NCAA Women's Hockey: What to Watch, November 11-13

Come back each week for a preview of interesting NCAA games coming up and some thoughts on what happened in the previous week's action.

(7) Northeastern vs. Boston College (home and home)

Friday at 1:30 PM and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Friday's game broadcast on ESPNU, both games available on via a paid stream on ESPN+.

It's a big week for location-based rivalries. The BC and Northeastern arenas are about five miles apart and the teams will face off in a home and home series this weekend. Last year, the Huskies swept the three-game series while the Eagles picked up a win in the Beanpot semifinal. The Eagles hold a slight edge in the all-time series, leading it 47-46-7.

Boston College has lost three of their last four, including a sweep last weekend by Connecticut. A big focus for the Eagles will be getting pucks in the net. They are averaging four goals a game in their wins, but just a single goal in their losses (which include two shutouts). When things are good, they're very good, but when they're bad, they're rough. They've struggled at times with even getting shots on goal, something that won't get any easier against the Huskies.

Northeastern is coming off a weekend sweep of New Hampshire in which they scored 13 goals over the two games. Not only have they been (expectedly) prolific on offense, but they also are tied for the stingiest defense in the country, allowing just 0.92 goals per game. They're also nearly perfect on the penalty kill, allowing just two extra attacker goals so far.

(11) Clarkson at St. Lawrence

Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Paid stream on ESPN+.

These two schools are a whole 11 miles apart (on Route 11) and have a long-standing rivalry. They played Thursday night, with Clarkson taking a 5-4 win in overtime. These will be non-conference games. The teams met once already in the IceBreaker tournament, which Clarkson won 3-1. They'll play at least two more times after this weekend.

Clarkson has the advantage with a 33-24-8 record over the Saints, though each team has excelled on their home ice. St. Lawrence has a 19-12-1 record at Appleton Arena, while the Golden Knights hold a 21-4-7 record at Cheel in Potsdam. This game will be a home game for St. Lawrence.

This was an important outing for the Golden Knights as they got back on track after a big loss to Cornell in which they only scored once. They'd been averaging just three goals a game, so a big offensive showing should do good things for their confidence and momentum going forward.

(10) Providence at (14) Connecticut

Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern

Watch: Paid stream on ESPN+.

Providence have worked their way up to 10th in the polls on the strength of a 9-2-1 record so far. The losses came in an early game against St. Lawrence and to Northeastern two weeks ago. Connecticut has had a slower start to the season, but bring a three-game win streak into this series.

The Friars hold a large advantage in the all-time record between these two, but the last ten games have been incredibly close. Providence holds the slight edge at 4-3-3. They have gotten a big boost this season from two newcomers - rookie Reichen Kirchmair and grad transfer Nemo Neubauerová. Kirchmair is second among all rookies in the country with eight goals and leads the Friars. They also have one of the best goalies in the country in Sandra Abstreiter. Her .944 save percentage is eighth in the country and she's tied for first in the nation with four shutouts already.

UConn as been getting contributions up and down their lineup as they look to fill the holes left big a big graduating class last season. The Huskies aren't necessarily young, but they have a lot of less-experienced players getting the chance to take on much bigger roles. I think we saw some of those growing pains and we'll probably see more of them. But they seem to be finding their rhythm and a win or two this weekend would help keep them on an upward trajectory.

Also worth a look:

(7) Duluth at St. Cloud State – Friday at 6:00 PM Eastern
Franklin Pierce at Saint Anselm – Friday and Saturday at 6:00 PM Eastern

Stick Taps and Snark

↑ Ohio State's Emma Maltais – With an assist in the Buckeyes' game on Saturday, she became the program's all-time leading scorer with 171 career points.

↓ Fewer international tournaments – The reason that a number of teams are not playing this week: this is usually when the Four Nations tournament would be.