask our team to do to make sure everything is covered and we’re on the same page. We’re grateful for the opportunity.’
Lundrigan said a challenge for the recruiting staff will be fitting players into the appropriate spots on the ice, meaning the three defensemen system may not stay this year.
‘We’re going over our personnel and still figuring out what works best for us, so I don’t think that we’re necessarily set in stone on any system,’ Lundrigan said. ‘When you have new personnel you always have to re-evaluate where people fit, what roles they can play, how good they can adjust.’
Lundrigan and McAuliffe will be watching closely to see how the team’s freshmen class adjusts to college hockey play. The Huskies have eight newcomers, which Lundrigan said were part of a class crafted to improve the team’s offense. Some freshmen to watch include forward Kelly Wallace, whom Lundrigan said brings speed up front and ‘plays with tenacity.’ Forward Brittany Esposito has a ‘knack around the net,’ and Casey Pickett is ‘no sranger to scoring goals,’ Lundrigan said.
These young players will be led by tri-captains senior forward Annie Hogan, senior defensemen Katy Applin, and junior defensemen Julia Marty, whom McAuliffe said will be able to teach a lot to teammates.
The team’s hopes might ultimately rely on the most important position in hockey, the goaltender. Sophomore Florence Schelling posted an impressive .933 save percentage on her way to being named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team last season. Schelling, who is from Switzerland, will miss time to play for the Swiss National Team in the Olympics, although as McAuliffe said, the team is still in good position with junior Leah Sulyma between the pipes.
‘We had two pretty phenomenal goalies that really pushed each other, making it a non-issue,’ McAuliffe said. ‘One would step up one game and the next would step up the next game. We hope to see that continue this year.’
The Hockey East preseason coaches poll was announced Tuesday by Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna durng the coaches’ teleconference. Northeastern is predicted to finish sixth in the league, behind New Hampshire, Boston College, Boston University, Providence and Connecticut, and ahead of Vermont and Maine.
The team opens the season with two exhibition games this weekend:’ Saturday against Dawson and Sunday against McGill, both at 2 p.m. The games will be the first to be played at newly-renovated Matthews Arena.
The team will take part in the first women’s college hockey game played outdoors when it takes on the UNH at Fenway Park Jan. 8.
McAuliffe said she and her team are excited for the game and the significance of the event.
‘It’s a pretty big deal to showcase your women’s hockey team,’ McAuliffe said. ‘We’re just going to approach it and try to do our best to represent women’s, to represent Hockey East and make it a good experience for everyone involved.’