Nicole's NCAA Notebook: September 29, 2025

Welcome to the first Notebook of the new season. These publish on Mondays and are a collection of the things I notice and think are worth talking about as I watch games each weekend. As always, make sure you scroll to the end to see some of the best goals scored this week.

• We had our second penalty shot awarded for a puck being covered by a player in the crease in three weeks of game play. Following the crucial call in last season's national championship game, UConn was called for the same infraction and St. Cloud State capitalized, scoring on the ensuing penalty shot.
• Tons of players got their first career point or goal and several rookie goalies had standout performances. One of the nebulous things that no one has seemed to quantify is how quickly freshmen adapt to the college game. There will still be plenty of growing pains, but I thought it was interesting how much of an impact new players made immediately.
• There wasn't much in the way of low-scoring games this weekend. Teams are getting more and more loaded on offense and defenses and goalies have to keep pace. It does take longer for defenses to find their rhythm and settle in - chemistry on offense is generally easier and a little more instinctual. But I do think overall this season will hinge on how well teams are able to control their opponents and keep scoring in check.
• It's amazing how quickly the tenor of a game can change. After a rough outing on Thursday where Boston College couldn't muster any shots on goal in the first and managed just 10 overall, the Eagles looked much better on Friday. They were outshooting Minnesota early in the second and down just 1-0. A questionable penalty call turned into a power play goal for the Gophers and that simultaneously opened the flood gates for UM and deflated BC. Minnesota went on to win that game 11-0.
• That being said, I'm pretty sure the Gophers would have skated circles around most teams in the country the way they played this weekend. There's a depth of firepower and talent on this roster that they haven't had in years. And then were moving the puck like they had it on a string. The no-look and one-touch passes made the defense look like they were standing still. It was clinical and pretty and frankly unlike anything we've seen from them in quite a while. The pace pace of play - not just of one or two skaters streaking down the ice, but while set up in the zone - was so quick. If they're doing that in September, they're only going to get more dangerous as the season continues.
• Penn State looked calm and confident in their weekend sweep of St. Lawrence. After losing to the Saints in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments, the Nittany Lions really pushed back and asserted they have no intention of letting that happen again. I thought PSU might have some growing pains after graduating a couple of key players, but that doesn't seem to be the case. That's a really good sign for a relatively young program. They are solid and established and doing more reloading with talent than rebuilding with the ebbs and flows of different classes.
• Goals of the Week:

Franki Barresi scoring the first-ever goal in Delaware program history

This short-hander from Maine's Gracie Hanson.

Minnesota Duluth rookie Rae Mayer showed off all kinds of gorgeous stick work against Syracuse

A breakway by Megan Woodworth

A heads-up, back-to-the-goal tip in from Holy Cross' Manny Gendron

This give and go from Sarah Paul and Emma Kreisz for Minnesota