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 How to Watch for links to all the weekend's games.
(9) Clarkson vs. (1) Wisconsin
Saturday at 2:00 PM Central
There's some good history between these two teams, considering they've only played seven games ever. In 2019, the Badgers beat Clarkson 5-0 in the national semifinal en route to winning the championship. In 2022, they took a 3-1 win over the Golden Knights in the first round of the tournament. Clarkson's only win in their series was a 3-0 victory in 2017 to win the national championship.
Clarkson looked really sharp in the opening few minutes of their regional semifinal win over Boston University on Thursday, but didn't really keep that up throughout the game. The team that raced up the side and sniped a goal and then passed like they could do it in their sleep has a really good chance against the Badgers. The Golden Knights get a lot of scoring from their defense and like to shot from distance and through traffic. That could be effective against Wisconsin, but also leaves a lot up to chance in terms of hoping a puck deflects the right way.
I think Clarkson is going to need to cheat in from the blue line and try to shrink the zone a bit, otherwise those shots will get blocked out front and not get through. They did a good job with turnovers, winning the puck and slowing BU on transition. Those are all things they'll need to do even better on Saturday.
Wisconsin's depth is their biggest advantage. Even as they shortened their bench down to Minnesota last week, fourth line players were being moved to get time with other units. They have four of the top five scorers in the country, the three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier and one of the top three finalists for Goalie of the Year.
The Badgers are going to push the pace. They love to take off in transition anyway, but against Clarkson they're going to try and catch the defense being too involved on offense. Look for this in particular from the top line in general and Casey O'Brien in specific.
The Golden Knights were able to keep BU from stringing together passes, but I don't think that will come easy against Wisconsin. Clarkson has to interrupt the Badgers' flow while UW looks to set up camp in the zone and just consistently test the goalie.
(5) Colgate at (4) Minnesota
Saturday at 2:00 PM Central
These two teams are actually remarkably similar, which is part of what makes this game so compelling. They play a physical game and the fact that the ref won't be from either of their conferences could have a huge bearing on this game. Worst case scenario from a fan perspective here is that every bit of contact is called and the game is played entirely on special teams. We really want to see how these two match up head to head and I hope the officials don't get in the way of that.
Minnesota also doesn't want that because they're a bottom half team on the penalty kill.
Otherwise, the Gophers are third in the country in goals, scoring 3.70 per game. Clarkson is fourth with 3.63 goals per game. The Raiders have the edge on defense, though neither is among the best in the nation. Colgate allowed 1.89 goals per game while Minnesota gives up 2.40. Each are led by a physical, pesky, dynamic goal scorer - Abbey Murphy for the Gophers, who leads the country with 31, and Kalty Kaltounková, who's tied for fourth with 26, for the Raiders.
Both teams have two top lines that do most of their damage. Minnesota's secondary scorers have picked things up a bit more as the season wound down and defenses were putting more pressure on Murphy. But Colgate has Elyssa Biederman, who has fewer goals than Kaltounková but has been consistent and dynamic all over the ice. She's likely the x-factor here. If she has a good game, I give Colgate the edge.
Minnesota has home ice advantage and the driving force of wanting to play for a national championship in their home rink. They played a very good game against Wisconsin in the WCHA title match last weekend, losing in the final seconds. But they also had puck luck, scoring twice with pucks deflecting into the net off defenders. They took a quick lead, but let Wisconsin back into the game.
Colgate seemed to have every advantage but home ice heading into the ECAC title game last weekend, but Cornell scored early and rolled to a 5-1 win. I'm not sure the Raiders were ever really in that game. It was not the kind of game a top five team wants to have and it's a performance they can't come close to repeating in the NCAA tournament. They kind of deflated and disappeared in that game and they'll be in a bit of a similar game against a highly-motivated home team that can score quickly on Saturday.
(6) Minnesota Duluth vs. (3) Cornell
Saturday at 4:00 PM Eastern
All signs pointed to Cornell being in trouble heading into the ECAC Championship game on Saturday after playing into a third overtime against Clarkson the day before. Instead the home team was fired up and rolled to the conference tournament championship. Minnesota Duluth lost a close game to Wisconsin in the WCHA tournament semifinals and then defeated Sacred Heart 6-1 on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament first round.
This quarterfinal features two of the three finalists for Goalie of the Year in Cornell's Annelies Bergmann and UMD's Ève Gascon. While both teams can put the puck in the net, neither is overly prolific on offense, averaging about three goals a game. That's not likely going to get any easier here. Both teams tend to be defense-first and that can sometimes come at the expense of a more prolific offense. Both struggle at times with finding the balance, sometimes getting caught up so much with defensive assignments that they aren't looking for the breakout or ready to transition.
UMD's most dynamic forward is rookie Caitlin Kraemer. Despite a high-scoring game on Tuesday, she did not light the lamp, but added two assists. I think for Kraemer has to be a bigger factor if the Bulldogs are going to pull off an upset here. But Minnesota Duluth also has a history of players that haven't been super prolific all season stepping up in big spots. On Thursday that was Danielle Burgen and Grace Sadura. Bergen scored her sixth and seventh goals of the season while Sadura tallied her 6th.
Fewer than 10 points separate Cornell's top scorer from their 10th-best scorer. This is a well-rounded team that gets contributions from three lines regularly. They aren't necessarily flashy, but they're a well-rounded and complete squad who can wear an opponent down and who are able to meet the moment. They scored twice in the final minute in the ECAC first round to advance, won in 3OT over Clarkson and then put Colgate away in the first 1:37 of the title game.
(8) St. Lawrence vs. (2) Ohio State
Saturday at 6:00 PM Eastern
I didn't have St. Lawrence beating Penn State and maybe they took that personally, because they were in full control of that game. It was a big difference from a year prior, when the two teams skated to a scoreless tie and SLU won in overtime. This year the Saints were in full control from start to finish. They held PSU off at full strength and on the penalty kill and generally looked really solid.
Unfortunately for them, the victory won them the opportunity to take on an ornery and upset Ohio State on their home ice. The Buckeyes lost in the WCHA semifinal to Minnesota and coach Nadine Muzerall was both mad and disappointed in the post game presser, not because her team lost, but because she felt they gave up. It has likely been a tough week in Columbus of both hard work and soul searching.
The Buckeyes are significantly younger than they were last year when they won the title and this season their two top scorers are sophomores. Their inexperience showed last weekend. OSU was going to be a tough opponent for whomever they faced no matter what, but adding in a need to redeem themselves and wipe that memory is going to make them even more difficult.
St. Lawrence has to be defensive without giving up too much of their offensive push. The Saints allow fewer goals per game than OSU, but average 1.3 fewer goals scored. I don't think either team wants this to get into a special teams battle - neither is very good on the penalty kill.
Ohio State puts a lot of pressure on teams at both ends of the ice. They take away time and space in a way not a lot of other teams are capable of. St. Lawrence has to make quick decisions and move the puck with confidence. OSU will look to get them rattled and out of rhythm and once they get puck possession themselves, will hold on to it for long stretches.
On offense, the Buckeyes are very good at second- and third- and fourth- (you get the idea) chance opportunities. They'll look to get position in front of the net for tip ins, but also swarm from the sides and behind the net once the puck gets to the goalie. Clean saves and the ability to clear rebounds will be a big key to keeping them at bay.
(Photo: Twitter/UMD Athletics)
