NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, Week 3

(6) Minnesota at (7) Minnesota Duluth

Friday at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Central

Watch: Paid stream available on BTN+

Minnesota is jumping into the season with two tough series. They dropped both games at home to Ohio State last weekend and now they head to Duluth. For their part, the Bulldogs will be looking to bounce back from a loss to Minnesota State. Both teams are looking to prove they belong in the Top 10 and can win big games.

The Gophers scored three goals last weekend and that's just generally not going to cut it in the WCHA. Amy Potomak scored a gorgeous goal in game two, but it was the only one the team mustered. They also uncharacteristically gave up eight goals and they're facing a team with one of the best pure goal scorers women's college hockey has seen in Elizabeth Giguere. Minnesota has to step it up at every position or it's going to be a long season.

UMD earned a dominant 7-0 win in their opening game, but were stunned in a 4-2 loss to Mankato on Saturday. That may have been some opening weekend complacency, but it could end up being very costly when conference points are going to be so important. Now the Bulldogs need to reset. They got into penalty trouble in the loss and weren't as good with puck possession as we're used to from them. It's going to be even harder to control the run of play against Minnesota, but if they can settle down and play their game, I like how their offense matches up against the Gopher defense.

(2) Northeastern at Boston University

Friday at 7:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Free streams available on College Sports Live.

Last year's national runners up opened the season with two dominant wins over Holy Cross while Boston University had two convincing wins over New Hampshire.

Northeastern returns basically all of their formidable lineup that went to the national championship game last season. Alina Müller has been out with the injury she suffered during the World Championships, but Chloe Aurard, Katy Knoll, and Skylar Irving have handled the offense just find in her absence.

BU lit the lamp nine times last weekend, something I wasn't expecting from the Terrier offense. Julia Nearis, Mackenna Parker, and Courtney Correia are tied for the lead in points on the team with four each. It's great to see these upperclassmen step up and lead the offense. It's something BU will need to make it through the season successfully.

(4) Colgate at Vermont

Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 4:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Free stream available on College Sports Live.

Colgate has had a spectacular start to the season, reeling off four impressive wins and racking up goals. This already strong group added firepower up front with transfer Dara Grieg and she's fitting in with the Raiders nicely. Kalty Kaltounkova was already a breakout star for Colgate, but she bulked up over the offseason and another trip to the World Championships has helped improve her game even more. These two lead the offense – and are among the highest scorers in the country.

Vermont needed overtime to beat RIT in their first game of the year, but rebounded with a solid 4-0 win in the second game of the series. Theresa Schafzahl has been very good at using her size up front and putting a ton of shots on net. Maude Poulin-Labelle has been stepping up off the blue line to provide some offensive support and I like how she's moving the puck.

Also worth a look:

St. Cloud State at (1) Wisconsin – Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 2:00 PM Central
Syracuse at Clarkson – Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern

Stick Taps and Snark

↑ Minnesota State – The Mavericks earned their first win over Minnesota Duluth since 2016 on Saturday.

↓ Minnesota Duluth – The Bulldogs dropped in the polls after dropping Saturday's game to Mankato.

↑ Colgate – The Raiders are averaging 7.25 goals scored through their first four games and have two of the top three scorers in the country in Dara Greig and Kalty Kaltounkova.

↓ Minnesota – There are five women's college hockey teams in the State of Hockey and the only one without a win is the Gophers.

↑ Syracuse – Their record might not show it, but it's been a strong effort from the Orange to start the season. They've set themselves a tough non-conference schedule. They tied St. Lawrence last weekend and lost in overtime to Clarkson on Friday.

↓ Boston College – They eked out an overtime win in their first game and had a second one-goal win on Saturday, but it wasn't the start to the season the Eagles would have wanted. If they're a bubble team at the end of the season, folks are going to point to these games against Penn State.

(Photo: Minnesota Women's Hockey Twitter)