Season previews for teams
It has been five long years since the Soaring Eagles have been invited to the NCAA tournament. Elmira’s last trip to the Big Dance was in the ’96-’97 season, when they lost a two game series to St. Johns in the quarterfinals. That ties the longest such stretch in school history, which first occurred back … Read more
Last year was a learning experience for the Pioneers, as they started from nothing and quickly built a team people noticed. Gary Heenan’s theme last season was that his team of freshmen needed to gain maturity and learn to play like sophomores and juniors in order to achieve their goal of making the playoffs. The … Read more
Not long ago, the ECAC West was in trouble. Left with a barely-functional membership of four, the league’s future was cloudy. Those days are past now. With a solid base to build on, the conference’s partisans look forward to a healthy 2002-03 season. Scott Biggar takes us onto the ice.
Last year was Neumann’s rookie season in the ECAC West. After playing an independent Division III schedule for three seasons, the Knights stepped into league play and received an eye-opening reception, getting thoroughly thumped in most of their contests. “It couldn’t get any worse than last year,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo. “I say that, … Read more
Adding depth is the name of the game this year for Hobart. The Statesmen played all of last season with only 14 forwards and six defensemen. Luckily for Hobart, the team didn’t suffer a lot of injuries during the season, and made it through without the bench shrinking too much. Head coach Mark Taylor is … Read more
The College Hockey America Women’s league opens play this season with a bang, and instant credibility thanks to a Frozen Four entrant last season in Niagara and another rising power in Mercyhurst. Craig Roberts breaks down the new league’s prospects for 2002-03.
Optimism abounds at Mercyhurst, where preparations are well under way for the program’s fourth season. Head coach Michael Sisti’s first recruiting class comes into its senior season having won 61 games; the group makes up half of the team’s 24-player roster. “It’s been a fun ride,” Sisti said. “It’s been fun watching them grow and … Read more
After a 9-4 exhibition win over Windsor on Sept. 28, Findlay head coach Adam Brinker knew his young team still had some work to do. “We saw a lot of early-season mistakes,” Brinker said. “They were mistakes that are typical of young teams. But we’ve had a couple of weeks to correct those things. I … Read more
North Dakota opened its inaugural season by splitting a pair of exhibition games at Manitoba; the games summed up what head coach Shantel Rivard had said of her team beforehand. “We have a young, inexperienced team,” she said during training camp. “Our fitness level is good and we’re putting in a lot of hard work. … Read more
Competition is the name of the game for Wayne State this year. When few women’s teams carry more than 23 players, the Warriors will start the season with 28 players on the roster, a move head coach Tom O’Malley hopes will improve his team. “It’s created some interesting competition in training camp,” he said. “When … Read more
After reaching the NCAA Frozen Four last season, Niagara returns 15 players and brings plenty of optimism for success to the 2002-03 season. First off, however, they have to find a way to replace a couple of big holes. The Purple Eagles lose just six letterwinners but four are significant. Gone are all-time leading scorer … Read more
Last year, Ohio State won games against all six of their WCHA opponents. However, they also lost to five conference foes. They took at least one point and lost at least one point against all six league opponents in 2000-01. The Buckeyes have also finished fourth in the WCHA in each of the last three … Read more
For three straight seasons, the women’s national champion has come out of the WCHA. Now, the 2002-03 version of the league looks even stronger. Craig Roberts provides the lowdown on the new year.
With back-to-back NCAA championships already under their belt, much of the talk surrounding the Bulldogs this year is about a three-peat. Head coach Shannon Miller, however, talks about a single championship. “Sure, we’ve got two championships,” she said. “But every year you have new players and a new team. We lost five players from last … Read more
Last season, Wisconsin finished the season playing as well as anyone in the country, posting a 15-3-0 record after Jan. 1, including three wins over eventual national champion Minnesota-Duluth and a 2-0 win at Minnesota, which ended the Gophers’ 24-game unbeaten streak. Although they were left on the outside looking in when the pairings for … Read more
In his second season at Minnesota State, head coach Jeff Vizenor feels his team has improved enough to move up from the WCHA’s cellar, where the Mavericks have dwelled for each of the league’s three seasons. He has a number of reasons to feel confident that his team can move up in the league standings: … Read more
After falling from 17 wins to seven, and from fourth to sixth place in the WCHA standings last season, Husky head coach Jason Lesteberg takes over the reigns of a team that went through a tumultuous 2001-02 season. With 11 new players, nearly half of his 25-player roster, Lesteberg realizes there is some rebuilding to … Read more
Bemidji State has already kicked off its season, dropping 1-0 and 2-1 decisions Friday and Saturday at Mercyhurst. Despite the two losses, new head coach Bruce Olson wasn’t displeased with what he saw. “We played well, especially for our opening games,” he said. “Defensively, we played well. Our forwards came back and picked people up … Read more
Last season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Minnesota. The Gophers had struggled the year before after winning a national championship, and Laura Halldorson’s inaugural recruiting class graduated at the end of the season. The Gophers returned just three seniors for the 2001-02 season and were woefully thin on defense as well as … Read more
After four straight Frozen Four appearances and a 2001 national championship, the Eagles took an expected nosedive last year. With almost three-quarters of the roster made up of freshmen and sophomores, BC dropped to a .500 record. With that rebuilding year under their belts, however, the Eagles should once again be a power in the … Read more