Nine of the Hockey East women’s teams have already hit the ice. Providence joins in the fun this weekend.
It’s early, but five teams are off to perfect starts: Northeastern, Boston University, Vermont, Boston College and Connecticut are all 2-0.
To no one’s surprise, second-ranked Northeastern looks like a juggernaut again. The Huskies have outscored opponents 11-0 after a sweep of Holy Cross. The only other Hockey East team in the top 10 is BC, which is ranked seventh.
Here are three things to look for this weekend:
Early-season clash
Northeastern plays at BU on Friday. Both teams are 2-0 and the meeting at Walter Brown Arena may be telling.
Senior forward Chloe Aurard is off to a terrific start for NU. The native of France went over the 100-point mark for her career and she’s off to a 3-3-6 start over two games to earn Hockey East Player of the Week honors. Her 3.0 points per game average is second in the country. Her career line stands at 47-56-103 entering the weekend.
Northeastern didn’t play BU last season en route to advancing to the NCAA championship game.
Aurard said Saturday after a 6-0 win over Holy Cross that the Huskies aren’t getting wrapped up in national rankings.
“We’re going to take every game as if it’s our last,” she said. “We’re going to play our best every single game, no matter what number we are in the country.”
On Saturday, the Huskies will skate at Providence.
First things first, though. The Huskies are looking forward to testing their mettle against BU.
“Yeah, it was definitely weird not to play them last year. But we’re ready. We’ve been working hard,” Aurard said.
BU, meanwhile, received a shutout performance from freshman goaltender Callie Shanahan in a 5-0 win over New Hampshire. She became the first Terrier freshman with a shutout since Kerrin Sperry posted six shutouts in the 2010-11 season.
“All and all it was a very thorough effort,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said after the sweep of UNH.
BU will play Saturday at UNH. Before that, of course, looms the powerful Huskies.
“We’re going to have to work on our team defense and that’s probably in the neutral zone and in our ‘D’ zone. We haven’t spent an overload of time in the defensive zone,” Durocher said. “That will certainly be a task.”
Rust factor
While its nine league competitors have already played at least two games (Merrimack has played four), this weekend will mark Providence’s season debut.
And the Friars aren’t exactly easing into the 2021-22 campaign. One night after hosting UNH, Providence on Saturday will entertain league favorite Northeastern.
Optimism is high at Schneider Arena. Providence was picked to finish second in Hockey East in the preseason poll. Only Northeastern was picked to finish ahead of the Friars, who received one first-place vote
The Friars have finished in the top four in Hockey East for four straight seasons. They have the talent to extend that streak.
Sandra Abstreiter is an experienced goalie. The grad student from Germany posted a .929 save percentage and started all 21 games last winter. The team’s top three scorers return, led by senior Sara Hjalmarsson. The Sweden import has 68 career points.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Providence is able to knock off the rust, especially Saturday against Northeastern. The Friars skated past the Boston Pride in an exhibition, 3-2.
Sweeps month?
UConn went 2-0 in September, sweeping Long Island, 3-1 and 2-0. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Huskies could go undefeated in October.
Head coach Chris MacKenzie has a solid team in Storrs, one which was picked to finish fourth in Hockey East. The October schedule is not daunting, with two games against RIT, one against Maine, three against Merrimack and one against Vermont.
With 14 upperclassmen back and a new arena on the way, MacKenzie and the Huskies are looking to take the next step.
Freshman Megan Warrener and senior Samantha Carpentier-Yelle have each already earned a win in net. Warrener’s victory came via a 20-save shutout. Captain Natalie Snodgrass continues to be the offensive catalyst. The grad student has 59 goals and 111 points in her collegiate career.
