Six women’s Division III regular-season championships became official over the weekend, as conference championships get underway this upcoming week.
In the ECAC East, Norwich went 15-0-2 in conference play and finished out the regular season by beating Castleton and Holy Cross. Celeste Robert made 26 saves in goal in a 5-2 win over Castleton Friday night and then Norwich scored three unanswered goals, including a pair by Taylor Cross in beating Holy Cross 3-1 on Saturday.
Over in the ECAC West, Elmira went a perfect 18-0-0 to take the crown and also the No. 1 ranking in the country in the process. This past weekend, the Soaring Eagles blanked Oswego in two straight games, 6-0 and 4-0. Cassidy Delainey scored two goals, including her NCAA-record 15th with the man-advantage, in Saturday’s win and then Ashley Ryan’s two goals paced Elmira in a 4-0 win Sunday. Kyle Nelson earned both shutouts, stopping 13 shots Saturday and 15 Sunday.
Gustavus Adolphus put together a 15-2-1 mark to win the MIAC. Last weekend, GAC split a home-and-home with Bethel as each team won on the road. After losing 4-2 Friday, the Gusties came back to beat the Royals 5-2 on Saturday on the strength of Kaitlyn Klein’s two-goal, one-assist performance and Lindsey Hibbard’s 28 saves in goal.
With a 15-0-3 conference mark, Adrian was crowned NCHA champion and this past weekend, allowed just two goals in a pair of wins over Marian and Concordia (Wis). Jade Walsh stopped 27 shots in a 5-1 win over Marian on Friday and on Saturday, Walsh stopped 19 and Adrian erased a 1-0 deficit with three unanswered goals, including two from Courtney Millar, in a 3-1 win over Concordia.
In the NESCAC, Middlebury’s 13-1-2 record was enough to take the regular-season title. The No. 3 Panthers fell to No. 2 Plattsburgh 4-3 on Saturday in their lone game of the weekend. Katie Sullivan netted two goals for Middlebury and Madeline Marsh stopped 27 shots between the pipes.
Finally, the WIAC crown went to Wisconsin-River Falls, which finished 10-1-1. Last weekend, the Falcons beat Wisconsin-Eau Claire 6-1 in their one and only contest. After UWEC grabbed an early 1-0 lead, six different players scored for UWRF and Angie Hall took the win in goal.
Look for our conference tournament previews later this week on USCHO.com.
