Fit To Be Tied (or split)
It’s amazing to me how many of the top teams tied actual games over the past weekend or tied a season series.
Norwich ended up garnering a season series split with Plattsburgh with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. The Cadets then ended up tying Salve Regina 1-1 on Saturday, despite outshooting the Seahawks 42-11.
In a rare East/West crossover game, Gustavus Adolphus and Trinity tied 0-0 and then the Bantams beat St. Thomas 4-2 the next night. Trinity fared much better on its Minnesota trip than fellow NESCAC foe Amherst did two seasons ago when the Lord Jeffs lost both matchups.
Lake Forest and Wis. Superior tied, as well as Adrian and Wis. Stevens Point. But, the biggest tie out in the West came Saturday when St. Norbert put the first chink in Wis. River Falls’ armor by tying the Falcons 1-1 and putting the first blemish on their record.
In the NESCAC, conference heavyweights and archrivals Amherst and Middlebury split their pair of games. Middlebury blanked Amherst 3-0 on Friday night before the Lord Jeffs returned the favor with a 2-1 win on Saturday.
Oswego and Neumann split their season series as the Lakers continue to make strides towards a breakout season. Saturday’s win at Neumann was the Lakers first win ever against the Ice Knights after dropping the previous nine meetings.
My point in all of this is that once again we have even more proof of how much the Division III women’s game is growing. Five years ago, you didn’t have this many teams that could beat or tie each other on any given night.
Outside of RIT, who has shown absolutely no let up so far, there is parity across the country in every league. The Tigers will get a stern test this weekend though when they host No. 4 Plattsburgh for a pair of ECAC West games that could for all intent and purposes lock up ECAC West hosting rights for RIT.
If RIT gets through this weekend unscathed, they’ll hold a stranglehold on the ECAC West top spot and all roads will run through the Frank Ritter Memorial Arena for not only the conference championship, but probably the Frozen Four as well.
Player of the Week – Steph Moon, Plattsburgh
Steph, a senior forward from Pittsburgh, Pa. was a part of five of the six goals that the Cardinals scored against Buffalo State this past weekend. Moon recorded five assists and is tied for the national lead with 20 assists.
Rookie of the Week – Allie Tanzer, Wis. Stevens Point
Allie, a freshman forward from Chippewa Falls, Wis. tallied her first career hat trick to lead Wis. Stevens Point to a 4-1 win over Adrian on Sunday after the two teams tied 1-1 on Saturday. Tanzer has 13 goals and seven assists on the season for 20 points.
Goalie of the Week – Kaley Gibson, St. Norbert
Kaley, a freshman from Glendale, Ariz. Stopped 44 shots to backstop SNC to a 1-1 tie against Wis. River Falls and put the first blemish in the Falcons’ record in 14 games. Gibson made 39 saves in Friday’s 3-1 loss to River Falls. She is 4-4-1 on the season with a 1.79 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.
