Upset Alert
Three ranked teams fell to unranked opponents over the weekend.
No. 3 Wisconsin became the latest favorite to suffer at the hands of Bemidji State, losing a 2-1 decision in Madison on Friday. Defenseman Emma Terres made her first collegiate goal a big one, scoring at 9:23 of the third period to decide matters after her teammate Hanna Moher and Wisconsin’s Sarah Nurse traded goals in the first period. Brittni Mowat turned in a 40-save performance to earn the win. Erin Deters took over in the Beavers’ net on Saturday, but her 61 stops weren’t enough to prevent the Badgers from earning a 2-1 reversal in overtime when Brittany Ammerman scored 46 seconds into the extra session. Stephanie Anderson opened the scoring in the second period for BSU, but Katy Josephs answered seven minutes later.
Dartmouth rallied in the third period to shock No. 5 Harvard, 4-2. Hillary Crowe gave the Crimson a lead that lasted until 7:53 into the third period, when Morgan Illikainen tied it up. Kalley Armstrong put Harvard back on top a couple minutes later, but it took Lindsey Allen just 80 seconds to square the game at 2-2. Brooke Ahbe gave the Big Green the lead on a power play at 13:51, and Allen’s second goal of the day into an empty net put the game away. Robyn Chemago made 37 saves, 21 of them in the final frame, to backstop the triumph.
North Dakota scored the only two goals of the weekend in sweeping No. 10 Ohio State. Shelby Amsley-Benzie was perfect in making 26 saves on Friday and another 31 on Saturday. UND could only generate 15 shots on goal, but defenseman Tanja Eisenschmid was able to get a puck past Stacy Dancazk midway through the first period in the 1-0 win Friday. In the second game, the blue line came through again when Gracen Hirschy connected in the final minute of the opening frame.
Point number 200 and beyond
Cornell senior Brianne Jenner earned her 200th career point on Tuesday, part of a five-point game for her in a 6-2 demolition of No. 6 Boston University. Emily Fulton scored twice and added a helper, while the trio of Jess Brown, Morgan Richardson, and Erin O’Connor all recorded a goal and an assist.
Friday at Yale, it was goaltender Paula Voorheis’ turn to shine. She stopped all 41 shots she faced in a 2-0 whitewashing of the Bulldogs. Caroline DeBruin’s goal in the final minute of the second period held up, and Emily Fulton sealed the win into an empty net.
On Saturday, the Big Red had to come from behind to upend Brown, 4-2. Sarah Robson’s short-handed goal four minutes into the second period put her squad up 2-1, but Sydney Smith tied it up and Jenner struck for the winning goal. She now has 206 points for Cornell.
Holding on to second
Penn State swept RIT at home to give it sole possession of second place in the CHA. Celine Whittlinger got the better of the matchup with Ali Binnington both days, making 26 saves in the 2-1 win on Saturday and coming back with 27 more on Sunday as PSU prevailed, 3-1. Celeste Brown drew first blood for the Tigers in the series, but a quick flurry reversed the lead. Shannon Yoxheimer scored on a power play at 8:04 of the second period, and just over two minutes later, Bella Sutton, who’d assisted on the prior goal, added an unassisted tally. In the second game, Laura Bowman put the Nittany Lions on top to stay with a short-handed goal in the second period. Sutton’s insurance goal proved key when Cassie Clayton answered, but Hannah Hoenshell quickly restored the two-goal edge.
How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 1 Boston College shut out Vermont twice in Burlington, 4-0 and 2-0. Katie Burt stopped everything that came her way, 21 shots one day and 13 the next, giving her six shutouts in total. The combination of Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa clicked three times on Saturday as they took turns setting each other up for goals. Sunday’s offensive hero was Meghan Grieves, the only shooter to get a puck past Madison Litchfield in 50 shots. Lexi Bender had three assists on the weekend, including on Kenzie Kent’s empty netter in the finale. The Eagles improve to 22-0-1.
Boston University squeaked by Northeastern, 4-3, despite an electrifying hat trick by Kendall Coyne and 45 saves from Chloé Desjardins. After Coyne drew first blood for the Huskies, BU looked ready to cruise when it scored four straight, getting back-to-back goals from Marie-Philip Poulin sandwiched between tallies from Kayla Tutino and Rebecca Leslie, the last one short-handed. Two unassisted goals by Coyne, the first short-handed and the second on an end-to-end rush, pulled Northeastern within a goal with three minutes left. However, the Huskies couldn’t find a tying goal.
No. 9 Mercyhurst’s offense sputtered on home ice, scoring just once through its first five periods and an overtime versus Syracuse, but the Lakers finally got some offensive traction in the final frame on Saturday, coming away with a 3-2 win on the heels of a 1-1 tie. Lauren Kilroy’s first goal of the year gave Mercyhurst the weekend’s first lead, but Alysha Burriss netted an equalizer for the Orange midway through the third period on Friday. Amanda Makela made 22 saves for the hosts, while Jenn Gilligan finished with 19. On Saturday, Stephanie Grossi and Melissa Piacentini staked Syracuse to a 2-0 lead heading into the second intermission, but it took Emily Janiga just 14 seconds to get the Lakers on the board once play resumed. Janiga added a second tally before seven minutes had elapsed, with both goals coming on a power play. Jenna Dingeldein capitalized on a third Syracuse penalty with 7:19 remaining for the 3-2 final. Molly Byrne, J’nai Mahadeo, and Shelby Bram had two-assist games for Mercyhurst, as did Akane Hosoyamada for the Orange.
Maryanne Menefee had a big weekend for No. 2 Minnesota, leading the Gophers with seven points in a sweep of a home-and-home series versus Minnesota State. Menefee had four points and a hat trick in a 7-3 win in Minneapolis. She then surpassed the 100-point mark for her career on Saturday in a 7-1 victory in Mankato, where Menefee was one of four Gophers to turn in identical lines of one goal and two assists. The wins give Minnesota 21 for the season, the 18th straight in which the program has surpassed 20. The Mavericks had four different goal scorers on the weekend, and only Nicole Schammel, with two assists, had multiple points.
No. 7 Minnesota Duluth took care of business with a sweep of St. Cloud State by scores of 2-0 and 3-2. Kayla Black’s seventh shutout set a new season record for the program. Katherine McGovern scored her first goal of the year a couple minutes into the game, and Lara Stalder doubled the lead in the third period. Molly Illikainen gave SCSU its only lead of the series on Sunday, but the Bulldogs came back with goals from Meghan Huertas, Stalder, and Ashleigh Brykaliuk. An extra-attacker goal by Abby Ness came too late to save the Huskies.
No. 8 Clarkson turned in comfortable wins over Union, 4-0, and Rensselaer, 4-2. Jessica Gillham put the Golden Knights up on Union two and a half minutes into the game, and they never looked back. Amanda Titus had a goal and an assist; Olivia Howe and Erin Ambrose had a pair of helpers. Shea Tiley needed 23 saves to log the shutout. Titus and Clarkson grabbed an early lead again on Saturday, but Ali Svoboda drew RPI even 10 minutes later. Howe’s goal midway through put the Knights on top to stay. Savannah Harmon led the offense with a goal and two assists. Cayley Mercer scored in both games.
No. 4 Quinnipiac got the sweep at Robert Morris, but with a few anxious moments in Friday’s 3-2 win. The Colonials twice took leads on goals by Anissa Gamble, her first of the year, and Mackenzie Johnston. Shiann Darkangelo responded the first time, and Taylar Cianfarano scored to force overtime. Taryn Baumgardt potted the winner 70 seconds into OT. The Bobcats returned to their usual script with a 3-0 victory on Saturday. Chelsea Laden saved 20 shots to earn her 12th shutout. Cianfarano and Nicole Kosta contributed a goal plus a helper.
Eight different skaters recorded a point for Harvard as it defeated New Hampshire, 4-1. Unassisted goals from Sarah Edney and Mary Parker were all the Crimson would need, backed by 19 saves from Emerance Maschmeyer.
Other action
New Hampshire got its first sweep of the season to move up to sixth in Hockey East, passing its victim, Connecticut. Amy Schlagel scored at 3:49 of overtime to complete a 3-2 comeback on Saturday. Jonna Curtis and Amy Boucher scored in the second stanza to force bonus hockey; Margaret Zimmer and Kayla Campero had given the Huskies a two-goal lead midway through the first period. On Sunday, Hannah Armstrong scored the winning goal nine minutes into third period en route to a 3-1 final, with Vilma Vaattovaara making 28 stops.
Maine and Meghann Treacy shut out Providence with 30 saves, 2-0. Hailey Browne got the only puck by Allie Morse, who made 27 saves, before Kelsey MacSorley scored the final tally into an empty net.
St. Lawrence got a sweep over the Rensselaer and Union travel pair on home ice. Saints Kennedy Marchment and Megan Armstrong sandwiched first-period goals around one by Hannah Behounek, her first goal as an Engineer. Kayla Raniwsky punctuated the 3-1 win into an empty net. SLU fought back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Dutchwomen, 4-2. Christine Valente and Alex Tancrell-Fontaine lifted Union to its second-period lead, but the Saints rallied behind the first two career goals from Hannah Miller and single tallies from Marchment and Brooke Webster.
Colgate won at Brown, 3-0. Ashlynne Rando made 18 saves, and the goals came courtesy of Shelby Perry, Taylor Craig, and Melissa Kueber, the latter into an empty net.
Yale got the better of Colgate the next day, 5-1. Craig got the Raiders off to a good start, but it was all Bulldogs from there. Phoebe Staenz scored twice and added an assist, and Jaimie Leonoff saved 25 shots.
