The 2024 D-III Women’s NCAA Tournament is upon us, here we are with our game picks as Myself, Tim Costello, & Brian Lester make our Round One picks!
#8 Hamilton (15-6-6) vs. #10 Nazareth (22-6-1)
Brian Lester
The Continentals fell short of a conference championship, but the good news is they have new life in the tournament. They haven’t played their best down the stretch, winning just two of their last six, but two of those games ended in a tie. Another was a one-goal loss.
When these two teams played in the regular season, Nazareth prevailed 2-1 in overtime, something the Continentals have played in 12 times this season.
For the Golden Flyers, this is their third consecutive trip to the tourney and they are coming off their third conference title in a row. Interestingly enough, this is also the third year in a row these two teams have met in the tournament. Keep in mind, Nazareth has won 15 consecutive games and is impressive on the road, going 9-1-1, and it hasn’t given up more than a goal in any game during its streak. We’re going with the upset as Nazareth avenges last year’s 3-1 loss. – Nazareth, 3-2
Tim Costello
The Golden Flyers have had a great season and face a Hamilton team that lost the NESCAC championship game after knocking off the top seed, Amherst. Sage rink will be buzzing and All-NESCAC defensive player Sami Quackenbush will make sure her team moves to action for the weekend. Close game goes to the Continentals – Hamilton, 3-2
Chris Sugar
Nazareth is one of the youngest teams in D-III, they’ve had an excellent season under Head Coach Chris Baudo once again. Winner of this game visits Adrian, it’ll be a great game. I like Nazareth to take this one, I think they make the next step this season. Hamilton performed great in their NESCAC quarterfinal game vs Trinity who upset many teams this season, but ultimately, I like Nazareth on the road. – Nazareth 3-2 OT
#6 Middlebury (16-6-4) vs. Western New England (17-7-3)
Brian Lester
Middlebury just won its 12th conference title over the weekend. Now, it takes aim at an NCAA tourney run. Don’t bet against the Panthers. After all, they do have goalie Sophia Will on their side. She recorded a total of 50 saves in wins over Colby and Hamilton and missed on just one save out of 77 attempts in the conference tourney.
And here’s the other thing. Middlebury has a winning tradition. It won a national title in 2022 and has won five titles in all.
That kind of history can be intimidating for a team making its first ever trip to the tourney, which is what Western New England is doing in just its third year as a varsity sport. The Golden Bears is 1-3 against nationally ranked opponents this year and is led by Rieley Jessie-Gerelli, who has recorded five shutouts in goals. Look for Middlebury to move on. – Middlebury, 4-0
Tim Costello
The Golden Bears hit the road to face a Middlebury team that has found its game over the last four weeks and having surrendered just one goal in the NESCAC tournament. Home ice does matter at this time of year and so does experience where coach Bill Mandigo has taken teams on tournament runs. WNEU stays close but the Panthers close it out – Middlebury, 2-0
Chris Sugar
This game between Middlebury and Western New England is one where I say let’s go Golden Bears, give it a great fight and maybe shock the world, but I can’t see Bill Mandigo’s Panthers losing this one. Middlebury was great in-conference, decent out-of-conference, and will be interesting to see how they fare vs Plattsburgh in the quarterfinals. The Panthers fared very well during conference-play this season, allowing very few goals including only one during the NESCAC tournament, WNE will need to play the game of their life if they want to win this one and visit the Cardinals. – Middlebury 4-1
#7 Cortland (20-5-2) vs. #14 Elmira (20-7-1)
Brian Lester
Cortland is riding high after stunning Plattsburgh for the conference title 2-1 in overtime and has 20 wins on the year, tying for the most in program history. The Red Dragons are also headed to the dance for the first time, which only adds to an already memorable season. Goalie Molly Goergen was the MVP of the tourney and Dany Donegan is just hit the 100-point milestone.
Elmira split with Cortland in the regular season, winning 3-0 and losing 2-1. That loss was on the road. The Soaring Eagles are in the tourney for the 36th time and they are 21-14 there, earning a championship game spot seven times. Erika Goleniak leads the team with 14 goals and 17 assists. Tradition and history tells you Elmira is the favorite. But I’m going to say the magic continues for Cortland. – Cortland, 2-1
Tim Costello
Sometimes it isn’t about the pedigree it is the roll teams get on in March that makes the difference. Hard to argue the long and prominent history of the Elmira program but Cortland just feels different having knocked off Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC title. That kind of win can take you a long way – Cortland, 4-2
Chris Sugar
Cortland and Elmira are intriguing, both teams finding themselves into the tournament when it wasn’t necessarily expected. Elmira hadn’t fared well vs Norwich but avoided them in the NEHC’s when USM defeated the Cadets, Cortland defeated Plattsburgh who hadn’t lost a league title since 2011. Elmira’s goaltending has been on a rotation and the team has hit a few bumps in the road this season. I think Cortland with home-ice takes this one, Red Dragons seem to really have it this year. – Cortland 3-1
