Posts Tagged ‘women’s hockey’

What a frenzy the last few weeks have been. Between the addition to Frozen Fenway, NBC Sports’ foray into college hockey, and the start of the men’s basketball season, you’d think we would have had our fill of news for the entirety of November. Oh no, things are JUST heating up.

Let’s start with this week’s notes…

• Northeastern field hockey will return to the NCAA tournament this week for the first time since 2004. Their heart-stopping selection was made all the more uncertain after dropping a late regular-season game and losing the CAA championship game to the team we believe is the best in the nation (Old Dominion), but the Huskies are IN, and that’s a reflection of what an incredible run the team put together this year. As an aside, though we can’t 100% confirm yet, it is very likely that WRBB will keep its pledge to cover every NCAA tournament game and will be the exclusive radio outlet of Saturday’s first round game vs. Penn State (11:30am in Storrs, Conn.)
• On the ice, men’s hockey can’t catch a break, losing in overtime in perhaps the most heartbreaking fashion on Saturday. Joe Meloni rightly says that Northeastern could be in big trouble if t hey can’t get things fixed this weekend (College Hockey News). There’s a debate raging about whether to keep or drop No-T-OT given Northeastern’s dismal overtime record over the past few seasons (Husky Hockey Blog). Speaking about the conference on the whole, though I’m sure it applies to Northeastern as well, we could be in for a wild ride. (Maine Campus)
• Meanwhile on the women’s side, things are going quite well with the team solidly in the top 10 in the polls, and an impressive freshman class making an impact (New England Hockey Journal). We caught up with Dave Flint in an interview on Friday’s Dog Pound Sports Sound (WRBB Sports)

On into the weekend, and beyond…

• This Friday, men’s basketball kicks off a new season and Andy Towne has a detailed rundown of first thoughts from Monday’s intra-squad scrimmage (WRBB Sports), while infamous DFP columnist Teddy ‘Beware-The-Fedora’ Mazurek warns the Terrier faithful that…

The game might turn out to be another poor showing by BU students to support men’s basketball. An even greater worry is that Northeastern fans might outnumber BU fans on their own court. (Daily Free Press)

• Previewing Friday’s game and the season on the whole, we find dueling pieces by Michael Vega for Northeastern (Boston Globe) and Boston University (Boston Globe), while NU’s official communications department also put out a teaser piece for the game. (News@NU). Of course, Michael Litos chimes in with a brilliant essay to start the season – totally worth a read (CAA Hoops)
• It’s early to talk about baseball, but NU will soon have max scholarships for the very first time, which should be a massive boost to the team and their competitive chances in the CAA going forward (Wilmington Star-News)

WRBB Sports Baseball, Basketball, Hockey Field Hockey, women's hockey

Monday, October 31

7:00 p.m. – CAA Full Court Press

Thursday, November 3

9:00 p.m. – Hockey East This Week

Friday, October 4

3:00 p.m. – Dog Pound Sports Sound

6:45 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey: Huskies at Merrimack College Warriors
from Thom J. Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass.
with Ben Horner and Alex Faust

7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Women’s Hockey: Huskies vs. UConn Huskies
from Matthews Arena
with Andy Towne
Available on WRBB Sports Extra

Saturday, October 5

6:45 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey: Huskies vs. Merrimack College Warriors
from Matthews Arena
with Alex Faust, Ben Horner, and TBA

WRBB Sports Hockey Merrimack, UConn, women's hockey

Starting next week, WRBB Sports expands its coverage of Northeastern sports to the online-exclusive WRBB Sports Extra streaming service, bringing Huskies fans additional radio commentary all season long. Live coverage of women’s hockey, women’s basketball, baseball, and select men’s hockey and men’s basketball games will air on WRBB Sports Extra, supplementing season-long coverage on FM.

Our first slate of games this season:

• Friday Nov 4, 7:00 p.m.: Women’s Hockey vs. UConn
• Friday Nov 11, 6:45 p.m.: Men’s Hockey at Boston College (Pre-Game)
• Tuesday Nov 15, 7:00 p.m.: Women’s Basketball vs. Temple
• Thursday Nov 17 7:00 p.m.: Women’s Hockey vs. Boston College
• Wednesday Nov 30 7:00 p.m.: Women’s Hockey vs. Boston University

WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey Women's Basketball, women's hockey

Taking a spin on our recurring feature “Off The Wires,” every Wednesday we’ll be taking a look at what happened last weekend, what people wrote about it, our take on the news, plus what’s to come the week ahead.

The weekend that was. Yet another good weekend across-the-board for Northeastern sports, headlined by Northeastern hockey notching its first win of the season. But getting increased attention are the women’s hockey and field hockey squads, the only sports so far this fall to sustain winning runs and “take care of business” so to speak. Field hockey defeated BC 2-1 in double overtime on Friday, moving up to No. 17 nationally (NCAA.com), while NU women’s hockey improved to 4-0 and vaulted up to No. 8 in the latest polls (USCHO, USA Today).

Madigan’s first win, UNH’s struggles. Jim Madigan got his first career win, though as you might imagine, he would rather celebrate his starting goaltender’s 9th career shutout, a sparkling 4-0 romp of UNH, and a big rebound from his team’s opening weekend beatdown in Orono the week prior (Boston Globe). Before getting beaten by Boston College 5-1, UNH was already looking desperate for their first goal of the season (Manchester Union Leader), but the loss to BC made everyone scratch their head (Manchester Union Leader). Our view: UNH is bad, but they’ll eventually get it turned around – they’ve started out slow before and nobody should be hitting the panic button yet. When they’re losing games to Lowell or Vermont, then it could be a problem.

Friars surprise. When was the last time you saw BU, BC, UNH, and Maine all lose on the same day? (USCHO) BU’s loss, at the hands of Providence College, wasn’t the biggest shocker of all time (PC has matched up well with BU in recent years), but the fact that the Friars were able to get off to such a good start with a new head coach and win with a packed house and television looking on was impressive. Granted, part of the ‘packed house’ came from a promotion for the basketball team’s “midnight madness” event, but still, Schneider Arena can be very intimidating when fans are in the seats (we’ve been waiting to re-use the nickname “The Coffin” for a while).

NU MBB picked 9th in CAA, WBB picked 12th. No surprises with either choice, revealed at CAA Media Day (CAASports.com), though the TV schedule was a bit disappointing – not because NU only had 6 broadcasts scheduled, which we think is a fair amount (WRBB Sports) but because the league had its ESPN exposure reduced dramatically: only 4 games on ESPN/ESPN2 (vs. 9 last year), while the remainder were relegated to ESPNU and ESPN3.com (CAASports.com). After VCU’s run to the final four last year, this is how the conference gets rewarded – with half their ESPN exposure cut?

Big hockey weekend (men, women, field). Starting with field hockey, this weekend brings a CAA game (at Hofstra) and a non-conference  game (vs. BU), both against ranked opponents. If NU can win one or both, it would bolster their case for an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament should they make it to the end of the regular season without further stumbles. On the ice, women’s hockey hits the road to face two Ivy teams (Princeton, Yale), and both will be good non-conference tests before league play heats up – a 2-0 showing would certainly push NU close to the top 5 in the polls. Of course, on the men’s side, there’s a major 2-game set, first on the road at Merrimack (whose building will be sold out with their homecoming weekend) and then at home vs. No. 2 Boston College (this game is already sold out completely) – NU needs to prove that their win over UNH was no fluke, and 2+ points would do just that.

WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey Field Hockey, Off the wires, women's hockey

For the second time in three years, the Huskies advanced to the Hockey East semifinals, earning some dramatic wins against BU along the way. Women’s hockey also reached the Hockey East championship game for the first time.

Mar. 4 – Boston University 3, Northeastern 2

Northeastern and BU go toe-to-toe in a physical game at Matthews Arena, but the Huskies come up short, 3-2.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 5 – Women’s Hockey: Northeastern 4, BU 2

The Huskies claw back from an early deficit to upset the #4-ranked Terriers and advance to the Women’s Hockey East championship.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 5 – Northeastern 4, Boston University 3

The Huskies pull take the lead in the third and don’t look back, beating the Terriers on the road 4-3.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 6 – Women’s Hockey: BC 3, Northeastern 1

The Huskies claw back from an early deficit to upset the #4-ranked Terriers and advance to the Women’s Hockey East championship.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 10 – Northeastern 4, Boston University 2

The Huskies take advantage of lucky bounces and poor play from BU, and win the quarterfinal series opener, 4-2.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 11 – Boston University 5, Northeastern 2

BU responds to level the series at one game apiece, beating Northeastern 5-2 in Game 2.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass

Mar. 13 – Northeastern 5, Boston University 4

The Huskies finally get past BU, punching a ticket to the semifinal round of the Hockey East tournament with a 5-4 victory.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass | Complete game

Mar. 20 – Boston College 5, Northeastern 4

The Huskies come up short in their quest for a Hockey East title, losing to regular season champs Boston College, 5-4.
QuickCast | Recap | Press Pass | Postgame

WRBB Sports Hockey Hockey East, women's hockey

>>> On Tuesday, Greg Cronin responded to swirling internet rumors of his departure from Northeastern with a simple, succinct answer to the question of whether he planned to stay at Northeastern: “Yes.”

• Boston Herald: Huskies’ Cronin staying
• College Hockey News: Cronin shoots down reports of his departure

On a related note, Cronin is now in Europe with Team USA as they participate in the IIHF World Championships. The team won its first game, an exhibition against pool-play opponent Austria. Meanwhile, all of the team’s games will be televised by Versus, the network announced today:

• USA Hockey: Verus to Provide Live TV Coverage at IIHF Men’s World Championship
• GoNU.com: Cronin at the IIHF World Championships

>>> With a new CAA basketball schedule rotation released this week, voices from around the league are chiming in with their thoughts on the conference schedule. Mike Litos, as usual, hits the nail on the head:

I’ve got to figure that coaches took budget into account, as well as traditional rivals (i.e., DU/YouDee and Mason/JMU), probably before looking at strength. It’s easy to rationalize the competitive angle. After all, the rotating H/H and single away or home game provides eight games each year and will theoretically balance out competitiveness.

• CAA Hoops: Somewhere, in 1978, Rand McNally is smiling…
• WRBB Sports: CAA Basketball schedule rotation announced
• GMU Hoops: George Mason will finally play VCU twice during the regular season
• Wilmington Star-News: UNCW’s CAA schedule loaded with league’s elite

Now, for some other odds and ends:

>>> Florence Shelling and Switzerland were upset by Russia in the quarterfinal round of the IIHF Women’s World Championship, losing 5-4 in overtime after giving up a 3-goal lead. (IIHF.com)

>>> The Daily Collegian has a recap of Northeastern’s 4-2 loss to UMass in the consolation round of the Baseball Beanpot.

>>> Hockey recruit John Gaudreau was named USHL Rookie of the Year. (HockeysFuture.com)

WRBB Sports Baseball, Basketball, Hockey Beanpot, Greg Cronin, women's hockey

Northeastern jumped out to an early lead, but couldn’t hold back BC, losing a chance at the WHEA title, 3-1.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, QuickCast BC, Hockey East, women's hockey

Alyssa Wohlfeiler, Florence Schelling, and head coach Dave Flint address the media after the Huskies upset BU in the Women’s Hockey East semifinal, 4-2.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, Press Pass BU, Hockey East, women's hockey

The Huskies claw back from an early deficit to upset the #4-ranked Terriers and advance to the Women’s Hockey East championship.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, QuickCast BU, women's hockey