By Jared Shafran

This past Tuesday, the women’s hockey team took on Quinnipiac for the second time this season and came away with a huge victory. Scoring a goal with less than a minute left, the Huskies secured their second win of the season 3-2.

A big contributor to the victory was junior forward Ali Bielawski. She got on the board with her first goal of the season and it proved to be an important one in the win. Her performance has earned her this week’s Northeastern News Player of the Week honors.

Having lost their previous battle with Quinnipiac Oct. 12, the Huskies were out to prove they were the better team and they did just that.

“We wanted to win this one more,” Bielawski said. “We were focused more on the game.”

By scoring the first goal of the game, the team got off to a positive start and it carried them through regulation play. As for Bielawski, she said it was nice to get her first goal, but she wouldn’t have netted it without the team effort.

Hailing from Needham, Bielawski decided to come to Northeastern on the advice of her sister, Ashley, who played for the women’s hockey team from 2004-07. Ashley is still at Northeastern as a senior but has already skated her four seasons.

“It seemed like a great opportunity,” Bielawski said. “I like Boston a lot and my sister really likes it here.”

When she isn’t skating for the Huskies, Bielawski, a finance major, focuses on her work. She will start her first co-op in the spring and said she is excited about it. Although she doesn’t know what she wants to do after graduation, she said she is sure something in the realm of finance will catch her interest.

Bielawski described her goals for the season as simple.

“I really just want to go out there and play my best,” she said.

As for the team, Bielawski, along with the rest of her teammates, realize they need to start winning more.

“I really think it is possible for us to be .500,” she said. “Recently, they added more teams to the Hockey East playoff field and we definitely can get in there.”

Bielawski describes the team as unconventional as far as their pregame preparation.

“Personally, I play better when I am not too focused,” Bielawski said.

She said the team has a relaxed atmosphere coming into the game and try to keep it simple.

“During warm-ups I can get rid of any nerves,” she said.

For the future, the team is looking to build on this weekend’s win and get a couple more victories under its belt.

“It is good to remember what it feels like to win instead of losing all the time,” Bielawski said.

– Jared Shafran,

News Correspondent