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.
(1) Wisconsin at (2) Ohio State
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
Time for another installment of this multi-chapter dramedy. Wisconsin will be missing three players, including two of their most expereinced defenders, while Ohio State will be missing two forwards as all are at a Hockey Canada camp this week. (We talk about this on this week's second episode of the PodKaz over at USCHO).
This weekend will be the 18th and 19th straight times they've met as the #1 and #2 teams in the polls. They won't play again until the final weekend of the regular season, meaning whoever comes out on top this weekend is making a big statement. The Buckeyes want to assert some dominance and show that they don't intend to suffer the same end of the season result. The WCHA coaches picked them over UW in the preseason poll, but national voters have kept the Badgers atop the polls so far this season.
Ohio State retained more of their roster from last season and is missing fewer key pieces while also playing at home. That does not bode well for the Badgers, who have been shaky on defense at times with a full set of defender pairings. They are lucky to have Ava McNaughton back in net after it seemed like she may have a much more serious injury. Wisconsin started slow in their first few games and will not have the luxury of time and space to figure things out in Columbus. They have to be clicking early on and they have to bury their chances.
Goaltending is the biggest question so far for the Buckeyes, who have used three different goalies in their first four games. Rowan Houweling has the two starts and seems like she'll get at least one game this weekend. OSU will have to do a good job getting in front of shots and clogging lanes, but their best forward at that is Jocelyn Amos, who will also be away this weekend.
I'd imagine this will end up with a split, but even if we're no closer to seeing where these two might differ, it's going to be amazing hockey to watch.
(8) St. Cloud State at (14) Colgate
Friday at 6:30 PM and Saturday at 5:00 PM Eastern
The Huskies are 4-0 to start the season for just the second time in program history (and the second time in three years). They've defeated ranked teams in all four of those games and find themselves in the top ten. They've had great contributions from Alice Sauriol and Maria Mikaelyan offensively, but it's not just been those two - 15 players have at least a point already.
Colgate had a pair of wins over RIT last weekend but should face a tougher test from the Huskies this week. The Raiders are still trying to figure out their identity now that some of the biggest names in their program history have graduated over the past few seasons. Alexia Aubin and Emma Pais lead the way offensive, but there's a lot of interesting young talent on this roster. They may need some time to find their footing - how much they need may determine the course of Colgate's season.
SCSU is fast and crafty. They've put on the pressure in the first few weeks, forcing turnovers and immediately creating goal-scoring opportunities from them. They're full of confidence and frankly are a team that have nothing to lose. They're playing above expectations and have put themselves in a really great position. There's a freedom that comes with being unpredictable and St. Cloud is playing like they have no restrictions.
(7) Northeastern at Providence
Friday at 2:00 PM Eastern
Northeastern is coming off a shocking loss to RPI last weekend while Providence has started the season 2-2, coming off a weekend sweep by Quinnipiac. Both are trying to bounce back and regroup and get their season back on track before it pulls too far away from them.
The Friars had a tumultuous end of the offseason with the departure of their longtime coach and the hiring of two of his staff as interim head coach and associate head coach. But Nicole Norton and Katie Burt aren't going to squander this opportunity. They have a good bond with their players and a promising roster that they're having to ask to get up to speed more quickly than they would have liked. But there's a whole lot of potential there.
The Huskies lost in the national semifinal last season to Ohio State and are looking to put themselves back in the Frozen Four, but that first game was an ignominous way to start the season. They'll be looking to shake that off and try again this weekend. RPI put in a great defensive performance to earn the win, but Northeastern also just looked uncharacteristically timid. NU is usually pretty dogged (pun fully intended) and tenacioius. They are high-energy and keep opponents on their heels. The loss came in part because of how passive they were, so they'll need to shake that off and try to get back to what has worked well for them. They usually play with a little swagger that most other Hockey East teams don't carry. If the Huskies can find some of that belief and confidence again, I like their chances and we'll probably write that first loss off when we get to February. But if they don't find their confidence and drop another game, I fear it's going to impact their season more than they'd like to think about.
(Photo: UW Athletics/David Stluka)
