1996–97 Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey season

The 1996-97 Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey season was the 17th season as a DI club. Freshman Hilary Witt led the team in goals (24), while Stephanie Acres led in points with 49. The Huskies would go on to win their 14th Beanpot Championship and third ECAC Championship, winning the latter as a 4-seed. 
The Huskies would also go on to participate in the Auld Lang Syne and Providence tournaments, winning the former. 
This was Heather Linstad's 5th season as head coach of the Huskies. Bree Cheatham and Jessica Wagner served as captains. 
== Beanpot ==
In the opening round of the 18th Women's Beanpot Tournament, the 12-4-0 Huskies met the 5-11-1 Boston College Eagles. Despite BC playing host, they were shellacked by the Huskies, dropping the game 8-1. The Huskies would then face the 7-16 Harvard Crimson, again recording an 8-1 victory. Kathryn Waldo (4-2-6) and Jessica Wagner (2-4-6) led tournament scoring, helping secure Northeastern's 14th Beanpot Championship in 18 tournaments.
== ECAC Tournament ==
Northeastern had been selected to host the ECAC semifinals and finals, having alternated with UNH and Providence College since 1990. Northeastern opened the ECAC tournament as the 4-seed, having recorded a conference record of 13-6-0 in the regular season. In the quarterfinals, they would face the 16-12-1 Dartmouth Big Green. Northeastern would breeze past their opponents with a 6-2 victory at Matthews Arena.
Hosting the top-seeded Brown Bears (22-0-0 in conference play), Northeastern cashed in on their home-ice advantage with a stunning 2-1 victory over the regular season champions. It was Northeastern's first win against Brown that season, having lost by a combined margin of 1-6 in their two previous contests.
Northeastern's final opponent were the defending champion UNH Wildcats, who had finished tied for second in the ECAC regular season standings (17-4-1). The Huskies had won the previous two meeting between the schools, each by one goal. On the back of Hilary Witt's two-goal performance (including the game-winner), the Huskies would win the 1997 ECAC Championship 3-2.
This would be the last time the ECAC tournament would serve as the de facto national championship, as the AWCHA would organize a national postseason tournament for the 1998 postseason, later handing that responsibility off to the NCAA in 2001. Hilary Witt would be named ECAC Tournament MVP.
== Schedule and Results ==
Schedule
Date 	Opponent 	Score 	Result
11/9 	@ Concordia 	2-4 	L
11/11	@ St. Laurent 	2-1 	W
11/16	Yale 	5-1 	W
11/17	Princeton 	5-2 	W
11/23	Boston College 	4-1 	W
11/24	@ Dartmouth 	4-3 (OT)	W
11/30	St. Laurent 	1-3 	L
12/2 	Harvard 	4-1 	W
12/7 	New Hampshire 	1-4 	L
12/8 	Colby 	4-3 (OT)	W
12/17	@ Harvard 	5-2 	W
12/28	@ Dartmouth * 	2-1 	W
12/28	Middlebury * 	10-0 	W
12/29	Boston College * 	7-2 	W
1/4 	@ Providence 	6-1 	W
1/5 	@ Brown 	1-3 	L
1/11 	St. Lawrence 	4-0 	W
1/12 	Cornell 	1-2 	L
1/17 	@ Providence ** 	4-3 	W
1/18 	New Hampshire ** 	4-3 	W
1/19 	Concordia ** 	2-5 	L
1/27 	Boston College ***	8-1 	W
2/1 	@ New Hampshire 	2-1 	W
2/2 	@ Colby 	4-1 	W
2/8 	Providence 	1-2 	L
2/9 	Brown 	0-3 	L
2/11 	Harvard *** 	8-1 	W
2/15 	@ St. Lawrence 	7-2 	W
2/16 	@ Cornell 	4-2 	W
2/22 	@ Boston College 	3-0 	W
2/23 	Dartmouth 	1-2 	L
3/1 	@ Yale 	6-1 	W
3/2 	@ Princeton 	2-0 	W
3/8 	Dartmouth 	6-2 	W
3/15 	Brown 	2-1 	W
3/16 	New Hampshire 	3-2 	W
* - Auld Lang Syne Tourney, ** - Providence Tournament, *** - Beanpot Tournament, ECAC Tournament, Non-Conference Games
ECAC	ECAC	ECAC	ECAC	ECAC	ECAC	ECAC	ECAC 	ECAC 	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record
GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	Finish	Conference Tournament 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA
22 	16 	6 	0 	- 	- 	32 	4th 	W, QF 6-2 (Dartmouth) W, SF 2-1 (Brown) W, F 3-2 (New Hampshire)	36 	27 	9 	0 	135 	64
== Team Statistics ==
=== Scoring ===
Scoring Statistics
Name 	GP	G 	A 	P 	PPG	SHG	GWG	HT
Acres, Stephanie 	36	19	30	49	2 	1 	4 	0
Witt, Hilary 	36	24	20	44	5 	2 	4 	0
Pemrick, Emily 	36	17	20	37	2 	0 	6 	0
Waldo, Kathryn 	31	19	10	29	5 	1 	1 	1
Metcalf, Erine 	35	8 	19	27	1 	0 	1 	0
Wagner, Jessica 	34	9 	11	20	4 	0 	4 	0
Allan, Keri-Anne 	36	5 	14	19	1 	0 	2 	0
Setaro, Jennie 	36	5 	8 	13	0 	0 	0 	0
Totten, Jamie 	36	2 	11	13	0 	0 	0 	0
Cheatham, Bree 	32	5 	7 	12	1 	1 	0 	0
King, Courtney 	19	6 	5 	11	1 	0 	2 	0
Tapani, Kelly 	31	3 	6 	9 	0 	0 	0 	0
Baumgartner, Crystal	23	5 	3 	8 	0 	0 	1 	0
Scerra, Angela 	35	3 	5 	8 	0 	0 	2 	0
Donovan, Angela 	23	1 	5 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
Cacchiotti, Michelle	25	1 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
Smythe, Sarah 	32	0 	3 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
Sweeney, Emily 	35	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Beneduce, Kim 	32	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Wiren, Katie 	22	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Busniuk, Katie 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Sadler, Clytie 	19	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
=== Goaltenders ===
Goaltending Statistics
Name 	GP	Min 	GA	GAA 	Saves	PCT 	SH	W 	L	T
Meyers, Shannon	31	1819	56	1.85	657 	.921	3 	21	9	0
Hedges, Katie 	7 	337 	8 	1.42	90 	.918	1 	6 	0	0
Total 	36	2165	64	1.78	747 	.921	4 	27	9	0
Category:Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey seasons
Category:1997 in hockey