NU Releases 2013-2014 Schedule

Courtesy of NCAA

The Northeastern Women’s Hockey team released their 2013-2014 schedule earlier today, and it looks like it’s going to be a challenging year for the Huskies. With 11 games against NCAA tournament teams, the upcoming season is going to be a true test of the Huskies strength during an Olympic year.

The Huskies start the season with an exhibition game against McGill; this should be a good game for the girls to stretch out their legs and get ready for their first six games, all against out of conference teams. Their first two games on the docket are against two CHA teams: Syracuse and RIT. NU and Syracuse have met each other in the past two years, each with the Huskies coming out with the win. RIT enters its second season at the Division I level after a solid first season. RIT’s greatest strength is their goaltending; Ali Binnington is going to be the first real test against the Huskies offense in the upcoming season. They continue their out of conference slate with two games in the Albany area, against Union and RPI. Neither teams should pose too much of an issue for the Huskies; again, it will give them a chance to work through their systems and really lock down their defensive zone, which they will need as they travel to Ithaca to face Cornell for two games. This will be the first real challenge for the Huskies. Cornell comes off of a great season, winning the ECAC championship against Harvard, but losing to Mercyhurst in the NCAA quarterfinals. The two games against Northeastern will be the first for the Big Red, so the Huskies, who will already have a few games under their belt, could surprise Cornell.

Courtesy of Hockey East Online

After Cornell, the Huskies will begin their conference play with a home and home against Providence. Both of these games should be a battle of defensive and goaltending, and it will be exciting to see who comes out on top. Next, they will play BU, the powerhouse that dominated in the Hockey East and made it to the NCAA finals in Minnesota. With the loss of Marie-Philip Poulin and Jenelle Kohanchuk, two of the strongest Canadian players in women’s hockey, BU will be looking for returning sophomore Sarah Lefort to continue leading the Terrier offense and building on her successful rookie season. After this grueling game, the Huskies will face Maine, UNH and BC before heading to Vail, Colorado to play Wisconsin and St. Cloud State. The games against Maine and UNH are rightly placed for the Huskies to continue perfecting their systems for when they face BC and Wisconsin. NU will close out November with two games at UVM, and a trip to New Hampshire to face the Dartmouth Big Green. The Huskies only two games in December are against BU and UConn, both a chance for the team to end 2013 on a high note and gain momentum going into 2014.

Courtesy of Boston Globe

The Huskies will start the new year with four games against their Boston neighbors, traveling to Harvard for one game, followed by a home and home against BC, and finally traveling to Comm Ave to face BU. This is a tough start to the year, but as long as the Huskies can battle and help Desjardins in front of the net, they will be able to keep up with all of these teams. After three games at home, the Huskies will travel to Cambridge to play Harvard in an attempt to repeat their Beanpot success. Depending on the outcome, the Huskies will either play BC of BU the following week. To keep the girls on their toes between Beanpot games, Coach Flint has scheduled a game at Providence, which will be a good way for the girls to keep sharp, no matter the outcome of the Harvard game. The Huskies will end their season with a home and home against both UConn and UNH before the playoffs starts.

Courtesy of Hockey East Online

This schedule is designed for the Huskies to be constantly challenged while allowing for them to perfect all of their systems and zone work. In order for the girls to have a successful season, they need to come out of the gate flying and start the season strong. The keys to success for this season are to support Chloe Desjardins and lock down their defense before the Cornell game. Last season, the girls sometimes took shifts off, and although that may work for some of the weaker teams they play, the stronger ones like BU, BC, or Cornell, are going to take advantage of any opportunity they get. As long as the girls can play a full 60 minutes of hockey, they will be able to have yet another great season.

To read the release from GoNU.com, click here. If you want to look at the 2013-2014 schedule, click the NUWH Schedule tab at the top of the page.