(15) St. Thomas at (1) Wisconsin
On Thursday, seven different Badgers scored to give Wisconsin an 8-0 win. Lacey Eden led the home team with two goals and two assists and KK Harvey added a goal and three assists. Things looked a little different on Friday. Maddie Brown’s power play goal was the only tally of the first, giving St. Thomas a 1-0 lead at the break. Eden tied the game for Wisconsin with their first short-handed goal of the season to make it a 1-1 game midway through the second. Laila Edwards gave UW their first lead with some nice stick handling and a sharp wrister to make it 2-1 at the end of the second. The Tommies took advantage of some poor defensive coverage as Ella Boerger found Teagan Kulenkamp on the rush to tie the game 2-2. Maddie Brown’s long bouncing pass set Rylee Bartz on a breakaway and she put St. Thomas up 3-2 with under seven left in regulation. The Badgers outshot the Tommies 51-17, but could not seem to find the finishing touch. It took pulling their goalie for an extra attacker for them to tie the game with about 90 seconds on the clock as Harvey faked a shot and then found a lane to make it 3-3. Wisconsin thought they might have won the game at the buzzer as Kirsten Simms put the puck in the net, but a review showed the goal was a few tenths of a second too late and the teams headed to overtime. Cassie Hall ended the game, coming right off the bench to clean up a second rebound and give UW the win. St. Thomas goalie Julia Minotti made a career-high 47 saves.
Minnesota State vs. (2) Minnesota (home and home)
Abbey Murphy scored 13 minutes into the first period and that’s all the offense the Gophers were able to find on Friday. Mercury Bischoff, who had an outstanding series for Mankato, replied just four minutes later to tie the game for the Mavericks and then the Minnesota State defense went to work. MSU was all over the ice, stifling the Gopher breakout with a strong forecheck, lifting sticks, intercepting passes and generally not letting Minnesota get anything going. Ava Guillemette put Mankato ahead 2-1 with a shot from a tight angle at the goal line that slipped between Hannah Clark and the post. Kianna Roske scored on the empty net to secure the 3-1 win for Minnesota State. Saturday’s game was more of the same as MSU kept up the strong forecheck and pressure. The Mavericks outshot Minnesota 28-25 and buried their chances. Bischoff opened the scoring with a power play goal later in the first to make it 1-0. But Minnesota got an immediate player advantage themselves and Josefin Bouveng scored to tie the game 1-1. Bischoff scored her second on a breakaway, finding free ice down the right side. Her toe drag beat the one defender between her and the goal and she scored to make it 2-1. A few minutes later Whitney Tuttle put back a rebound off a shot by Ayla Puppe to extend the lead to 3-1. Bischoff completed her hat trick with an empty-netter that secured the 4-1 win and weekend sweep for Mankato. It is the first time Minnesota State swept the Gophers since 2006.
(3) Ohio State at (5) Minnesota Duluth
Ohio State came out firing, outshooting UMD 12-1 in the first frame. They took the lead on a second-chance opportunity as Maxine Cimoroni put back a rebound to make it a 1-0 game. Joy Dunne doubled the lead off a rebound from a Emma Peschel shot. Rae Mayer got UMD on the board in the third, but the Bulldogs couldn’t equalize and when they pulled their goalie, Dunne scored on the empty net to secure the 3-1 win for Ohio State. In the second game, Brooke Disher put OSU on the board early with a shot from distance that made it through traffic and into the back of the net. Sanni Vanhanen doubled the lead before the end of the first, crashing in to receive a cross-ice pass from Dunne and lasering it home to make it 2-0. The Buckeyes blew things open with two goals in under a minute around the midpoint of the game. Dunne put away a nice feed from down low by Jocelyn Amos to make it 3-0 and then Sloane Matthews chased down the puck, winning it and finding Jordyn Petrie in front of the net to make it 4-0. Danielle Burgen ruined the shutout, getting UMD on the board in the late second, but things slowed down in the third, with neither team scoring again, giving OSU the 4-1 win and weekend sweep.
(4) Cornell at Union
Special teams were a massive part of this game as the teams traded goals back and forth. Maddie Leaney scored the first goal on the power play, putting back a rebound from Karianne Engelbert to give Union a 1-0 lead. But Piper Grober’s power play goal a few minutes later tied the game 1-1. In the second, Leaney once again jumped on a rebound with the player advantage, sending the Garnet Chargers into the second intermission with a 2–1 lead. Beatrice Perron-Roy scored short-handed for Cornell less than two minutes into the third with a snipe to make it 2-2. But Union also scored on that same power play, as Engelbert tipped in a shot from Megan Duplantie to put the home team up 3-2. Alyssa Regalado’s shot through traffic on the power play midway through the third tied things one more time and eventually forced overtime. Leaney completed her hat trick – the second of her career – to win the game in extra time, giving Union the 4-3 victory.
(4) Cornell at RPI
Abby Thibodeau scored for Cornell just five minutes into the game to make it 1-0. Then a major penalty on RPI gave the Big Red a long power play and they capitalized, with Karel Prefontaine and Georgia Schiff each lighting the lamp to push the Cornell lead to 3-0. Alyssa Regalado scored a minute into the second to make it 4-0. Mia Montanari ruined the shutout and scored a nice goal for RPI, beating Annelies Bergmann one on one to get her team on the board. But Cornell took the 4-1 win.
(6) Penn State at RIT
It took teams about 11 minutes to get things going on Friday and then they went a little nuts. The teams scored six goals in just more than eight minutes of the back half of the opening frame. Penn State opened things up as Abby Stonehouse took a pass from Tessa Janecke after a turnover to make it a 1-0 game. Leah Stecker scored from the point on the power play to make it a 2-0 game. The special teams continued as RIT scored twice on the player advantage – both from Emma Pickering just 25 seconds apart – to tie the game 2-2. But there were still four minutes to play in the frame and Penn State took advantage as Maddy Christian won a puck as a penalty expired and took off to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead. Then Mya Vaslet picked off a pass less than a minute later to make it a 4-2 game. Janecke scored in the second to put it to a 5-2 lead for PSU. Tilli Keraenen’s shot through traffic in the third pulled one back for RIT, but they ran out of time to complete the comeback and Penn State took the 5-3 win. On Saturday, it was another busy first period before things settled down. Danica Maynard took advantage of a blown defensive assignment to get the puck on net and put the Nittany Lions up 1-0 two minutes into the game. Janecke’s shot from the slot doubled the lead to 2-0. Not to be outdone, Jaidan Fahrny scored her own from the slot around the midpoint of the period and then scored again on the power play, tipping in a shot to tie the game 2-2 at the break. Katelyn Roberts took off on a breakaway and scored a beauty on the five-hole to give Penn State the lead, but RIT responded again, this time as Brac Kelley was able to bury a loose puck late in the second to tie the game 2-2. Maynard scored the game-winner midway through the third, putting away her own rebound to secure the 3-2 win.
(7) Quinnipiac vs. Princeton (home and home)
The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead to start the game on Thursday, scoring in the first and again early in the second as Ruby Rauk and Brynne West put Quinnipiac up 2-0. But Princeton came roaring back as Ani Kozak cleaned up a loose puck after a Rose Klein slapshot to make it 2-1 less than a minute later. Mackenzie Alexander finished off a pretty passing sequence to tie things late in the second. Early in the third, Hannah Fetterolf cleaned up a rebound to give Princeton the 3-2 lead, but Quinnipiac evened things up as Ella Johnson’s goal forced overtime. In the extra frame, Alexander called game on a truly jaw-dropping play as Issy Wunder got her the pass while falling and sliding across the ice. Alexander one-timed the puck to the back of the net to win the game for Princeton. Things were a little calmer on the return trip game Saturday thanks to Uma Corniea’s career-high 40 saves keeping Quinnipiac off the board. Issy Wunder scored in the first and Riley Sorokan took advantage of a power play and Princeton took the 2-0 win and weekend sweep.
(8) Northeastern at Maine
Northeastern continued their dominance in conference play with a pair of wins over the Black Bears this weekend, extending their record to 9-0 in Hockey East. Their starters were in top form on Friday as Lily Shannon scored twice while Jaden Bogden, Jules Constantinople and Stryker Zablocki each had two assists. Shannon scored just 35 seconds into the game and Morgan Jackson added a power play goal later in the frame to put the Huskies up 2-0 after the first. That held for most of the game before Maine pulled their goalie early in the third. Shannon scored on the empty net with more than two and a half minutes left. Mikayla Boarder did ruin the shutout, getting on the board for Maine with about 90 seconds left, but Northeastern took the 3-1 win. In the second game, Isabelle Michaud’s goal early in the first was the only action and the Black Bears took a 1-0 lead into intermission. Shannon continued to shine, picking off a pass in the second and immediately potting it to tie the game 1-1. She scored again in the waning seconds of the second and that would prove to be the game-winner as Northeastern took the 2-1 win and weekend sweep.
Vermont at (9) Connecticut
Julia Pellerin’s hat trick led the Huskies to a 4-0 win on Friday. She opened the scoring by burying a beautiful pass from Livvy Dewar on the power play. She potted her second half way through the middle frame and Brooke Campbell made it 3-0 Connecticut with a tip in later in the second. In the third, Pellerin completed the hat trick with a bar down beauty to close out the 4-0 win. On Saturday, goals from Dewar and Maya Serdachny had the Huskies up 2-0 midway through the first. Vermont got their first goal of the weekend on the power play later in the frame to make it a 2-1 game at the first break. Leila Ricciuti scored her first career goal to put UConn up 3-1 early in the second and that seemed to open things up for the Huskies. Vermont peppered the net throughout the second, but it was Connecticut who lit the lamp three more times as True Thompson, Ashley Allard and Campbell pushed the lead to 6-1. The Catamounts found some rhythm in the third as Makena Lloyd-Howe and Morgann Skoda each lit the lamp to cut the lead to 6-3, but they couldn’t complete the comeback and UConn took the win and weekend sweep.
(10) St. Cloud State at Bemidji State
Rookie Payton Remick had two goals and an assist to lead St. Cloud to a 4-0 win on Friday. She scored early when she forced a turnover and took off to get a pass from Svenja Voight to put SCSU up 1-0 midway through the first. Laura Zimmerman’s tip of Grace Wolfe’s shot extended the lead five minutes into the second. Remick tapped in an easy goal in the third to make it 3-0 and Reese Strauts scored her first career goal on a nice pass from Avery Farrell to secure the 4-0 win. Things looked very different on Saturday as the Beavers came out buzzing, potting three goals to give them a 3-0 lead by the opening minutes of the second. Izy Fairchild and Raeley Carney scored in the first and Morgan Smith added a power play goal three minutes into the second. Alice Sauriol put St. Cloud on the board a few minutes later to make it 3-1, but Carney pushed the lead back to three before the second intermission to make it 4-1 Bemidji State. Things got wild in the fourth, as the Huskies seemed to find their stride. Sydney Lamb and Payton Holloway scored 43 seconds apart early in the third and then Wolfe scored shorthanded less than three minutes later and suddenly the game was tied 4-4. SCSU took their first lead of the game with about four to play as Zimmerman made it 5-4. Bemidji’s back was against the wall and they pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. It paid off as Isa Goettl netted the equalizer with just 31 seconds remaining. In the extra frame, Hailey Armstrong won it for BSU. Goalie Ava Hills finished the game with 38 saves.
(12) Brown at (11) Clarkson
Clarkson jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first thanks to a goal from Lara Beecher and then a turnover leading to a goal from Manon le Scodan. Margot Norehad got Brown on the board early in the second thanks to a power play goal to cut it to 2-1. But Clarkson struck back at the end of the second as Janelle Evans scored with the extra attacker to push the lead to 3-1 and Madison Chantler lit the lamp to make it 4-1. Isabella Gratzl scored on the power play in the final minute to make it 4-2, but the Bears ran out of time and Clarkson took the 4-2 win.
(14) Yale at (11) Clarkson
This is a very offensive game, with the first goal coming on the first shot. Janelle Evans buried a pass from behind the net by Manon le Scodan. The teams peppered the nets early on, combining for 24 shots in the first. Clarkson was held in check quite a bit after the first, putting just four shots on net in each of the last two frames, but they held off the Yale onslaught and skated off with a 3-2 win.
(12) Brown at St. Lawrence
All the scoring in this game happened in 2:21 of the second period. First Jade Iginla came from behind the net and though her first attempt was stopped, she stuffed back her rebound to make it a 1-0 game. Monique Lyons doubled the lead exactly two minutes later on the breakaway after a deflected puck ended up right on her stick. On the ensuing play, Brooke Mulvihill found herself all alone and didn’t miss the opportunity to cut the lead to 2-1. And that’s all the offense either team found. St. Lawrence led the game in shooting but Brown skated off with the 2-1 victory.
(13) Colgate at RPI
Reese Keating of RPI was spectacular in net to start the game, keeping a pressing Colgate offense off the board. That allowed her team to take the lead on a power play goal from Kendal Davidson. The Raiders took the lead in the opening minutes of the second as Emma Beauchamp and Emma Pais each scored to make it a 2-1 game. Davidson tied things up again later in the frame, but Colgate responded immediately, as Ava Wood made it 3-2 for the Raiders. Dorothy Copetti and Alexia Aubin each scored in the third to secure the 5-2 win for Colgate.
(13) Colgate at Union
The Raiders took a 2-0 lead before the midpoint of the first frame thanks to goals from Sara Stewart and Elyssa Biederman. But Union kept pushing back. They came out of each intermission with some extra fire as Maddie Leaney scored unassisted early in the second and Klara Kenttala scored 42 seconds into the third to tie the game 2-2. Neither team could break through and this very nearly ended a tie, but a late power play for Colgate was converted into an extra attacker goal by Biederman with just 42 seconds left in the overtime frame to give the Raiders the 3-2 win.
(14) Yale at St. Lawrence
The Bulldogs opened the scoring late in the first on a nice shot from the slot by Carina DiAntonio on the power play to make it 1-0. St. Lawrence responded immediately as Kiley Mastel scored on the breakaway to make it 1-1. The teams could not break the stalemate in the second. Yale took advantage of the power play again in the third as Molly Boyle picked her spot to make it 2-1. But it was Mastel again late in the third that tied the game 2-2 to force overtime. In the extra frame, it was all Jordan Ray, who forced a turnover and took off on a breakaway, scoring to give Yale the 3-2 overtime win.