By Jared Sugerman
After a 7-24-3 season, 6-14-1 in conference play, and a sixth-place finish in Hockey East, the women’s hockey team finished up the season near the bottom of the Hockey East ladder. But, the team seems to have begun its ascent.
After finishing the 2006-07 season with a record of 5-26-2 (4-15-2), the Huskies were able to take two more victories in conference play during the 2007-08 season, thus adding to their overall win total.
Twice they defeated Boston College, winning 3-2 at Conte Forum Jan.17 and taking a 3-1 decision when the Eagles visited Matthews Arena as the No. 9 team in the nation Dec. 8.
Sweet as it may have been for Northeastern to take two out of three games from its cross-town rivals during the regular season, those victories underscore one of the difficulties that plagued head coach Laura Schuler and her staff throughout the season.
“We’re young, and one of the hardest things with having a young team is being consistent,” Schuler said. “When you look at some of the great teams that have done some unbelievable things, they’ve had a lot of juniors and seniors on their teams.”
The wins against BC, and the way the team battled Harvard before going down 3-1 in the first round of the Beanpot exemplified what the Huskies were capable of doing against teams ranked in the top 10. But a loss at Vermont (8-25-1) Feb. 22 left Northeastern with no hope of making the Hockey East playoffs, as well as two losses to Maine (4-27-3), proved that the Huskies were no more than an at-times dangerous underdog.
There is reason to believe that the Huskies could be much more than that next season, though. Freshman goalie Leah Sulyma (.913 save percentage, 939 total saves) and freshman Kristi Kehoe (25 points) headline the members of this year’s team eligible to return for the 2008-09 campaign.
The Huskies will also welcome the addition of freshmen-to-be Florence Schelling, a goaltender, and defensemen Sam Watt and Stephanie Gavronsky.
“We’re excited about the kids that we’re bringing in. We have three incredible prospects,” Schuler said.
Schelling played for the Swiss Olympic team in 2006, and Watt starred on defense for Canada’s U-18 national team. Gavronsky, one of the top scoring defenseman in the Alberta Midget League, should bolster Northeastern’s blue-line and help transform the Huskies’ roster by allowing Schuler to move junior-to-be Lindsay Berman from defense to her natural position of forward.
However, Northeastern will take the ice next season without senior captain Nikki Petrich, who did more than score 40 goals and 43 assists in her four years as a Husky.
“I can’t say enough good things about [Petrich],” Schuler said. “We’re so lucky that we had her to lead the team because our leaders to come after her will have learned a great deal from her to help keep the program moving forward.”
