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. Check out Thursday's How to Watch for links to all the weekend's games.
Brown at (4) Cornell
Friday at 6:00 PM Eastern
Yale at (4) Cornell
Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
For a conference wrapping up play this week, there is still so much unsettled. It feels like I could write a couple thousand words on ECAC games alone this week and none of the ranked teams are even playing each other. There's plenty to figure out down the table in terms of who finishes where, but a lot of things hinge on Cornell just holding their 3.5 point lead atop the standings. The Big Red basically need three points this weekend to secure their seventh ECAC regular season title.
But while everyone below them in the ECAC standings is focused on finalizing position for the conference tournament, Cornell also has an eye on the NPI, as well as the results in Minneapolis and St. Cloud this weekend. After the Gophers' losses at Wisconsin, Cornell has the opportunity to overtake Minnesota in the Pairwise and move into the top three. At the moment, that's the difference between playing #5 Colgate and getting to face the winner of a game between Minnesota Duluth and LIU.
The Big Red are on a nine-game unbeaten streak. They last played travel partners Brown and Yale back in early November, taking a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs and a 2-1 victory over the Bears. Cornell has improved as the season has progressed and they have one of the best goalies in the country, but I'm not sure two goals will be enough against either of their opponents this week.
Yale and Brown are both fighting for position in the ECAC tournament. The Bulldogs currently sit sixth and would receive a first-round bye. But Princeton is just 2.5 points back and Brown is a point behind them. Every team in this triad is pretty desperate for points and the two visiting teams don't have much to lose. The pressure is on and the Big Red have to show they're capable of performing under the spotlight. The title is theirs to lose after Colgate left points on the table, going to OT in three of their last four games and only coming out with two wins in those games. Brown and Yale would love nothing more than to play spoiler.
(14) Connecticut vs Providence (home and home)
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
Hockey East has another weekend of the regular season after this one, but UConn is looking to push their lead atop the standings are far as they can this weekend as they close out next weekend with two games against Boston University, who sit one point behind the Huskies.
This conference has been so close all season, with no one team being able to separate themselves or consistently move through their schedule, so it's probably safe to assume that they only predictable thing in Hockey East the next two weeks will be chaos. No one has an easy path, but if I were Connecticut, I'd be a little extra wary of the Friars. Obviously they don't want to be scared, but I wouldn't be surprised if practice and tape review were just a little more focused.
Despite currently sitting fifth in the standings, the Friars have caused problems for both Northeastern and Boston College in recent weeks, putting significant dents in both teams' chances at a title by sweeping the other Huskies and earning four of six points from BC.
These two haven't played since mid-October when Connecticut won 3-2. Where the Huskies excel is in net with Tia Chan and Megan Warrener, but they'll need to find another level of offense in the closing weeks of the season if they're going to keep advancing. Freshman Claire Murdoch has been a standout, but she needs help and can't be the only offensive threat.
(11) St. Cloud State vs. (3) Minnesota (home and home)
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 2:00 PM Central
Minnesota plays this week while Wisconsin and Ohio State are idle because this is the weekend of games they moved to early January to be able to play at Wrigley Field.
As mentioned above, this series is less about WCHA standing and more about national rankings for the Gophers. But St. Cloud State is also gunning for some Pairwise movement as they sit just 0.051 points back of #9 Quinnipiac in the NPI. Things condensed mightily in this part of the Pairwise and a quality win bonus from defeating the Gophers would go a long way for SCSU.
Minnesota was pretty beat up last weekend, with several scratches and injuries. We don't know yet who'll be on the ice for them, but they have the added challenge of playing on St. Cloud's bigger ice sheet in the second game of this home and home and if their roster is already thin, making that work on the second day of a series is going to be tough.
Importantly, the Gophers were pretty shut down on offense against Wisconsin and St. Cloud State's defense and goaltending are going to be pushing to duplicate that situation this weekend. The Huskies can grind teams down and they have two very good goaltenders. Minnesota can't be content to working the puck around the outside and shooting from distance. Conditioning and bench depth are going to be key here and I also expect short-handed scoring to be a factor. These will be physical games and special teams will be on the ice a good amount. SCSU has proven to have very good instincts for when to just the play and take off. Speed and transition hasn't proven to be a strength for Minnesota and I think the Huskies are going to try and exploit that, especially at home on the larger ice sheet when the Gophers are tired in game two.
(Photo: X/UConn Women's Hockey)
