↑ Union – With their 3-2 victory over #9 Cornell on Friday, the Garnet Chargers earned their first-ever win over a top-10 team. It was just their second-ever win over Cornell and their first at the Big Red's rink. They are playing quick, smart, fearless hockey and it looks good on them. I know the players and staff believe in what the program is capable of, but even still, I don't think anyone dreamed this team would be sitting second in the ECAC - behind Brown, of all teams - to start November.
↓ Clarkson and Cornell – Both teams dropped games on Friday. For Clarkson it was their third straight. They lost just five games all of last season. Cornell has started the season 2-3-1. They each had a bounce back win on Saturday, but have work to do to get their teams to where they thought they could be nationally this season. Conference points are at a premium and I believe seeding is going to be crucial for the conference tournament and may well decide which teams make the NCAA Tournament and which do not.
↑ Milestones – Minnesota's Ella Huber reached 100 pts, Quinnipiac's Kendall Cooper set a new program record for points by a defender with 99 and Colgate's Kalty Kaltounková became the second Raider in program history to record 200 career points this weekend.
↓ All the hockey happening at once – Midday on Saturday there were more than a dozen games happening and somehow every single one of them was at intermission at the same time - some at first intermission, some at second. Beyond that, I just wish I wasn't having to choose which teams to watch, but with 18 puck drops between 12:30 and 3 pm my time, it's simply impossible to keep up with everything. I know game times try to maximize in person attendance, making this mostly a me problem, but man was I frustrated as I flipped around through games.
↑ UMD's Mary Kate O'Brien – I will forever yell about how badass and amazing the women who play collegiate hockey are and here's another example. I'm told the redshirt junior was the driver for creating this video/social media post about the importance of voting.
It’s your voice. Vote.#WCHAGOVOTE pic.twitter.com/Y4cBWj0vSe
— UMD Women's Hockey (@UMDWHockey) November 3, 2024
↓ Special teams – Brown and Lindenwood are struggling on the penalty kill, executing at only about 58%. Yale is 0-for-7 so far on the power play in their young season while Assumption is 1-for-28. Northeastern (10%), St. Thomas (7%), Maine (8%), Minnesota State (11%) and Bemidji State (11%) are all struggling with the player advantage out of the gate
↑ St. Thomas goalie Dani Strom – The freshman has been phenomenal to start her collegiate career, particularly in Saturday's 1-0 OT loss to #2 Ohio State. It wasn't just that she was making great saves - she was poised, well-positioned, didn't get flustered and had spectacular rebound control. She made a career-high 39 saves and she did not give the Buckeyes much in the way of second-change opportunities. She pushed pucks wide, covered up quickly and basically put on a prime time performance in just her sixth career game.
(Photo: Wikipedia/Fanny Schertzer)
