The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Women’s Hockey: Freshman core to bring wins back to Matthews

By Jewel Della Valle

After a disappointing 2005-06 campaign, the women’s hockey team looks forward to a promising season with the help of some new recruits. The Huskies finished with an 8-24-1 overall record (6-14-1 Hockey East), good for seventh in the Hockey East.

The Women’s Hockey East Coaches Poll picked Northeastern to finish sixth this year. However, the recruiting efforts of head coach Laura Schuler may make this season a different story. Schuler predicts her team will finish third.

One of the most important additions was to Schuler’s staff: Husky alumni Chanda Gunn. Gunn, an All-American and Olympian goalie, will join Schuler’s staff as goalie coach and will assist in training, preparation and recruiting.

“From a recruitment standpoint, just having such an amazing national player and Olympian to be on our coaching staff … she will be key … to bringing in quality players,” Schuler said. “She is such a technically sound goalie. We have some new kids coming in and I think they’re going to do well for us but it’s great knowing we have Chanda there to really teach them what it takes to win in the technical side of the game.”

Schuler also recruited eight freshmen from various parts of the country to bolster her roster.

“I think we’re going to have a better season because of the incoming freshmen,” Schuler said. “We’ve [got] some top notch players to help us in all aspects of the game, most importantly defense.”

Schuler said this year was the first time she had a full year of recruitment time to pick up players.

This will be Schuler’s third season as head coach. Right before she was hired for the 2004-05 season, the Husky roster was met with a blow when most of the defensive line transferred to other schools.

“We had to rebuild [the defense] so we focused on doing that as well as bringing in a few more kids who could score some goals,” Schuler said.

One new Husky is Chelsey Jones, a forward from Stillwater, Minn. Jones graduated as her high school’s all-time leading scorer and was captain for two years. In 2005 she led her team to its first state tournament since 1997 where she was selected to the All-Tournament team.

She was named to All-Conference and All-State teams and team MVP in 2005. She was selected as the Minnesota Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was a finalist for Minnesota’s Ms. Hockey award. To top off her accomplishments, Jones is ranked 12th all-time on the state’s scoring list.

“Chelsey Jones is a prolific goal scorer,” Schuler said. “She just has a knack for putting the puck in the net, very finesse. She’s more of a shooter [with] just a really good shot [and] quick release.”

Another notable addition is Lindsay Berman, a forward and defender from Odenton, Md. Berman played three seasons for the Washington Pride of the Midwest Elite Hockey League (MWEHL) and led the Pride to a 33-16-9 record overall during the 2005-06 season and a third place finish in the MWEHL’s National Division at 12-5-1.

“Lindsey Berman [has] a natural goal-scoring ability, reads the play well [and has] good control,” Schuler said.

Annie Hogan, a forward from Medford, Mass., also looks to be another goal-scorer for the Huskies.

Hogan played seven years for Assabet Valley and four for Lawrence Academy. She helped Assabet Valley to six consecutive state championships and a national championship in 2003. She was an All-League pick for the 2005-06 season and team MVP in 2005.

Ginny Berg and Katy Applin will be big additions to the defense, Schuler said. Berg, from Sterling, Alaska, and Applin, from Palmer, Alaska, shared North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) co-MVP honors for the 2004-05 season.

Berg was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2005-06 while serving as team captain and recording five goals and 47 assists.

Applin scored 16 goals and had 34 assists from the blueline for the NAHA in 2005-06 after playing for the Palmer High School boys team and the Alaska Firebirds, where she was team captain.

“Katy Applin and Ginny Berg will really help back there [defensively] as far as being able to control the play and bringing the puck up the ice,” Schuler said.

The Huskies picked up another forward in Liz Chapman from Boxford, Mass. They also added another defender, Julia Clark, from Westford, Mass., and a goalie, Sydney Arbelbide, from Littleton, Colo.

Senior forward Amy Goodney will serve as captain this season and senior forwards Marie Desrosiers and Crystal Rochon will be co-assistant captains.

“[Goodney] is such an amazing leader, such a great person,” Schuler said. “To have her in that position is going to be huge for our team because she really knows what it takes to win and I think she’ll have a good impression on all the new kids.”

Goodney was captain last season, and an assistant captain her sophomore year.

“I’m used to the role of being a leader on the team and I’m just excited this year that I’m finally a senior and I have two great assistant captains,” Goodney said. “We’re really going to lead this team this year.”

The Huskies lost nine players from last year’s roster. Among them are Jennifer Beaudoin, Courtney O’Conner and Kathryn Sands, who played in all 33 games last season. Stephanie Wood played in 32 and Lindsay Snider and Chrissy Sands played in 30 each. Northeastern also lost star goalie Marisa Hourihan to graduation. She holds the top two spots in the Husky record books for single-season saves with 1,235 in 2004-2005 and 941 in 2005-2006. Hourihan also is second only to Gunn in career saves with 2,388.

Sophomore Sarah Belliveau and sophomore transfer Stacey Scott will be the top contenders for goalie, as will Arbelbide, who will also contend for time on the ice.

“Marisa was a huge loss for sure,” Goodney said. “It’s going to be a battle

More to Discover