Last weekend the women’s hockey team split its series against Vermont. In the two games they scored four goals. Freshman forward Kristi Kehoe scored two of these and assisted on a third. Her performance earned her this week’s Northeastern News Player of the Week honors.

Despite facing some adjustments, Kehoe has thrived so far this season. She has a team-leading 25 points; 14 assists, which is also a team lead; and 11 goals, second on the team.

Being from Bakersfield, Calif., Kehoe has been forced to adapt not only to a different climate but also to a new work schedule. She chose to come to the east coast because of Northeastern’s history, and, she said, “it was time for something different.”

Every weekday, she arrives at the rink at 5:30 a.m. for a two-hour practice. She then kicks off a day of classes with her 8 a.m. athletic training class. But she said all the work is worth it.

“It’s an art,” Kehoe said of athletic training.

However, she said she felt blindsided at the start of the year, in comparison to her workload in high school.

She said her family has been extremely supportive, taking multiple trips to see her play.

“That has helped to make the adjustment to college easier,” she said.

Kehoe’s path to Northeastern began at the age of six when she started playing hockey. She started with roller hockey, then moved to the ice. Her first ice hockey team was a boys team; she was one of only two girls on the team.

She moved on to women’s hockey at age 11. In high school she once again joined the men’s team.

Kehoe made her presence felt immediately upon touching ice in Boston.

In her first game she scored a goal and was credited with two assists. For Kehoe, “it was the greatest feeling.”

At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Kehoe was seated next to senior captain Nikki Petrich.

“I was kind of shocked,” Kehoe said. “It was a big shocker to everyone, a freshman sitting in a spot that probably one of the upperclassmen would have taken. … [Petrich] has been such a positive influence on me.”

When in California, Kehoe followed the women’s Beanpot. When she got the opportunity to play in the historic tournament she said she was more nervous than she ever had been before a game.

“I can honestly say I’ve not been nervous before a game, I’ve always been excited to get into a game and play,” she said. “Before that Harvard game, I was waiting for them to call us onto the ice for warm-ups, [and] for warm-ups, I was sitting there shaking.”

The nervousness about playing in the Beanpot was compounded because of the opponent: top ranked Harvard.

Although Kehoe has a busy schedule filled with hockey and school, she finds time for other interests. Kehoe regularly attends Christian mass at a local church. She was involved with the women’s team’s Breast Cancer Awareness efforts. Kehoe is also a fan of reading and writing poetry, she said.

After college, Kehoe hopes to follow her dream and become a coach. Kehoe also plans to live in Boston, citing the weather, specifically snow, as one of the reasons.

“There is something different about the people here,” she said. “It’s so different from California, but the change is nice.”

– Nathan Vaughan,

News Correspondent