NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 20
- 2 min read

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 20

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 20 by Nicole Haase

Come back each week for a breakdown of the most interesting upcoming games, how to watch or listen to them, and some thoughts on the movers and shakers from the previous week.

Here are the games to watch this weekend:

North Dakota at (2) Minnesota-Duluth

Friday and Saturday at 3:00 PM CT

Watch: Available online through NCHC.tv. $7.95 for a women's hockey day pass.

When these two teams met earlier in the season, Duluth won the first game 2-1 and the teams tied the second game 2-2, with North Dakota earning an extra point with a shootout win.

Both teams have blemishes on their schedule, and a recent tie with Bemidji has me thinking Duluth is still vulnerable.

North Dakota has the bonus of having Lexie Shaw in net, while Minnesota-Duluth is averaging more than three goals a game. Their team defenses are similar, so this game will likely come down to whether the Fighting Hawks can corral the Bulldogs' top line. Lara Stalder and Ashleigh Brykaliuk have been the power behind UMD's season and North Dakota will have to keep them in check if they want to win.

NoDak has some offensive threats of their own -- especially in their young freshman class, who's only gotten better as they've gotten more ice time under their belts.

Providence at Northeastern

Connecticut at Providence

Friday at 2:00 PM ET and Sunday at 2:00 PM ET

Watch: Friday a free stream via GoNUxstream here.

Providence is trying to make a push for the post-season, but can't seem to overcome the top three teams in Hockey East.

They are 9-2-1 against the five teams ranked below them in Hockey East standings and 0-5-1 against BC, BU and Northeastern, the teams above them in the Hockey East Standings.

They have out-scored the bottom five teams 48-27, but have been outscored 30-13 against the top three teams.

If they want to be a threat, not just in Hockey East but on a national level, they have to find a way to break through against those top three schools.

The Beanpot

Boston University vs Harvard -- consolation game

Boston College vs Northeastern -- championship game

Tuesday at 4:30 PM and 7:30 PM ET

Watch: Both games are available free online through Northeastern's GoNUxstream.

The Beanpot is legendary out east, and since Northeastern is streaming it for free, there are worse ways you could spend a few hours on Tuesday night.

Boston College is the odds-on favorite, but all rules are out the window in this tournament, and plenty of upsets have happened.

You can expect Northeastern to give them all they can handle when the pride of the Beanpot is on the line.

Also worth a look:

  • Maine at Merrimack -- Friday at 2:00 PM ET; Sunday at 2:00 PM ET

Stick Taps and Snark

↑Wisconsin's Emily Clark & Sydney McKibbon, North Dakota's Amy Menke -- All three players reached 100 career points last weekend.

↓Robert Morris -- The Colonials fell a spot in the polls after splitting a weekend series with Syracuse.

↑RIT coach Scott McDonald and Providence coach Bob Deraney -- McDonald earned his 200th career win, all with RIT, while Deraney reached the 300-win plateau in the NCAA.

↓Cornell-- The Big Red also dropped a spot in the rankings after tying Harvard last weekend. Cornell are trying to earn themselves an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and currently sit seventh in the pairwise rankings.

(Photo credit: UMD/Twitter)