(1) Wisconsin at Minnesota State
The Badgers took advantage of an early penalty with a goal from KK Harvey to go up 1-0 just two minutes into the game on Friday. But the Mavericks pushed back on the Badgers, ultimately outshooting them 24-23 over the game and keeping the nation’s top offense in check. Wisconsin showed off their skills in transition with some tic-tac-toe passing that led to Kirsten Simms scoring five minutes into the second to make it a 2-0 game. MSU’s Madison Mashuga continued her hot streak, scoring on the power play late in the second to make it a 2-1 game. But Minnesota State could not find the back of the net in the third and Wisconsin held off a bit of a score from the Mavericks for the win. On Saturday, the Badgers seemed to have reset and they looked a bit more like the top team in the country. Maggie Scannell opened the scoring finishing a play that started with a long pass from Katie Kotlowski that sprung Scannell alone into the zone to make it 1-0. Edwards doubled the lead near the end of the first after a turnover to make it 2-0 at the intermission. Harvey showed off her vision in the second as she held the puck between the circles and found a perfect lane to send the puck bar down and make it a 3-0 game. O’Brien lit the lamp 25 seconds into the third on a power play odd-player rush and Scannell added her second of the game on the power play later in the period to secure a 5-0 win and weekend sweep for Wisconsin.
(3) Minnesota at St. Thomas
The Gophers were dominant on Saturday as Abbey Murphy tallied two goals and three assists to lead Minnesota to a 5-0 win. Josefin Bouveng had the lone goal in the first and Nelli Laitenen’s assist on the tally was her 50th point as a Gopher. Bouveng scored again, this time on the power play, midway through the second and that seemed to really open things up for Minnesota. Murphy scored two goals in a row shortly after to make it 4-0 at the second intermission. Chloe Primerano scored her second goal of the season in the third to secure the 5-0 win. It was freshman goalieHannah Clark’s first career shutout. In the second game, it took half the first period for the teams to really ramp up, but then things happened quickly. Peyton Hemp put Minnesota up 1-0, but Rylee Bartz replied for St. Thomas to make it a 1-1 game. That didn’t last long as 26 seconds later Laitenen put Minnesota ahead 2-1. The Gophers gave themselves some breathing room in the second with goals from Hemp and Sydney Morrow to make it 4-1 after two. Murphy scored early in the third to make it 5-1, but former Gopher Sadie Lindsay replied to make it 5-2. The Tommies could not mount more of a comeback and Primerano added a power play goal with 1.6 seconds left in the game to secure the 6-2 win and weekend sweep for Minnesota.
(4) Minnesota Duluth at (8) St. Cloud State
In the first game, Alice Sauriol gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead early in the first and they would hold that for 40 minutes as Sanni Ahola made 34 saves in the game. Olivia Wallin fed Olivia Mobley from behind the net and Mobley tied the game early in the third. The teams could not find a winner through overtime. In the shootout, Ève Gascon made all three saves and Mobley scored the only goal to give the Bulldogs the extra league point. On Saturday, Sauriol and Taylor Larson forced a turnover at the blue line and took off in transition. Sauriol’s shot was saved, but the rebound came right to Larson, who put it back to give St. Cloud the 1-0 lead. As with the first game, that lead would hold for more than 40 minutes into the third. It was once again Mobley, who grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and skated through the defense to score short-handed and tie the game 1-1 four minutes into the third. With under four minutes to play, Clara Van Wieren picked up the puck in her own defensive end and weaved through traffic before unleashing a shot just past the blue line that beat Ahola to give Minnesota Duluth their first lead of the weekend. Mary Kate O’Brien added an empty-netter to secure the 3-1 win.
Dartmouth at (6) Clarkson
The Big Green gave Clarkson all they could handle on Friday night and this game was tied into the third period. Dartmouth opened the scoring with their first shot of the game as Lauren Messier took a deflection off a Golden Knights player and put it in the back of the net. That seemed to shake Clarkson up and they quickly responded with goals from Anne Cherkowski and Raedyn Spademan a minute apart to make it a 2-1 game for the home team. Sena Catterall’s power play goal early in the second extended the lead to 3-1. Dartmouth started to push back through the second and found purchase late when Meredith Jensen’s shot from the blue line made it through traffic to the back of the net to make it 3-2. Four minutes into the third, the Big Green capitalized on a power play as Laura Fuoco put away a loose puck in the crease to tie the game. The tie was short lived as Dartmouth was able to kill a power play, but gave up a goal to Haley Winn just after the penalty expired to give Clarkson the 4-3 advantage. The Big Green had a great opportunity late and pulled the goalie on the power play to have a 6-on-4 advantage, but despite several chances, couldn’t find the back of the net and the Golden Knights got an empty-netter from Jenna Goodwin to secure the 5-3 win.
Harvard at (6) Clarkson
The Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first and never looked back as they took a 5-1 win over the Crimson on Saturday. Anne Cherkowski, Baylee Kirwan and Rhea Hicks each scored in the first. Ella Lucia pulled one back for Harvard in the waning seconds of the first to send the teams to the locker room with Clarkson up 3-1. Caroline Goffredo added a goal in the second and Kirwan’s second of the game in the third secured the win for the Golden Knights.
(9) Quinnipiac at Princeton
This battle of the number two offense at Princeton and the number two defense at Quinnipiac went to the Tigers on Saturday. As expected, it was a chess match of back and forth play. After no scoring in the first, Laurence Frenette picked up a puck that slid off Emerson Jarvis’ stick as she drove the net and redirected it into the net. The Bobcat defense did a good job keeping Princeton’s offense in check. The Tigers are averaging nearly 40 shots per game this season, but managed just 22 in this game. Sarah Paul got Princeton on the board early in the third on the power play. As the focus of the play shifted to the goaltender’s right, Paul cheated into open ice at the top of the circles and was free to one-time a pass from Angelina DiGirolamo. In overtime, Doyle left her net to gather a loose puck as Paul chased it down. Doyle’s pass off the boards went to the stick of Princeton’s Jane Kuehl, who showed great vision and patience as she held the puck and crashed toward the far post, passing it behind Doyle and through the crease to a waiting Paul, who tapped it in to give the Tigers the win.
(10) Boston College at Holy Cross
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead early in the first on a power play goal from Sammy Taber that came off the faceoff. Despite outshooting the Crusaders 19-6 in the middle frame, BC could not find the net. After more than 50 minutes of scoreless hockey following the early goal, Holy Cross tied the game as Mackenzie King cleaned up a loose puck during a scrum in front of the net to tie the game 1-1 and force overtime. In the extra frame, Alexia Moreau held the puck in her defensive zone while her teammates switched out and then carried the puck in on her own and wristed the puck into the net to end the game. The victory gave Holy Cross their first ever series win over Boston College as the teams had split their previous two meetings.
Harvard at (11) St. Lawrence
After a back and forth first frame, the Saints blew this game open in the second, scoring four consecutive goals to take a 4-0 lead into the third. Abby Hustler opened the scoring with a shot from down low to make it 1-0. Anna Segedi scored on a wraparound to make it 2-0 a few minutes later. Taylor Lum deflected the puck in to make it 3-0 and Alexia Côté’s shot to the upper corner closed out the second to give SLU a 4-0 lead. In the final frame, Antonina Dinges got Harvard on the board after a turnover and Sophie Ensley scored with 10.2 seconds left on the clock, but the Crimson ran out of time and St. Lawrence took the 4-2 win.
Dartmouth at (11) St. Lawrence
Tori Verbeek completed a pretty passing play at the end of the first to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Sarah Thompson redirected the puck in the second to extend the Saints’ lead to 2-0. Emma-Sofie Nordström recorded her fourth shutout of the season to help SLU to the 2-0 win and weekend sweep.
(12) Penn State at Mercyhurst
It was a streaky game on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Maddy Christian scored twice for Penn State in the middle of the second to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead. Mercyhurst replied with a goal from Makayla Javier with three minutes to go in the first and a power play goal from Julia Schalin in the opening minute of the third to tie the game 2-2. But PSU responded quickly as Grace Outwater scored to make it 3-2 and Tessa Janecke added an insurance goal late to secure the 4-2 win. On Saturday, Alyssa Machado opened the scoring midway through the first, putting back a rebound to give Penn State the 1-0 lead. The Lakers tied the game later in the first as Kylee Mahoney took the puck nearly end to end to make it 1-1. In the second, Janecke sniped a goal to make it 2-1, but with 29 seconds left in the period, Mahoney scored her second with a rip from the top of the circles to tie the game once more. Janecke scored the game winner in the third, taking a turnover on a breakaway and beating the goalie to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead they’d hold until the final buzzer.
(14) Yale at Union
Gracie Gilkyson ripped a shot from the blue line in the first to give Yale a 1-0 lead. Anna Bargman doubled the lead in the first minute of the second. Maddie Suitor cut into the lead for Union with a power play goal late in the second to make it 2-1. Emma McGowan scored her first career goal, cleaning up a loose puck in the third to make it 3-1 and secure the win for the Bulldogs.
(14) Yale at RPI
The Bulldogs skated to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to a shorthanded goal from Carina D’Antonio. With under four to play in the opening frame, Nyah Phillips scored on a two-on-one break with Georgia Bailey to tie the game 1-1 heading into the first intermission. The Engineers were fired up heading into the second and scoring twice in the opening three minutes. Taryn Rathwell scored her first career goal 1:45 into the frame before Sabrina Beaudoin tucked the puck home just 31 seconds later to give RPI the 3-1 lead. Reese Keating made 18 of her 39 saves in the third to keep Yale off the board and the Engineers earned their 11th win of the first half. It’s the first time since the 2008-09 season that the Engineers have won 11 of their first 19 games.
(15) Connecticut at Maine
Special teams were crucial in this game. UConn outshot the Black Bears 19-10 in the first period, but the teams headed to the locker room in a scoreless tie. Maine scored first when Adriana Van De Leest let go a wrister from the top of the circles to make it 1-0. They doubled their lead on Frederikke Foss’ first career goal. Van De Leest’s shot off the post was free in the crease and Foss put it back to make it a 2-0 game just past the midpoint. Just a minute later, the Huskies scored a power play of their goal when Jada Habisch found space in front of the net and one-timed a pass from Kyla Josifovic. Connecticut tied the game just before intermission when Riley Grimley was able to pick up an errant pass and go in alone on net to make it a 2-2 game heading into the third. UConn took their first lead of the game just 12 seconds into the third off the opening faceoff as Livvy Dewar hit Christina Walker in stride and Walker was in alone on net to make it 3-2. Maine forced overtime late when the puck deflected off a player and landed at the stick of Lily Fetch, who did not miss. Maine took a penalty for too many players on the ice with 1:19 left in regulation. They were able to get the game to overtime, but with the extra player in the extra frame, Ava Rinker was able to send a pass through the crease to Josifovic, who put it away from one knee to give UConn the 4-3 OT win.
