For the seven Division III women’s conferences, the playoff picture for each became a bit clearer over the weekend, or in most cases, more blurry.
Colonial Hockey-leading Stevenson will go into the conference tournament as the top seed with an 11-0-1 mark in league play, head and shoulders the class of the conference.
Last weekend, Stevenson won twice, pushing its win streak to eight games, with two wins at Morrisville. In the opener Friday night, Monica Pozuc netted the lone goal and Sarah Modzelewski earned the 29-save shutout. Saturday, Madison Lange and Sydney Hughes scored in the second period and Modzelewski finished with 28 stops in the 2-1 win.
In the ECAC West, top-ranked Plattsburgh lost its first game of the season last weekend, 4-2, at Utica on Saturday night. The Cardinals rebounded with a 6-1 win Sunday afternoon. Plattsburgh is 16-1-0 in the conference, just four points ahead of Elmira (14-2-0), which swept William Smith in a home-and-home set over the weekend. Plattsburgh has one game left (at Potsdam Saturday) and Elmira plays two at Oswego.
The MIAC looks to be a three-team race to the wire, as St. Thomas (23 points), Bethel (22 points), and Concordia (Minn.) (also with 22 points) are all within reach. Augsburg has 20 points to boot. St. Thomas plays Tuesday at Wisconsin-Superior and then has a home-and-home with St. Olaf this weekend. Bethel hosts Concordia this weekend. Let’s see who has nails left come late Saturday night.
Adrian and Lake Forest are duking it out for top spot in the NCHA. The Bulldogs are 14-1-1 in conference action and first-place Lake Forest is 15-0-1. Guess what this weekend’s schedule looks like? Yep, of course. Lake Forest plays two at Adrian.
More nail-biting over in the NEHC as Norwich (28 points), Holy Cross (26 points), and St. Anselm (24 points) are all within striking distance. Norwich plays Castleton and, yep, Holy Cross this weekend, while Holy Cross also plays one at Nichols and St. Anselm has two on the road against Salve Regina and Manhattanville.
The NESCAC is down to Middlebury (25 points) and Amherst (24 points). Middlebury swept Colby last weekend and plays two with Williams this weekend. Amherst has won 10 straight, including a sweep of Hamilton over the weekend, and is set for a home-and-home series with Wesleyan to close out the regular season. Again, Saturday night can’t come soon enough.
It’s a two-team race in WIAC play between Wisconsin-River Falls and Wisconsin-Stevens Point, separated by just a single point. River Falls plays at St. Scholastica Wednesday night and then at Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Saturday afternoon. Stevens Point hosts Concordia (Wis.) on Saturday. The Pointers are peaking at the right time, unbeaten in nine of their last 10 games.
The upcoming weekend can’t get here soon enough!
