Nicole's NCAA Notebook: September 28, 2026

• Penn State rookie goalie Morgan Stickney got baptism by fire on Thursday, facing #2 Ohio State. She played spectacularly, making 44 saves in a tough 2-1 overtime loss.
• I'm loving what we're seeing down the line sheet already - Minnesota State's second line of Mercury Bischoff, Zoe Lopez and Sophie Stramel was huge in their second game. Wisconsin's third line is Adéla Šapovalivová centering Nela Lopušanová and Maggie Scannel and they looked dangerous. Clarkson's two hat-trick scorers on Saturday, Layla Matthew and Raedyn Spademan, were third-liners in that game.
• Let's go ahead and put out the call now for PA announcers and stream broadcasters to learn how to pronounce the names of players in the game you're calling. If you don't know, ask the SID. Or the player. Or literally anyone.
• And piggybacking on that, in this day and age, there is no reason not to have pronounciation information on a team's roster webpage and/or the individual player's webpage. Putting it on the linesheet that isn't publicly available is not the answer. I'd like audio pronunciation, but if nothing else, write it out phonetically.
• Seriously. This is basic respect necessary from both sides. The number of times I heard a butchered name but could not find pronunciation guidance anywhere this week was appalling.
• Do we think Alex Law remembered what she's capable of? She was a standout for me at the 2023 U18 World Championships, tallying three goals and four assists and ending up fourth in scoring behind Nela Lopušanová, Caitlin Kraemer and Maggie Scannell. But she never seemed to find her footing in two years at Boston University, where she also struggled to stay out of the penalty box. She played just five games with Quinnipiac last season, but she had four goals and an assist in that limited time. Now on the opening weekend she scored in each of her team's games and was visible all over the ice. She could be a game-changer this season.
• Goals of the week:

It's Alice Sauriol's World, we're just living in it. The St. Cloud State Captain had three goals and three assists as her team upset #7 UConn in a weekened sweep.

St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey on Instagram: “The Captain ©️ nets our first goal of the season‼️ 💻 B1G+ #HuskyHockey 🏒 | #GoHuskies 🐾 | @alicesauriol”

194 likes, 3 comments - scsuhuskies_whk on September 25, 2026: “The Captain ©️ nets our first goal of the season‼️ 💻 B1G+ #HuskyHockey 🏒 | #GoHuskies 🐾 | @alicesauriol”.

Instagram

St. Thomas' Whitney Horton had a gorgeous goal and the reply doesn't do it justice. Loved how she worked through contact in traffic.

Union's Karianne Englebert with the OT game-winning breakaway goal

Joy Dunne makes it look easy for the Buckeyes' overtime game-winner

Nice moves and strong skating from Delaware's Tiana McIntyre

The control from Quinnipiac's Alex Law