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.
(4) Cornell vs. (14) Colgate (home and home)
Friday and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern
The Big Red are one of two unbeaten teams left in the country and they're doing it in dominant fashion, scoring more than four goals a game and allowing opponents just 0.7 goals per game. Unfortunately for them, that doesn't put them in the driver's seat in the ECAC, where Quinnipiac has also been off to a hot start.
Colgate has had a tough start to the season and looking to get back on track. After finishing first or second in the confernece the past few seasons, they're currently 1-2-1 in ECAC play and sit eighth. There's a lot of season left, but they're 5-6-1 overall - the last time the Raiders finished a season below .500 was 2014-15. They have one win in the last four games, having split last weekend's series with RIT. The problems have been on defense. They're allowing as many goals (3.30 per game) as they are scoring and are 35th in the country in team defense. While I do think that if there are any games Colgate can shake off their funk and really gear up for, it will be these against Cornell, it certainly won't be easy. I don't think they can rely on outscoring the Big Red, what with Annelies Bergman in net.
On the other end, Cornell leads the country in both power play and penalty kill, is second in the country in team defense and fifth overall in team offense. Everything is working for them and they look poised to make another run at the Frozen Four. Freshman Nora Curtis has been a standout. Her five goals lead the team and her nine points are tied for the most with Lindzi Avar, who is continuing to build her game. There's not a lot to pick apart for the Big Red. They are solid across all the zones and are playing like they've been on the ice for twice as long as they have.
Franklin Pierce at Stonehill
Friday and Saturday at 6:00 PM Eastern
Saint Anselm took a pretty commanding lead in the NEWHA standings last weekend and are now seven points ahead of Stonehill and nine points ahead of Franklin Pierce. That means both of these teams will be looking to get an edge and close the gap. Assumption sits between them in the standings, so the fight is on. Every point is going to count, but especially head to head.
The Ravens split a series with LIU last weekend, losing 0-2 before coming back and winning 3-0. Rookie defender Melanie Targosz was named conference defender of the week thanks in part to her first career goal in that second game. It took a few games for her to find her feet, but she's been putting more shots on goal the past few games and looks to be an important part of FPU's success moving forward. Jill Hertl continues to be the strength in net for Franklin Pierce and they've added more offense this season, which has helped them be in the top half of the stnadings so far.
Stonehill has a six-game unbeaten streak ended by Assumption last weekend. They've been splitting time in net with two goalies and both are among the statistical leaders in the conference. But defense hasn't been the team's strongest suit and they need to tighten that up without giving up anything on offense. Maddi Achtyl continues to be the biggest offensive driver on the team, but it's not ideal that two of the players tied for second in points are defenders.
(1) Wisconsin at (10) St. Cloud State
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern
Both of these teams are returning to the ice after taking a bye last weekend during the international break. The rest appears to have provided Wisconsin with ample time to get healthy, as all their players took part in practices this week. Several Badgers played in the Rivalry Series, so didn't get to rest, but on the up side for UW fans, Laila Edwards looked much stronger and more sure playing for USA than she did a week before against Minnesota in her first time on the ice in several weeks after suffering a lower body injury.
Wisconsin suffered their first loss of the season last time out, splitting a weekend series with Minnesota. The Gophers used a strong third period in the first game of the weekend to dismantle the Badgers 5-1, but UW responded with a 7-2 win in the second game. They have three players in the top five in scoring, including KK Harvey, who leads all defenders with 20 points. They lead the country in team offense and are third in team defense, power play and penalty kill. Goalie Ava McNaughton is also ranked third nationally. However, the series agianst Minnesota showed some holes in the Badger defense in particular.
St. Cloud State is closing out a brutal stretch of their schedule where they've played every other ranked team in the conference in succession and thus far they are just 1-7-1 in the WCHA with the one win coming in overtime against St. Thomas. Where goaltending has been likely the Huskies' strongest suit in recent years, things haven't been quite as stalwart this season. SCSU is giving up more goals than they are scoring and struggling to hold possession and play their game. They've been very effective in using their speed, taking off in transition and scoring on breakaways, but it's unlikely they'll find quite so much open ice against Wisconsin. They have to be better at progressing up the ice and being able to establish themselves in the zone, instead of just one-and-done shots that might not even be on frame.
(Photo: Cornell women's hockey/X)
