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.
(2) Minnesota at (13) Minnesota Duluth
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Central
The Bulldogs will be without five players away on national team duty, leaving them incredibly shorthanded - with just 10 fowards, five defenders and two goalies. They're on a three-game shutout streak and are riding a two-game win streak agianst the Gophers thanks to two overtime wins at the end of last season.
Minnesota will be without three players, including Chloe Primerano on defense. But the youth have been leading the movement for the Gophers and those rookies will be looking to take advantage of a hampered UMD roster and a few extra shifts. Adrianna Milani's 10 goals lead the country. She has already shown herself to be nearly unstoppable on offense who can beat you almost as she crosses into the zone, but will also block shots, catch up to breakaways and poke check through the neutral zone and on defense.
Minnesota Duluth in the only team allowing fewer than one goal a game, but they also haven't been scoring a ton. Much of their offense comes form Caitlin Kraemer, who will not be with the team this weekend. Their challenge will not only be their short bench and managing everyone's fitness, but also to generate offense with Kraemer's speed, vision or shot.
(14) Yale at (5) Quinnipiac
(14) Yale at (6) Princeton
Friday at 6:00 PM Eastern
Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
Yale won the IceBreaker tournament last week with a shootout win over Minnesota State, but now they jump right into conference play against the two teams that shared the ECAC Championship last season. It was a good and strong start for the Bulldogs, but now they have to show that their offense can score against stingy opponents and under a lot more pressure.
Quinnipiac opened their conference season with a pair of wins over RPI and Union last weekend. The Bobcats have speed and depth in their scoring while maintaining their solid, dependable defense. Coach Cass Turner would probably say she'd like to see the team give up fewer goals than they did last weekend, but overall, Quinnipiac keeps showing resilience and that they aren't over reliant on any one line or player.
Princeton are coming off a pair of losses at Clarkson. The Golden Knights have been a little streaky and unpredictable, but they gave the Tigers issues this weekend. They pressed hard, taking away time and space and forcing mistakes.
Vermont at (15) Boston College
Friday and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern
Both of these teams have their eyes on the top of the Hockey East standings and a sweep for either would do a lot to solidify their place. Boston College appears to be the better team right now, with more offensive firepower. But Vermont has proven to be scrappy and resourceful. They started with a win and an overtime loss to UMD, but suffered a pair of one-goal losses at the hand of Cornell two weeks ago. Boston College split the weekend with Cornell last weekend, but then lost to Mankato on Monday .
These teams are looking for consistency and to make a statement about where they stand this year. BC has what appears to be the makings of a high-powered offense. Vermont's three losses have all been by a single goal. It feels like there's a lot of push and pull on paper between these teams, so we're lucky they're playing so early and we get to see how all those different outcomes and statistics actually flesh out on the ice.
(Photo: UMDWHockey/X)
