Saturday evening at Matthews Arena found the Huskies of Northeastern
overpowering the St. Laurent Patriots 6-2.  NU coach Heather Linstad has
found some good first-year players and continues to bring out the best in
her returning players.  I found the Huskies to be a stronger squad than I
had expected.
 
In the first period, both teams started slow.  Just after a St. Laurent
power play, Northeastern broke out en masse.  First-year wing Catherine
Cataldo (Bree Cheatham, Kim Haman) finished the play after the whole team
had swooped into the Patriot zone.  NU scored on a 5 on 3 power play when
Kelly Tapani (Cataldo, Haman) drilled home a nice setup, after the
Huskies had won the face-off cleanly.  Tapani (Haman, Cataldo) made it
3-0 on another power play when she poked home the puck off a scramble in
front of the net.  Basically St. Laurent got caught watching as NU skated
and passed its way all over the ice.
 
The second period featured the Huskies letting up and the Patriots
getting somewhat back in the game.  Kim Santoire (Karine Vanasse) was
credited with a goal that in fact was only a shot off the post.  However
the fates also had the refs. not count a clear goal by St. Laurent in the
third period.  The Patriots found new life with their goal and stepped up
the pressure.  NU was playing very scattered in its own zone at that
point, with individuals trying to do too much.  The result was that
Sandra Cote (Stephanie Grenon) was able to make the score 3-2 after some
good fore-checking.  The St. Laurent rally was quickly stopped when Haman
made a wonderful solo end to end rush, which she finished with a deadly
wrist shot high glove side.  That goal settled the Huskies down and got
them out of standing around and playing street hockey.
 
In the final period, Tapani (Haman, Cataldo) completed her hat trick to
make the score 5-2.  The play developed from a number of touch passes as
NU brought the puck up the ice.  Kim Haman was outstanding in providing
both a target for the passes and than sending them on in such a way that
the team flowed up the ice.  It was Northeastern at its best, swooping
and changing the point of attack and thus making it very difficult for
their opponent to react.  Dori Hoagland (Courtney King) finished the
scoring after King had made a driving play to chip the puck of the post.
Hoagland's follow up was a relatively easy shot over the goalie.
 
St. Laurent does not have a lot of skillful players.  Their coach Henri
Izard used his big line of Sandra Bockus, Grenon and Julie Pelletier much
of the time.  Those players also played with many other mates in a
"What's-my-line" setup.  Goalie Mylene Benoit had a very good glove, but
played a tad on the unsteady side.  The Patriot defense found themselves
watching play too much of the time.  Overall they were a team with good
spirit, but they need much work on the basic skills to become a strong squad.
 
The one thing Northeastern needs to work on the most is team speed.  If
they develop better skating as a team, their already strong transition
game would become electric.  The defense is very strong, and the offense
can be huge, but at this point its a question of how much they can
develop as a team that will see how far they can go in the league.
 
Goaltender captain Kim Flatt played a steady standup game.  First-year
goalie Andrea Rocha looked a fair backup in warm up.  The defense is lead
by Bree Cheatham who looked even stronger and more confident of herself
last night.  Cheatham is an excellent skater and reads the play so well.
Her mate was assistant captain Kim Drews who showed some fine skating.
Together they are a very strong pair who will see much ice time this
year.  Missi Werner can be a very good defender when she is in control of
her game.  She is joined by first-year sensation Keri-Anne Allan.  Allan
is a smart hockey player who reads the game well.  Last night she looked
a little edgy out there, but still managed to show that she can go it on
her own!  The third defensive pair was first-year player Emily Sweeney,
who needs to work on her skating, and Julie Otto who plays an intense style.
 
On offense the Huskies were lead by the first line of Cataldo, Haman and
Tapani.  That line may not stay together as both Angela Scerra and Danyel
Howard did not play last night.  However as is obvious from the goal
scoring summary above, that line played very well.  Haman has a killer
shot and last night made some wonderful touch passes that made the line
and team click.  Tapani seems to be coming into her own.  She has stepped
up her play and was a major force on the ice.  Her skating is much
improved!  First-year player Cataldo is an excellent team player and
provided many lovely passes.  At this points she glides too much.  If she
learns to move those feet more, she could become a super player.  The
second line was Hoagland, King and Jessica Lien.  They play with a lot of
spirit and do have the skill to finish some pretty plays, but they need
to develop their skating if they are to play the major role they would
like to play.  The third line of Emily Pemrick, captain Caroline Heatley
and Jessica Wagner will probably see more time with some of the players
who sat out last night.  First-year player Pemrick caught my eye with her
hustle and drive style of play.  Like her mates, she has the potential to
develop into an interesting player.  I would not be surprised to see her
on a higher line soon.
 
Overall the Huskies have the players and coaching to make another run at
the ECAC title.  The positive attacking style they use, coupled with a
solid defense makes them look very good.  Once again I find myself very
excited about the abilities of the Northeastern Women.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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