Just because there isn’t any ice down at Matthews Arena over the summer doesn’t mean the members of the Northeastern men’s hockey team have taken any time off. Eight players participated in various NHL development camps during the summer.
In the convoluted world of college hockey recruiting, not only coaches have to contend with each other, but with semi-professional junior leagues and the NHL's farm system. When college teams make offers to prospective student-athletes, usually all three of these things happen: The recruit must believe that college is the right path, the offer must be agreeable and the recruit must be content to play for a specific university team. Often the decision to commit to a school is final, barring a move out of college hockey altogether.
After an up-and-down 2009 season with two extended winning streaks and two extended losing streaks, the field hockey team is looking to put forth a more consistent effort this season to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.
“Our goal is to win the CAA [Colonial Athletic Association] and be competitive in every game we play,” said Cheryl Murtagh, who is entering her 23rd season as head coach. “We are a year older and the kids have been doing great things in summer leagues this year training towards making a run at the title.”
Former Husky hoop star Matt Janning has put together an impressive two-week campaign in the NBA Summer League, and caught the attention of several professional organizations. The sharpshooter received training camp offers from the Boston Celtics, the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers.
After leading the men’s hockey team with 17 goals in his senior year, forward Kyle Kraemer helped the United States Inline Hockey team to a World Championship in Karlstad, Sweden.
Kraemer netted a pair of goals in the gold-medal game, in which the US beat the Czech Republic team 4-3 on July 4.
Head coach Greg Cronin values his building and the fans that come to fill it. The men’s hockey schedule for the upcoming year was released in June and the 35-game slate includes 18 contests at Matthews Arena this winter.
There are all sorts of reasons to schedule one opponent in place of another. What conference they’re in, where the game will be played and the impact the game will have on Northeastern’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) are all important factors to consider before scheduling a game.
But what Cronin said he cared about most weren’t the opponents. He wanted more games at Matthews and no games over school breaks. He cares about the students. Cronin is trying his best to maximize the home ice advantage that Matthews Arena gives his Huskies.
“You definitely have to be motivated,” former Northeastern shot putter Nate Hunter said. “If you’re not, you’re never going to reach the next level. Sometimes things get frustrating, but you need to be motivated to accomplish the impossible.”
Though not quite as dramatic as pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, we're now in the pre-season training portion of the fall college sports calendar. That's good, because all that World Cup knowledge I've acquired in the past month was starting to scare me. We're less than three months away from a pre-season hockey game and less than four months away from the annual basketball intra-squad scrimmage.
“I think winning the CAA [Colonial Athletic Association] is the minimum accomplishment this season,” senior captain and outside hitter Caitlin Tittl of the volleyball team said. “There are no excuses this year, we have to do it.”
Men’s hockey head coach Greg Cronin released the team’s schedule for the 2010-11 season last week. For the second time in three years, the team will face cross-town rival Boston College (BC) in the Huskies' home opener Oct. 9.
The last time this happened, Oct. 18, 2008, BC was the reigning national college hockey champion and ranked No. 1 overall for the new season. The Huskies prevailed in that game, getting the final goal from forward Joe Vitale in the third period to win 4-3. NU went 25-12-4 that season and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.
Last year, the Northeastern men's basketball team had a lot to be thankful for. It won 20 games, finished as one of the best teams in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), and made some noise in the postseason by nearly defeating perennial power Connecticut in the opening game of the National Invitational Tournament.
But the attitude around the program has changed, largely because of its new fan section: The N-Zone.
Northeastern is serious about the "student" in student-athlete.
Four NU athletic programs were publicly recognized by the NCAA for their multiyear academic progress rate (APR), which examines the eligibility, retention rate and graduation rate of each NCAA team's student-athletes, and provides a measure of each team's academic performance. Teams that score between a 978 and a perfect score of 1,000 are publicly recognized. The football, men's cross country, women's hockey and women's rowing programs all were all recognized by the NCAA in the latest APR report.
