Nicole's NCAA Notebook: December 2, 2024

• There was a limited slate of games but the outcomes continue to be surprising. Kudos to St. Thomas for taking #5 Clarkson to overtime in Nashville and to Yale for outlasting Quinnipiac to get a little revenge from last year's loss in the Nutmeg Classic. The Bulldogs earned the title of best in Connecticut with a shootout win. Of course, there were also some major blowouts. I like the small tournaments but some of the non-conference matchups were really lopsided.
• Boston College made a bit of a statement with a 3-0 win over Northeastern at the Huskies' rink in a game televised on NESN. The Eagles are now tied with Connecticut for second in Hockey East and both teams are just four points back of Boston University.
• It's about time we have more hockey dogs in women's college hockey. To me, Rider is perfect.

(honestly, be happy I didn't only post that, because I was tempted)

• Minnesota Frosts' Dominique Petrie scoCornred the game-tying goal late in regulation on Sunday in the team's season opener and it made me think about how she likely would not have been drafted after her career at Harvard and how important the availability of the fifth year was for her. She had 71 points in three years at Harvard (she was injured her senior year) and in one season at Clarkson as a grad transfer she had 35 points. There are plenty of opinions about that fifth year of eligibility, but put Petrie down as an example of how important it can be to not just a college career, but beyond.
• There's basically one more week of games before teams break until the new year. There are a small handful of games the following weekend, but for all intents and purposes, we're at the midpoint of the season.
• Just a reminder that my college coverage will be on break to start January as I'll be in Finland covering the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships.
• Goals you need to see:

BC's Sammy Taber nearly loses the puck, regains it and drops it off for Abby Newhook

Kirsten Simms starts this play in her own end and finishes it with a goal

The angle on this shot from Charlotte Sontag to score Holy Cross' first D1 hat trick

A behind-the-back pass from Audrey Knapp and a spin-and-shoot from Hannah Johnson for Providence.

I have never seen anything like this and had to watch it several times just to catch what happened. Avery Myers's strong forecheck for St. Cloud State pays off big.

Colgate's Elyssa Biederman's bonkers behind-the-back, through-the-legs pass to Kalty Kaltounková