NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 18
Nicole Haase
- 3 min read

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 18

NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 18 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.

(5) Ohio State at (1) Minnesota

Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday 4:30 PM Central

Watch: Friday's game is available on a paid stream from FloHockey. Saturday's game broadcast on Fox Sports North.

These two meet as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. On Saturday, they're slated to play outdoors in Minneapolis, where the forecast calls for a foot or more of snow, single digit temperatures and up to 30 mph winds. There is apparently a contingency for them to move inside, but HDM had teams play in below zero conditions last year, so I'd be surprised if it happens.

Ohio State has quietly been inching their way up the rankings the past few weeks, taking advantage of stumbles by other teams while splitting series with Cornell and Princeton before taking care of Minnesota State last weekend.

The Mavericks have been a thorn in the Buckeyes' side in recent years, but Ohio State played a clinical and complete series at home last weekend to earn 8-4 and 6-0 wins.

Minnesota is back in the top spot this weekend after Wisconsin was beat by Bemidji State. The Buckeyes are the Gophers' only loss so far this season. The teams split a series in late October, with Minnesota winning 4-2 and Ohio State winning 4-3.

It's impossible to predict how weather and ice conditions will affect the outcome of Saturday's game, but it should be some very good hockey.

(9) Harvard at (4) Cornell

Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Stream available on ESPN+.

Both teams struggled a bit last week, as Harvard lost to Quinnipiac while Cornell tied Union. It's a tougher weekend for the Crimson, who'll face Colgate on Friday night before facing off with Cornell. The Big Red will face Dartmouth before the top-ten meeting with Harvard.

These are two strong defensive teams with very good goalies, though Cornell is still allowing less than one goal per game. The Crimson have to step it up and move the puck around to try to break down the Big Red blue line if they want to come away with a win.

Cornell was stifled by Union and could not put quality shots on net. It can be easy to get frustrated in that situation and Harvard goalie Lindsay Reed could give them just as hard a time finding twine. The Big Red have to be patient and not overthink this.

Providence at New Hampshire

Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Free stream available via Hockey East.

New Hampshire is currently in sixth place in Hockey East while Providence is a point back, in sixth place. Connecticut is currently fourth, holding the last spot for home advantage in the first round of the playoffs, just two points ahead of UNH. With UConn playing Northeastern this weekend, there's a great opportunity for one of these teams to gain some ground.

Just seven points separate second place from eighth place in Hockey East. While it's unlikely Maine will catch BC, there is still very little separating the teams in the middle and moving up a spot or two could would make a big difference come tournament time.

New Hampshire won their first meeting 6-2, but both teams have some big wins and some confusing losses on their schedule so far. For the Wildcats, Meghara McManus, Carlee Turner and Taylor Wenczkowski have been leading the offense. They work well together on the ice and can do some creative and interesting things with the puck. For Providence, Sara Hjalmarsson and Whitney dove are the leading scorers. Statistically, the teams are very similar and I'd imagine these will be two well-matched, hard-fought games.  

Also worth a look:

  • (3) Northeastern vs Connecticut – Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
  • Syracuse at Robert Morris – Friday at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
  • (7) Clarkson vs St. Lawrence – Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 Eastern

Stick Taps and Snark

↑ Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel – Became the first goaltender to ever shut out Boston College in back-to-back games and the first goalie to shut out BC in all three games of a season series as she made 51 saves in 6-0 and 3-0 wins last weekend.

↓Clarkson – The Golden Knights fell to no. 7 in the polls after a loss to Yale.

↓ Wisconsin – The Badgers took their second loss of the season - a 3-2 defeat by Bemidji State - last weekend and fell out of the top spot. The Badgers are idle this weekend.

(Photo: Providence Women's Hockey)

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NCAA providence new hampshire Cornell harvard Aerin Frankel ohio state minnesota northeastern connecticut syracuse Robert Morris clarkson st. lawrence