Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate. Another week of D-III Women’s hockey has wrapped up on the eastern front and we’re moving into an exciting time of the season, holiday tournaments and NESCAC play finally beginning. We saw some teams get some big wins this week and reality is now showing itself more and more often, anyone can beat anybody.
Oswego’s coming alive
Oswego State entered the weekend 3-3 with an opportunity to make-up for their early losses with a home-and-home series against their local rival #12 Cortland. In two low scoring affairs, Oswego defeated Cortland 2-1 & 1-0, they would then go on to also defeat William Smith 5-1 a few days later on Tues. Nov. 22nd. Over this stretch of games, Morgan Shines led the way with 3 goals for the Lakers, whilst goaltender Joanna Hiebert had a 31 save shutout win.
After a pair of heavily penalized games vs Potsdam and Canton a few weekends ago, Head Coach Mark Digby discussed how limiting penalties became a priority in practice with the test of Cortland in front of them: “Discipline was a major focal point this week. Any time you’re playing a team as dynamic and well coached as Cortland is, you can’t beat yourself with unnecessary penalties. I’m proud of the way our team remained disciplined in all areas of our game.”
When asked about what element of his team was the biggest factor in their success vs #12 Cortland, Coach Digby added: “I thought we played to our identity this weekend and did not allow distractions to impact our performance. Everyone competed hard, and even though Cortland pushed us and forced a lot of errors, everyone committed to a consistent team game and we generally made mistakes one at a time rather than allowing them to compound.”
Oswego, now 6-3, visits #13 Hamilton College on Nov. 27 at 3pm ET.
Suffolk gets a big early-season ranked win
Last season, Suffolk won their first ever ranked opponent as a program, defeating #8 Endicott, this year, they got their second, defeating #13 Endicott 2-1 in OT after falling to the Gulls 2-1 in OT the night before. Madison Duff scored the OT winner 1:41 into the OT period for the Rams. Coming off their best season for the relatively new program last year, Suffolk is continuing to make their mark as a program, showing everyone last year wasn’t a fluke. Coach Taylor Wasylk described what she thinks has been the biggest reason behind her team’s ability to pick up where they left off last season and ride the momentum they created:
“The start to the season has been a lot of fun so far. Last season we set a handful of goals to hit throughout the year whereas this season we went in a different direction and set an end goal that we want to work towards all season long. Right now we are focusing on getting better everyday and learning something from every game that we play, whether we win or lose. We have a great group this year and we are really excited to see how the rest of the season plays out for us.”
Suffolk’s next games are a home-and-home series with Univ. New England on Dec. 2/3 at 6pm/4pm ET.
Manhattanville quietly approaching
Manhattanville, now 6-1 after dropping their first game on Tues. Nov. 22nd vs Trinity College, began the year on a six game win streak. The Valiants are coming off a UCHC title game appearance vs Nazareth last season and are looking to make it there again this year. Head Coach Jennifer MacAskill, entering her 3rd season with the program as Head Coach, talked about her team’s good start early on and what elements of the team are the reason behind their success:
“We have a group of returners who are on a mission and underclassmen who are really buying into the things we are trying to do here. The start is a testament to the character of the people we have in the locker room – we have awesome leaders who set the tone on day one and a group that, I feel, has no hidden agendas. Just people who show up ready to work, be great teammates, and earn wins any way necessary. I also have to credit our goaltenders, shutting out 5/6 games. This team believes in each other and what we can accomplish this year. We’ve shown great resilience early on and I’m excited to see how we respond against some really good teams as we round out the first half.”
One player that’s stood out early is Senior Gabrielle Cox. She totaled 12 goals and 4 assists in the first five games of the season, she’s had a few quiet games since, but 16 points in seven games is certainly nothing to be saddened about. Coach MacAskill commented on Gabrielle’s early fast start: “She’s a special player, but to me it’s something she’s always been capable of. There are a lot of things that have impressed me with her overall approach to this season. She’s been able to build some confidence and start to click with her linemates, but she really just wants to help the team win any way that she can. We are lucky to have had different people step up at different times, and Gabbie has been playing great even on the days she’s not on the scoresheet.”
Manhattanville heads to Wesleyan and hosts #11 Amherst on Nov. 26/27 at 3pm ET both days.
The NESCAC is back!
Just like every other year, we have been waiting for the highly competitive and skilled NESCAC conference to begin play, weeks after everyone else has begun. The defending champions #1 Middlebury won a trio of games, sweeping Trinity over the weekend, winning 4-2 both days, then defeating Castleton 3-1 on Tues. 11/22. Through the three games, Middlebury’s Jenna Letterie led the way with 1 goal and 5 assists, Britt Nawrocki (2 goals 2 assists) and Cece Ziegler (1 goal 3 assists) added 4 points apiece.
The ranked matchup of the weekend was #11 Amherst vs #15 Hamilton where the two teams split games, Amherst taking game one 4-0 and Hamilton taking game two 2-0. Natalie Stott recorded a 22 save shutout win for Amherst, while Evie Sheridan recorded a 24 save shutout win for Hamilton.
Other Notable Results
#3 Plattsburgh stays undefeated at 7-0, they defeated Buffalo State 5-0 and SUNY Morrisville 6-1.
#4 Elmira’s impressive shutout streak continues, now extending to six as they shutout UMass-Boston 5-0 and Johnson & Wales Univ. 3-0. Elmira’s now 7-0.
#5 Nazareth stays unbeaten at 6-0, records their third-straight shutout, sweeping Lebanon Valley 4-0 & 6-0.
#10 Colby won their first game on Tues. Nov. 22, defeating Univ. Southern Maine 7-2.
Utica University moves to 5-1-1, sweeping Stevenson University 5-1 & 8-0. Maggie Rylott knotted a hat-trick in the 8-0 win.
We’re now fully underway out east, NESCAC teams are now playing, huge holiday tournaments featuring many top-5 & top-10 teams are getting closer, weekly upsets, we’re here to enjoy the ride.
