Manhattanville @ St. Anselm
The Valiants need a win to keep pace with Norwich in the race for the ECAC East regular season title. St. Anselm is 9-1 in its last 10 games with the lone loss coming to two-time defending national champion Amherst. Manhattanville is still trying to make up ground on Norwich after the Valiants dropped a game to New England College. I’ll take Manhattanville, but it should be a tight one. 4-3 Valiants
St. Mary’s vs. St. Thomas
The MIAC top four should starting shaking itself out a it more after this weekend with the top four teams all playing each other in home and home series. St. Mary’s was the last MIAC team to lose a conference game, but the Cardinals have falling into a bit of a rough patch with just one win their last five games. St. Thomas is coming off a pair of close wins over Hamline. I’ll take a split with St. Thomas winning the first night 3-2 and then St. Mary’s rebounding with a 2-1 win the next day.
St. Catherine vs. Gustavus Adolphus
The other MIAC showdown is a rematch of last year’s conference championship game. St. Catherine was the cinderella story of last season, winning a program-best 18 games before falling to the Gusties in the finals. With a strong returning group, I had the Wildcats pegged as GAC’s chief challenger for the MIAC crown. While St. Catherine is certainly still in the hunt, last weekend getting swept by St. Olaf didn’t help. I’ll take GAC 4-1 on Friday and then St. Catherine 2-1 on Saturday.
Lake Forest @ Eau Claire
The Foresters are coming off a surprising split with Concordia Wis. After starting the season 5-0-0, LF is now just 4-5-2 in its last nine. Kim Herring has been back in the lineup after missing the first half of the season with mono and the dynamic junior forward has just three goals and an assist as she tries to regain her sensational sophomore season form where she led the country in scoring. Eau Claire on the other hand is coming off a sweep of Wis. Stevens Point. Kristin Faber scored four goals to lead the Blugolds who are 5-0-1 in their last six. I’ll predict another split here with Lake Forest winning 4-3 on the first night and then Eau Claire rebounding for a 5-2 win the next night.
Adrian @ Wis. River Falls
River Falls will look to stay unbeaten in another stern test against the Bulldogs. I’ve said it countless times but Adrian is a notoriously Jekyll and Hyde team and they can always steal a point or two on any given night. I think they do it again but I’m calling for a tie 2-2 in the first game and then River Falls explodes to a 6-0 win the next game.
Middlebury @ Trinity
Odds are you should bet on an overtime game when these two squads get together. Last year they met in an epic four-overtime game in the NESCAC semifinals. Both teams could use the two points as they try to keep pace with Amherst. I’ll take Middlebury 2-1 in overtime.
Gustavus Adolphus @ Wis. Superior
Here’s the game of the week IMHO. It’s always a good game when these two get together and I don’t see why Tuesday’s showdown will be any different. Superior is a quiet 11-3-4 with a lot of the attention in the conference on River Falls’ season. Superior’s last loss came on Jan. 11 to Gustavus Adolphus by a score of 2-1. Gustavus is 3-0-1 in its last four but will be facing a tough series against St. Catherine before traveling to Superior on Tuesday. I’ll go with the Yellowjackets getting revenge with a 2-1 win.
