NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 16
Nicole Haase
- 5 min read

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 16

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 16 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.

Battle in the Burgh

(1) Wisconsin vs. Robert Morris
Colgate vs. (3) Northeastern
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Saturday at 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM Eastern; Sunday at 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM Eastern at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pennsylvania

Watch: Free stream available on YouTube.

There are all kinds of fun and interesting matchups and possibilities here.

The last time Wisconsin and Robert Morris met, the Badgers ended the Colonials' season in the 2017 NCAA Quarterfinals. It was RMU's first ever NCAA berth. Robert Morris is basically playing at home and have learned a lot since that game. They've been receiving votes in the national polls and look like they'll give Wisconsin a tougher time than the 7-0 loss in 2017. The Badgers are 8-1-0 all time against the Colonials.

Colgate holds a slim 4-3-0 all-time advantage in the series against Northeastern. The Huskies have the second-highest scoring offense in the country (behind Wisconsin), averaging four goals per game, and the second-best team defense, allowing just 0.88 goals per game. There's a far narrower margin between offense and defense for Colgate, so it'll be an uphill battle. They have to beat the number two goalie in the country in Aerin Frankel and they have to lock it down on defense.

Should Wisconsin win, we'd either get a rare meeting between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 3 Northeastern, or a rematch of the only game the Badgers and Colgate have ever played, in which the Raiders eliminated Wisconsin in double overtime in the 2018 Frozen Four.

Maine at (8) Boston University

Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Free stream available via Hockey East.

Boston University owns the all-time series between these two 29-15-2, but the teams have split their last four meetings and the Terriers' last five wins have all been by a single goal.

BU is on a five-game win streak and they've won six of their last eight. Jesse Compher's return from injury has powered their offense. No player in the country has scored more points over the past five games than Compher has and she's factored into three of their last five game-winning goals.

Celine Tedenby and Tereza Vanišová lead Maine. Vanišová was recently named Hockey East co-Player of the Month and Tedenby is the team's leading scorer with 12 goals and 14 assists. The Black Bears are a team with a lot of potential that haven't been able to consistently put everything together. They currently sit eighth in Hockey East of fifth place and have games in hand against New Hampshire.

Minnesota Cup at UMD

St. Cloud State vs. Bemidji State
Minnesota State vs. (10) Minnesota Duluth
Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM Central

Watch: Stream available on FloHockey.

When North Dakota closed their women's program, the other WCHA teams ended up with two more open weekends on their schedule. Last year, the schools in Minnesota began filling one of those weekends with the Minnesota Cup. There are five Division I teams in Minnesota, so one team always sits out. Last year Minnesota hosted and this year they are the odd team out.

Minnesota Duluth hosts this year's Minnesota Cup, and they'll get the marquee game times each day, win or lose. They face Mankato in their first game of the weekend. The Bulldogs have won ten straight against Minnesota State and have lost just seven games to MSU.

St. Cloud State has struggled this season and have yet to win a game in conference play. These games don't count as conference matches, but it still doesn't look good for the Huskies as they face Bemidji State. The Beavers swept SCSU in early December and have won six straight against the Huskies. Overall, the series is much closer, with BSU holding a 45-38-9 advantage.

Also worth a look:

  • Providence at Vermont – Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM Eastern
  • Mercyhurst at (4) Cornell– Saturday at 3:00 PM and Sunday at 1:00 PM Eastern
  • Yale at (2) Minnesota – Saturday at 4:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM Central

Stick Taps and Snark

↑ Clarkson's Elizabeth Giguère – With two goals in the Golden Knights' 5-3 win over Union, she now has 179 career points, third most in program history. The junior forward reached the total in just 101 games played. She is three points away from moving into second place and 35 points from becoming the program's all-time leader.

↓IIHF – The international governing body and sponsor of the world championships at all levels for men and women, did not ensure proper streaming of the U18 Women's World Championship before the tournament started. They responded to criticism and had an improved set up by the medal rounds, but it shouldn't have need to come to that. The stream did not have commentary of any kind. Despite going into overtime, the IIHF tweeted a single time about the gold medal game before it happened, instead putting all their efforts into live-tweeting the men's U20 tournament (the World Juniors) and then posting postgame content about that. It took them two and a half hours to post about the women's U18 results. They posted five other tweets about the World Juniors in the time between the end of regulation and their eventual acknowledgement of the U18 women. At its peak, the online-only stream had more than 10,000 viewers. Imagine if the IIHF had sent out the link more than once, hyped up the game, or urged people to watch as the game headed to overtime. Plenty of other people did that, but they shouldn't have had to carry the load.

↑ Princeton's Sarah Fillier – With a six point game (5A, 1G) on December 7th, she reached 50 career assists in just 40 games played. It was the first five-assist performance in Division I this year and it was the first time a Princeton player had accomplished the feat in 14 years.

↓RPI – The Engineers are the last team in the country without a win.

↑ Clarkson coach Matt Desrosiers – With Clarkson's win over Union before the break, Desrosiers won his 300th game as the Golden Knight's head coach.

↑ Wisconsin's Daryl Watts – Her 49 points led the country at the winter break. Her point total through 20 games is the second-best in school history and was just three points behind her pace at this point in the season when she won the Patty Kazmaier Award with Boston College as a freshman. Wisconsin's Meghan Hunter put up 54 points through 20 games in the 2000-2001 season.

↑ Maine's Tereza Vanišová – With her 117th point on December 6th against Vermont, Vanišová became the Black Bears' all-time career scoring leader. She has 58 goals and 59 assists in 110 games played.

Photo credit: Northeastern Women's Hockey Twitter.

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NCAA minnesota duluth Minnesota State wisconsin Robert Morris colgate northeastern St. cloud state bemidji state Matt Desrosiers elizabeth giguere daryl watts RPI sarah fillier IIHF tereza vanisova u18 women's world championships 2020 u18 women's world championships ice hockey