Spring Break
All huskies on ice this weekend
Women's hockey hosts Northeastern Huskies
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: Sports
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Since that early season loss, UConn has gone 11-5, including nine out of the last ten. UConn's third line has emerged during the streak and helped establish a presence on the ice.
"We have a good combo on the third line and it's been a difference maker in games, something we didn't have last season," coach Heather Linstad said. "It can be related to having our captain Nicole Tritter on the line. We really get the little things done out there."
Northeastern will have to shut down one of Hockey East's most high-powered offenses. UConn leads the conference in scoring with 79 goals on the season, which amounts to an average of 3.29 goals per game. UConn forward Dominique Thibault leads the conference in scoring with 19 goals on the season.
"We have some really talented forwards that can really get down the ice and play especially well behind the goal line," Linstad said.
To add to the offensive side of the game, UConn also has senior goalie Brittany Wilson, who received last week's Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week Award. In two games against Mercyhurst last week, Wilson was able to make 72 saves and post a .923 save percentage, which was actually down from her season save percentage of .926. Wilson has gone 11-4-1 on the season and has three separate shut-outs.
Northeastern's defense does rank second in goals allowed in Hockey East, with only 41 given up on the season thus far. They have two separate goalies, sophomore Leah Sulyma and freshman Florence Schelling, that rank in the top three in goals against average in Hockey East. Whichever goalie UConn faces, they will be in for a tough contest.
The problem this season for Northeastern has not been defense however; it's been their offense, which has only been able to find the back of the net 43 times and only 16 inside of conference play.
Northeastern only has one player, Kristi Kehoe, that has more than ten goals on the season, while UConn has six. Northeastern also only has two players with plus ten assists on the season, while UConn has six.
All the stats and records show UConn to be a superior team, but Northeastern still holds the lone win over UConn. That game saw Wilson give up three goals on only 13 shots and saw the powerful UConn offense held scoreless even with 34 shots on goal. Northeastern scored on a power play 47 seconds into the game and then capped their scoring on another power play goal in the second period to put them up 3-0.
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