Nicole's NCAA Notebook: March 10, 2025

• The conference semifinals and finals were spectacular and though I doubt it was planned, the games were spread out throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, meaning that even while being in person attending one tournament, I was able to watch and keep up with everyone else, too. Staggering the games and allowing fans to experience all the great moments of the postseason and not just have to pick one team is truly the best way to grow the game and gets more fans.
• It's a shame that the Hockey East championship was the only game televised.
• I really expected to see residual effects of the 3 OT game in the start of the Cornell/Colgate game and instead the Big Red scored two goals - including what would turn out to be the game-winning goal - two minutes into the game. At times this year I've nitpicked about how important picking up or dropping conference points can be in the long run. Cornell won the regular season title - and therefore had home ice advantage this weekend - by a two point margin. And I feel pretty confident in saying the outcome would not have been the same for the Big Red if they weren't playing in front of a loud home crowd and sleeping in their own beds.
• I found the one redeeming feature of the single mounted camera in the stands as the viewpoint for a game stream on Saturday night - the Sacred Heart fans were delightful to watch as their team beat LIU for the NEWHA championship. Folks were dialed in to every play and even though I had the sound down while I finished writing up my WCHA game story, I felt their energy. After a busy and long weekend for me, it was great to cap off the weekend of games with the joy they all radiated.
• One of my goals is to get to see games in some of the old barns out east. The games at Cornell made me itch to go watch a game at Lynah. I'm imagining some sort of road trip, though that might not be feasible and be the Midwesterner in me assuming I can just drive everywhere.
• The NCAA Tournament bracket is out and the committee did exactly as we expected. Seeding follows the Pairwise with the exception of St. Lawrence swapping with Boston University in order to avoid an ECAC vs. ECAC matchup with Clarkson in the 8 spot and St. Lawrence in the 9 spot.
• Boston University and Northeastern went long stretches in the HE title game without registering a shot on goal. The defenses were playing a strong game, but that wasn't the whole story. It was weird to watch so much puck movement not come to fruition and I worry for BU against Clarkson's blue line.
• Maybe the most surprising team of the weekend was Minnesota, whose final month of the regular season could only be described as turbulent. They were 4-4, earning the only four-game losing streak in program history and were outscored 29-18 over the final eight games. But in the post season, they are averaging five goals a game, outscoring opponents 25-14 over the last five games. They gelled in a way that hadn't seemed to yet this season and it might be that the Gophers are peaking at the right time.
• Boston University coach Tara Watchorn became the first former player to coach her team to the Hockey East tournament title. Her team presented her with the game puck after their overtime victory and it was a very sweet moment. At just 34 and in the second year at the helm of her alma mater, Watchorn is just getting started. But she makes me excited for this next generation of former players that have begun coaching.
• Goals you need to see:

You really have to see both angles of this championship-winning pass from Casey O'Brien and goal from Sarah Wozniewicz, scored with 24.5 seconds left in regulation.

BU's Sydney Healey's championship-winning OT winner

Lily Delianedis' semifinal game winner in the 3rd overtime

The gorgeous moves from Penn State's Brianna Brooks

The whole team effort that ended in this goal for Sacred Heart's Isabella Chaput