Nicole's NCAA Notebook: November 4, 2024

• I don't want to keep just saying CHAOS! but the outcomes continue to be surprising and it feels like the only word that captures the uncertainty of each week's games. It's fair to say that we should not longer assume anyone will beat anyone else. The best part is that the surprising wins and losses aren't exclusive to one or two conferences - across the board, week to week, teams are showing up and showing out and winning games they wouldn't have just a year or two ago. My apologies if I become a broken record about this, but it's just so exciting and encouraging and important for this sport for there to be upsets and parity.
  
• Just to clarify what I mean when I talk about chaos - Harvard beat reigning Hockey East champ Connecticut before losing to Union and RPI. This weekend, they rolled over Yale 5-1. Heading into that game, Yale had beaten Princeton and tied Quinnipiac. Or take Ohio State, who came into the season ranked #1 as reigning national champions. With the exception of the Ice Breaker tournament they just hosted, they have gone to overtime or shootout in their last four series, beating St. Lawrence and St. Thomas in overtime and tying Minnesota and St. Cloud state (winning the first shootout, but losing the second). St. Thomas, who was 10-26-1 last season, had a shootout win over St. Cloud last week and took OSU to overtime this weekend. I could go on, but the results, they don't feel like they make any sense!
  
• In the second game of their weekend series against Wisconsin, St. Cloud State coach Brian Idalski pulled his goalie six different times throughout the game. All in all, Emilia Kyrkkö was out of the net for 6:34 total. It started in the second period, when the Huskies got a 5:00 power play and then had a 5-on-3 for the final minute or so of that power play. They didn't score 6-on-3, but Idalski tried the move on subsequent power plays and then with just more than two minutes left in the game. The moves didn't end up paying off, but also didn't work against St. Cloud until the very end of the game. It was risky, but proactive and I have to say I didn't hate it, even if it was something I don't think I've seen before. It's definitely a high risk, high reward move, but had it resulted in a goal that could have shifted momentum, we'd have all thought it was genius. When you're already down 2-0 and likely to lose a game, there's not a lot to lose by trying something different. I like the outside the box thinking from Idalski.
  
• These are all small things that don't require a lot of explanation, but I love the defense from Minnesota State, the transitions and rushes from Union, the way Holy Cross doesn't ever feel like they're out of a game, New Hampshire's fearlessness on defense, Boston College's confidence, Franklin Pierce's strong start, how Quinnipiac is quietly putting things together and the way both Cornell and Colgate ended the weekend with redemption.
  
• UMD and Minnesota State did seven full rounds of shootout without a single goal. The shootout ultimately went eight rounds and was won on a single goal, but UMD's Tova Henderson.
  
• Goals you have to see:

This slick 1 v 1 play off the boards to herself by Harvard rookie Scout Oudemool

Halle Mules' inside-out first-career goal for St. Lawrence

Penn State's Abby Stonehouse with the steal and goal

The turnover, drop pass and one-timer from Harvard's Sophie Ensley to Antonia Dinges