Women’s Hockey: Hockey East Wrap Up (Nov. 26-Dec. 3)

By: Brian DeAlmeida

Last Week In Review:

There’s only one way to start this article up so lets get to it. When #4 Northeastern took on Vermont not only did they take home a 5-2 victory but a very special record was broken. After scoring once against #2 Boston College, Kendall Coyne would notch two goals in the first period to put her atop the career Hockey East leader in goals with 72 goals. With the goal she broke Jenn Wakefield’s mark of 71 with a lot more Hockey East play to go.

Now lets start with the hockey games that were played. The biggest game of the weekend was #4 Northeastern at #2 Boston College and boy this one didn’t disappoint. Who else but Kendall Coyne would strike first off a power play but the momentum was short lived as BC’s Tori Sullivan  would light the lamp less than a minute later. They would go scoreless in the middle frame until an explosion of goals in the final period. BC would score midway through the final period but Northeastern would spoil the fun 17 seconds later with a goal of their own to tie it up at 2-2. The Eagles would score another one before sealing the game with an empty netter to walk away with the 4-2 win. Talk about an incredible game by both sides and either team could have won but lucky for us they face off this weekend.

The Terriers squared off twice about Merrimack and would walk away with a 5-1 and 4-2 victory. In game one, Victoria Bach would lead the charge scoring her first career hat trick while Victoria Hanson would only face 17 shots and save 16 while her opposite would take on a mere 50 shots. In the second game, four separate Terriers would score in the first to propel BU to a big 4-2 victory over the Warriors who would score the final two goals of the game. Transfer junior Alexis Crossley would score her first goal in the scarlet and white on a power play in the opening period of game two.

Providence traveled up to New Hampshire where they would split the series, dropping the first game and picking up the second. In game one, the Wildcats would score the first three goals thanks to two power play goals by Amy Boucher before the Friars back to back goals by Brooke Boquist would come up just short. In the next game, the Friars would only launch 21 shots on goal but four of them would find the back of the net for a 4-1 victory.

Vermont would take on UConn on Friday and would be edged out a score of 3-2 despite each team barely getting 20 shots on goal. The Catamounts would then travel down to Boston to take on the #4 Northeastern Huskies where Kendall Coyne would shine on her historic night in a 5-2 Huskies victory. UConn would travel to Orono to take on the Black Bears and shut them out 2-0 thanks to a goal in the opening and closing period.

In the final game of the long week, the #2 Boston College Eagles took down the Providence Friars pretty easily 9-1. Haley Skarupa would have a banner night scoring five points off 3 goals and 2 assists while the always impressive Alex Carpenter would add a goal and 3 assists on her way to a four point night. Two goalie would split time for the Friars while facing just 52 shots while 9 of them would find the back of the net.

What To Watch For:

COYNE WATCH!!! Just two games after Coyne watch was put into action, one record already fell as she notched three goals in two games to give her 72 career Hockey East goals to pass Jenn Wakefield for first all time. She now sits at 130 career points which puts her just 3 behind tying Kelli Stack’s record and 4 to break it.

Now onto the ice to see what’s going on this week. This is one of the more odd weekend in college hockey as we have only a single official Hockey East game but tons of interesting out of conference tournament match ups. Despite only having one conference game, boy do we have a doozy because its #2 Boston College and #4 Northeastern in round two. We also have Boston University and Vermont taking on Cornell and Ohio State in the Windjammer Classic. So lets get to it.

We saw an absolutely incredible game in Conte Forum just a week ago as the #2 Boston College Eagles (16-0-0)(10-0-0 WHEA) defeated #4 Northeastern (11-3-1)(7-1-0 WHEA). But this time around the game will be over at Matthews Arena even though the game should be much of the game. The potent Huskies offense was limited to only 24 shots in the last game which could be a huge key for another Eagles win. They also managed to shut down Scamurra, Krizova and Coyne to only 4 combined points which is the majority of the Northeastern offense. On the other hand, the Northeastern defense managed to leave both Carpenter and Skarupa off the score sheet but Tori Sullivan bit them for two goals and an assist. So this one is going to be another battle of defenses and which superstar could find its way onto the scoreboard first.

In one of the more interesting out-of-conference match-ups in all of hockey, and its not because of my BU bias, is when the Terriers (10-6-0)(8-3-0 WHEA) and Catamounts (3-11-0)(3-5-0) take on Ohio State (5-9-0) and Cornell (3-5-2) in the Windjammer Classic in Vermont. Neither team is quite familiar with each other and it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust to WCHA and ECAC action. The Terriers will come in looking really impressive after a couple of big wins in a row and looking to make some more noise as they are back to knocking on the door of the USCHO.com Top 10. On the other hand, Vermont is struggling against out of conference teams as they are winless in six games against non-Hockey East teams this year.

Another cool matchup will be the Mayor’s cup feature Providence (3-10-0)(3-7-0 WHEA) and Brown (2-7-0) as they battle for the city of Providence. Brown is winless against Hockey East this season as they fell to Maine twice at the beginning of the season. Providence has yet to beat a team out of their conference but have been playing some good hockey before running into a brick wall in Boston College. This should be a beat down, drag out fight especially with bragging rights on the line.   

Brian’s Red Hot Pick of the Week [Week 7 (6-3) Overall (30-9)]:

Last week was more of a rough weekend to pick but I still managed to go 6-3 which is pretty good if I do say so myself. With a light weekend on tap with me only picking 4 games, here goes nothing in week 8:

Pick #1

The Game: Boston University vs Cornell 

The Story:

The Terriers are arguably playing their best hockey of the season as Victoria Bach strung together a hat trick last weekend and Sarah Lefort is looking to enhance her school record for goals. Cornell has beaten a top ranked Princeton but got demolished by Boston College (I mean who hasn’t?). They also started the season ranked at #10 but have fallen out of the rankings much like the Terriers. This is an interesting game because even though their record doesn’t show it, Cornell is a very good team that is looking for a huge breakout win.

My pick:

The Terriers are RED HOT (see what I did there?). The men’s team will be facing off later the same night in MSG in New York City and hopefully the results will be the same, a big old Terrier sweep which would make me quite happy on my birthday.

Pick #2

The Game: Boston University vs Ohio State

The Story:

Two teams that are just as familiar with each other as a polar bear and a Florida beach, its going to be which team that can play their game better that will walk away with the win. The Buckeyes have played 8 games against teams in the top 10 while going 1-7 with the lone win coming against then #6 North Dakota. They have been out scored quite handily in those games as well losing by a combined 44-10. The Terriers have been red hot since their lost to Boston College in OT and their offense is starting to run on all cylinders to.

My pick:

While both their men’s hockey team and football teams competed in national championships last season, this game isn’t quite as high profile. I think the Terriers are playing great hockey right know and I don’t now enough about Ohio State to pick otherwise so go BU!

Pick #3

The Game: Brown @ Providence

The Story:

No matter where each team stands, when you are fighting for bragging rights of a city a battle is sure to ensue. Despite losing 4 of their last 7, the Friars have been in a dog fight in every one but 1 of those games and are playing some great hockey. If they can limit late 3rd period mistakes unlike they have against New Hampshire and Vermont, a win can give Providence just the fire they need to climb up the Hockey East rankings.

My pick:

Right now the Friars are one of my favorite teams and I am keeping a close eye on them because of how well they’re playing. Despite Hockey East being 19-32-4 against out-of-conference opponents, I’m picking all Hockey East teams to win this week so go Friars!

Pick #4

The Game: #2 Boston College @ #4 Northeastern   

The Story:

We saw what this game brought to the table just a week ago. Sure the score seemed a little more lopsided than it actually was but I think its going to be another incredible game. Northeastern has slowly been climbing up the national rankings as the Eagles have been stagnate at #2 behind an incredible Wisconsin team. Boston College doesn’t know how to lose as they only loss 3 games last season and all of them coming in post season play (Beanpot final against Harvard, Hockey East final against BU & NCAA playoffs against Harvard). A loss this early can send a team use to victory into a tail spin.

My pick:

Im sticking with my guns from last week and going with the Huskies. They are only the 2nd team to keep Carpenter off the scorecard and only allowed 4 shots. If they can do that again and limit the damage of their second line, they’re offense can go to work and it’ll be quite a show to watch.

This Week’s Hockey East Schedule:

Friday November 20

Merrimack (1) @ Yale (3) (Nutmeg Classic)

New Hampshire (3) @ Rensselaer (3) OT

Connecticut (0) @ #5 Quinnipiac (1) (Nutmeg Classic)

Maine (1) @ Robert Morris (5)

Saturday November 21

#2 Boston College @ #4 Northeastern 2:00pm

Brown @ Providence 1:00pm (Mayor’s Classic)

Cornell vs BOSTON UNIVERSITY 1:00pm (Windjammer Classic)

Maine @ Robert Morris 3:05pm

New Hampshire @ Rensselaer 4:00pm

Merrimack vs Connecticut 4:00pm (Nutmeg Classic Third Place)

Ohio State @ Vermont 4:00pm (Windjammer Classic)

Sunday November 22

Ohio State vs BOSTON UNIVERSITY 1:00pm (Windjammer Classic)

Cornell @ Vermont 4:00pm (Windjammer Classic)

Tuesday November 24

Union @ Providence 7:00pm