Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Women’s Notes: NCAA Frozen Four Preview

UW-Colgate, OSU-Clarkson meet Friday in semifinals

Friday, March 22
4:00 pm ET: #1 Ohio State vs. #4 Clarkson (semifinal)
Watch: ESPN+, TSN+
7:30 pm ET: #2 Wisconsin vs. #3 Colgate (semifinal)
Watch: ESPN+, TSN+

Sunday, March 24
4:00 pm ET: Championship Game
Watch: ESPNU, TSN+

Frozen Four Media Kit (PDF) | Tournament Bracket

The University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center Arena is the site of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey Frozen Four this weekend in Durham, N.H.

Both Frozen Four semifinal matchups can be seen on ESPN+, and Sunday’s national title game will be available on ESPNU. Leah Hextall (play-by-play), AJ Mleczko (analyst) and Dana Boyle (reporter) will call the action.

All three games are available for streaming in Canada on TSN+.

This year’s Frozen Four field has combined to win 11 national championships, including each of the last six:

2023: Wisconsin (29-10-2)
2022: Ohio State (32-6-0)
2021: Wisconsin (17-3-1)
2020: Canceled due to COVID-19
2019: Wisconsin (35-4-2)
2018: Clarkson (36-4-1)
2017: Clarkson (32-4-5)

These four teams also boast seven of the nation’s top 10 individual scoring leaders, the nation’s winningest goaltender, the NCAA leader in shutouts, and four of the 10 finalists for the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

2024 NCAA WOMEN’S FROZEN FOUR NOTES

The Roads Traveled – How each of the four semifinalists made their way to Durham:

Clarkson (33-4-2): The Golden Knights defeated Minnesota 3-2 in a four-overtime classic last Saturday in the NCAA Quarterfinals, the second-longest game in NCAA Division I women’s hockey history … F Dominique Petrie (Gr., Hermosa Beach, Calif.) tallied both the game-tying and game-winning goals … G Michelle Pasiechnyk (Sr., Ottawa, Ontario), who is tied for the NCAA lead with 25 wins, made a career-high 61 saves … Pasiechnyk and the Golden Knights are yielding an NCAA-low 1.21 goals against per game … Clarkson’s offense is led by a pair of defenders, Haley Winn (Jr., Rochester, N.Y.) and Nicole Gosling (Sr., London, Ontario), who each have 39 points on the year … Clarkson has won three NCAA championships, most recently in 2018 when it won the second of back-to-back titles.

Colgate (32-6-1): After capturing a fourth consecutive ECAC championship, the Raiders got past conference rival Cornell in the NCAA Quarterfinals. D Allyson Simpson (Gr., Frisco, Texas) broke a 1-1 deadlock with 4:11 remaining in an eventual 3-1 win … F Danielle Serdachny (Gr., Edmonton, Alberta), who leads the team with 61 points, was one of 10 finalists for the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Her 11 power-play goals are the most of any skater in this year’s Frozen Four … G Hannah Murphy (Jr., Bradford, Ontario) and Kayle Osborne (Sr., Westport, Ontario) have each registered six shutouts between the pipes … The Raiders have received 89 points from their freshman class, tops among Frozen Four teams … Colgate is seeking its first NCAA title.

Ohio State (33-4-0): The tournament’s No. 1 overall seed and the WCHA regular-season champion, Ohio State advanced to this year’s Frozen Four with a 9-0 drubbing of WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Fourteen different Buckeyes registered a point and seven different skaters found the net … OSU averages an NCAA-leading 5.30 goals per game and features nine players with 10-plus goals … G Raygan Kirk (Gr., Ste. Anne, Manitoba) leads the nation in shutouts (nine) and ranks second in GAA (1.11) … The Buckeyes’ roster includes eight seniors and eight graduate/fifth-year players, the most of any Frozen Four squad … OSU won its first NCAA title in 2022 and was last year’s national runner-up.

Wisconsin (34-5-0): Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin clinched a return trip to the Frozen Four with a 4-0 shutout of St. Lawrence in the NCAA Quarterfinals. F Laila Edwards (So., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) scored twice and G Ava McNaughton (Fr., Seven Fields, Pa.) stopped all 25 shots she faced … D Caroline Harvey (So., Salem, N.H.), F Casey O’Brien (Sr., Milton, Mass.) and F Kirsten Simms (So., Plymouth, Mich.) were each among the 10 finalists for the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, and the latter two were recently named two of the final three finalists … Simms and O’Brien rank 1-2 in the national scoring race with 74 and 71 points, respectively … The Badgers are on a 20-1-0 (.952) run since the Christmas break … UW has won seven NCAA titles, the most of any program in the country.

Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Tale of the Tape:

The 2024 women’s Frozen Four features a combined 11 national championships between the four programs, topped by Wisconsin’s NCAA-leading seven:

Most NCAA titles
Wisconsin – 7
Minnesota – 6
Minnesota Duluth – 5
Clarkson – 3
Ohio State – 1

The Badgers are making their 18th NCAA Tournament appearance, which trails only Minnesota’s 21 among NCAA Division I women’s programs.

This is 40:

A common denominator among this year’s Frozen Four teams is the ability to nail down a lead after 40 minutes. Clarkson (27-0-0), Colgate (28-1-0), Ohio State (23-0-0) and Wisconsin (28-1-3) have combined to go an astounding 106-2-3 this season when leading after two periods. That works out to a crisp .968 winning percentage.

Head of the Class:

Four of the 10 finalists for the 2024 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award are competing in the Frozen Four: Wisconsin D Caroline Harvey (So., Salem, N.H.), Wisconsin F Casey O’Brien (Sr., Milton, Mass.), Colgate F Danielle Serdachny (Gr., Edmonton, Alberta), and Wisconsin F Kirsten Simms (So., Plymouth, Mich.).

Last week, it was announced that O’Brien, Simms, and Cornell F Izzy Daniel (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) were the top three finalists for the award. The recipient will be announced Saturday at the Frozen Four on NHL Network.

Notebook Quotebook:

“To be honest, I kind of blacked out a little. All I remember is that the puck kind of popped to me in front, and I turned and saw an empty net and batted it home.”

— F Dominique Petrie (Gr., Hermosa Beach, Calif.) describing her winning goal in the fourth overtime of Clarkson’s 3-2 win over Minnesota in the NCAA Quarterfinals (source WWNYTV.com)

PWHL Note of the Week:

Six former winners of the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award are currently playing in the PWHL: Boston F Hilary Knight (Wisconsin, 2011), Boston F Jamie Lee Rattray (Clarkson, 2014), Boston F Hannah Brandt (Minnesota, 2015), Toronto G Kristen Campbell (Wisconsin, 2019), New York F Paetyn Levis (Ohio State, 2022) and Boston G Cami Kronish (Wisconsin, 2023).

Conference Champions (playoffs):

College Hockey America – Penn State
ECAC Hockey – Colgate
Hockey East – UConn
NEWHA – Stonehill
WCHA – Wisconsin

Conference Champions (reg. season):

College Hockey America – Penn State
ECAC Hockey – Colgate
Hockey East – UConn
NEWHA – Long Island
WCHA – Ohio State

Key Hockey Dates:

March 22: NCAA Frozen Four semifinals (Durham, N.H.)

March 23: Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner announced

March 24: NCAA Frozen Four championship (Durham, N.H.)

Frozen Four Media Kit (PDF) | Tournament Bracket

Visit College Hockey Inc.’s 2024 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four Media Kit (above) for more tournament information, statistics, and key storylines.

CONFERENCE WEBSITES
CHA | ECAC | Hockey East | NEWHA | WCHA

Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree!