Nicole's NCAA Notebook: November 2, 2026

• Quinnipiac had an interesting weekend - they struggled to get going in their game against Yale on Friday, managing just one shot on goal in the first 17 minutes of play. They did do some catching up in those final three minutes and ended up tied with the Bulldogs 6-6 in shots, but that's an uncharacteristic start from them and something I'll be watching in the coming weeks. Did Yale just read them really well or are they sluggish to start?
• The Bobcats also gave up their first two power play goals this weekend. Opponents are now 2-for-32 on the power play, which is still an incredible stat for QU's defense.
• Minnesota took a pair of 3-2 wins over UMD - the first one in overtime - but I thought it was very interesting to see how Duluth really ground down the Gophers and stopped them from being as high-flying as they would have liked. In fact, pretty much every Minnesota goal came on the rush. That's obviously something UMD will want to work on, but a small win for them this weekend is how much they pigeonholed Minnesota and forced them into a that specific style of play. After the Gophers moved so freely against Ohio State, it was interesting to see what a different defensive approach could do.
• I will probably be saying this all season, but I await another Bulldog who will step up and create in Caitlin Kraemer's absence (and then alongside her when she returns after Worlds). Kraemer has played four fewer games than her teammates and still leads the team in goals - and has three more than anyone else on her team.
• Princeton is the lone undefeated team left.
• Shoutout to all the players playing out of their position/comfort zone and putting in extra time on ice this week with teammates away for the World Championships. It felt like every broadcast I put on talked about women playing out of position and shifting lines to account for the missing players.
• Four players now have double digit goals - Clarkson's Jessie Pellerin leads with 11 while Wisconsin's Cassie Hall and Nela Lopušanová and Minnesota's Adrianna Milani each have 10. Ohio State's Mira Jungåker leads with17 assists. St. Cloud State's Alice Sauriol has 14 while PSU's Sophie Morrow and Clarkson's Manon le Scodan each have 12. And three goals are holding goals against averages below one - UMD's Ève Gascon leads at 0.40, with Princeton's Uma Corniea at 0.75, Northeastern's Lisa Jönsson at 0.79 and Boston College's Bailey Callaway is at .098. Special shout to Penn State's rookie goalie Natalia Dilbone, who has a 1.o1 goals against average over six games.
• Goals of the week:

Wisconsin's Nela Lopušanová picks a pocket and takes it to net

An amazing pass from Ella Laing sets up Sami Snyder for Providence

The beautiful backwards pass from Ellie Dimatos and the finish from Hannah Fetterolf for Princeton

Gorgeous moves from Ohio State's Kaia Malachino

Colgate's Emma Pais with some robbery of her own

Union's Maddie Leaney really likes OT against Cornell

Through a whole bunch of traffic with a bunch of great touches for Minnesota's Bella Fanale

Perfect timing from Northeastern's Emy McDermid and Stryker Zablocki

SLU's Cheyenne Degeer and Brooke Mulvilhill thread the needle