Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Women’s Notes: Mid-Week Games & Turkey Tourneys
Weekday Matchups Leading into The Holiday Weekend
If you’re looking for hockey all week, NCAA Division I women’s hockey has you covered. Games kicked off Tuesday afternoon with ECAC action as Union defeated RPI in OT, followed by a NEWHA matchup that saw Franklin Pierce beat Post.
We were also treated to a few midweek non-conference showdowns, including Cornell utilizing home ice advantage to beat RIT and New Hampshire taking game one against Mercyhurst.
Wednesday brings afternoon matchups featuring Princeton at Boston University and New Hampshire wrapping up its series at Mercyhurst before Thanksgiving.
After we all sleep off our food comas, the action picks up again Friday with a slate of non-conference games, including the semifinal-style Thanksgiving tournaments, the Smashville Showcase and the Nutmeg Classic.
The 2024 Smashville Showcase, held at Ford Ice Center Bellevue, features Clarkson, Merrimack, Penn State, and St. Thomas. The event coincides with the SMASHVILLE Girls Hockey Showcase, aimed at inspiring youth athletes by giving them an up-close look at women’s college hockey.
Clarkson enters the tournament ranked No. 6 in the nation, while Penn State holds the No. 11 spot. Merrimack is looking to rebound after being swept by RPI last weekend in two tightly contested games where the Warriors outshot the Engineers both nights. St. Thomas, meanwhile, seeks a bounce-back performance after being swept by top-ranked Wisconsin.
The Nutmeg Classic, a battle of Connecticut schools, is hosted by Yale at Ingalls Rink. Defending champion and No. 7-ranked Quinnipiac faces Sacred Heart in the first round, followed by Yale taking on No. 14 UConn.
Check out all the games happening between Wednesday, Nov. 27, and Sunday, Dec. 1, here.
Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Composite Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders
Must Read:
USCHO: Women’s DI College: Weekend Wrap
NE Hockey Journal: ‘Program-Changing’ Tina Scalese Hopes to Lead Groton to Greater Heights
NHL: Duggan Talks Player Inclusion Coalition, Job with Devils in Q&A with NHL
The Hockey News: Harvey, O’Brien Continue to Re-Write Record Books at Wisconsin
The Ice Garden: NEWHA Weekly Roundup: Nov 15-16, 2024
The Ice Garden: WCHA Weekly Roundup: Nov 15-16, 2024
The Ice Garden: Hockey East Weekly Roundup: Nov 15-16, 2024
The Hockey News: NCAA Women’s Hockey Set to Take Over Nashville This Weekend
The Athletic: The PWHL Pulled Off its Inagural Season. Year 2.
Must Watch & Hear:
KEYC News: MSU Women’s Hockey Upsets #2 Ohio State
Our Kids Play Hockey: Ride to the Rink; Tips for Overcoming Hockey Burnout
Decision Makers: Cassandra Turner & the Quinnipiac Bobcats
The Hockey News: PWHL Plans to Look at all Options For Expansion Without “Guardrails”
YouTube: Bobcats WIH at 2023 Nutmeg Classic
The PodKaz: Ep. 30 Splits lead into Thanksgiving Plus International Play
Record Book Badgers:
Casey O’Brien (Gr., Milton, Mass) hasn’t relinquished her spot atop the scoring leaderboard, currently averaging an impressive 2.19 points per game. Not far behind her, in fifth place, is defender Caroline Harvey (Jr., Salem, N.H.).
Both players made history last weekend during game two of their sweep against St. Thomas. O’Brien tallied four points on Saturday, scoring two goals and, perhaps more significantly, adding two assists. Her first assist of the night, on Laila Edwards’ (Jr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) second-period goal, tied the Wisconsin career assists record at 139. Later, in the third period, her second assist of the game officially broke the Badgers’ assist record, moving her to 15th in NCAA history.
The record-breaking assist came on a power-play goal by Harvey, who notched her 100th career point as a Badger. With the goal, Harvey became just the fifth Badgers blueliner to reach the milestone—and she did it faster than anyone before her, achieving the feat in only 90 games.
Blair Necessities:
New Hampshire goaltender Sedona Blair (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) was named the Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Goaltender of the Week last week. She posted back-to-back shutouts against Vermont and Holy Cross which brought her season total to four and her career total to nine.
Blair made 38 saves to backstop the Wildcats’ 3-1 win over Mercyhurst on Tuesday. Before surrendering the third period goal to the Lakers, Blair was on an active shutout streak of 168 minutes, 11 seconds.
Fit To Print:
“It’s amazing to see what we have with the PWHL. Now, the conversations we’re having with our athletes about player development are focused on how we can help them get to that level and open that door. With potential expansion on the rise, there are even more opportunities, so it’s been really amazing to see the game grow.”
— Quinnipiac Head Coach Cassandra Turner (Brown ’03) on the development for players with the PWHL and the growth of women’s hockey. (Decision Makers, ECAC Hockey)
PWHL Note of the Week:
Season 2 of the PWHL is on the horizon as minicamps wrap up and regular season play begins Saturday, Nov. 30. Amid the excitement, longtime professional player and former Wisconsin Badger alum Madison Packer announced her retirement.
The Birmingham, Michigan, native has seen it all in her professional career as a founding member of the NWHL, which became the PHF, and the newly formed PWHL. Before her professional days, Packer was an NCAA champion in 2011 and recorded 104 points in 146 games from 2010 to 2014.
Barn Burners & OT:
We’re nearing the halfway point of the season, having completed around 340 games. Of those played so far, 145—over 40%—have been decided by a single goal, and 58 of those games required overtime or a shootout.
Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:
The 2025 Women’s Beanpot officially announced games will return to TD Garden on Jan. 21, 2025 … Minnesota Duluth’s senior forward Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) recorded her 100th career-point Saturday in their win over Bemidji State … The Princeton Tigers defeated No. 5 Colgate Friday in OT, junior forward Issy Wunder (Toronto) netted the game-winner and her eighth of the season … Minnesota forward Peyton Hemp (Sr., Andover, Minn.) recorded her 100th career-point in the Gopher win over St. Cloud State on Friday … St. Cloud upset Minnesota Saturday 3-1, the Huskies fifth program win against the Gophers. Huskies goaltender Sanni Ahola (Gr., Helsinki, Finland) made 38 saves including 23 in the first period … Northeastern goaltender Lisa Jonsson (Fr., Stockholm, Sweden) and St. Lawrence goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordstrom (Jr., Herning, Denmark) lead all goaltenders in save percentage with .970 and .950, respectively … St. Michael freshman forward Keeley Callender (Flagstaff, A.Z) netted her first career goal against Assumption Friday … Robert Morris freshman goaltender Lucy Phillips (Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia) tied her career-high with 38 saves in their loss to Penn State … Lindenwood freshman Elina Zilliox (Weyersheim, France) blocked four shots in the Lions win over conference foe Syracuse on Saturday.
CONFERENCE WEBSITES
CHA | ECAC | Hockey East | NEWHA | WCHA
Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree!