Women’s D-I in general
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
Union and Clarkson have been extended membership into the ECAC Division I Women’s Hockey League. Union will join the league in the 2003-04 season, while Clarkson was voted in effective with the 2004-05 campaign. “Both schools boast rich hockey traditions and a history of academic success that will make them strong members of the league,” … Read more
Providence, defending tournament champion of the former ECAC Eastern, was chosen as the preseason No. 1 team in the new Women’s Hockey East by the league’s coaches.
Niagara, coming off a third-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championship, and Mercyhurst were selected as co-favorites in the first-ever CHA Women’s preseason coaches poll. Both teams received two first-place and one second-place vote (coaches did not vote on their own team) for eight points. Findlay and Wayne State tied for third with four points … Read more
Minnesota-Duluth, last year’s national champion, finished first in pre-season balloting for the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll.
Yale and the ECAC would still like to host the 2004 Women’s Frozen Four, but now must find another practical venue that’s also up to NCAA standards. The NCAA has given them until Oct. 10 to report back.
The fate of the 2004 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four, scheduled for April 9-11 in New Haven, Conn., remains in limbo, three weeks after the original site closed its doors.
Rick Seeley has been named as the head coach to usher in women’s hockey as a varsity athletic program at Clarkson. Seeley, who has served as the head coach at Division III Manhattanville the previous three years, will lead the Golden Knights into Division I competition beginning with the start of the 2003-04 season. The … Read more
Clarkson is expected to announce at a Thursday news conference that it will be introducing a Division I women’s program to begin play for the 2003-2004 season, USCHO has learned.
Quinnipiac alumnus Michael Barrett was named as the school’s new women’s coach. “The return of Mike Barrett to Quinnipiac is welcome by our student-athletes, staff and alumni,” said athletic director Jack McDonald. “Mike returns with outstanding credentials as an intercollegiate women’s head coach. This experience, along with his successful tenure as a University administrator, make … Read more
Bemidji State has named Roseau (Minn.) High School boys’ coach Bruce Olson to take over its Division I women’s program. “We’re very excited to have Bruce join our program,” said athletic director Dr. Rick Goeb. “He has done a great job with the program at Roseau. He has strong northern Minnesota ties and seems to … Read more