Lindenwood gets in the win column
It took a year plus a few more weeks, but Lindenwood finally has a win over a team that competes at the D-I level full-time. The Lions swept Sacred Heart a year ago, but despite their D-I label, the Pioneers only dabble in that pool. Thus, Lindenwood’s 5-1 win over Penn State on Friday was historic in that sense in addition to yielding its first CHA points. Nicole Hensley claimed her first win in net, Kendra Broad scored the game-winner, and Allysson Arcibal added a couple goals.
Penn State didn’t have to wait much longer to record a first CHA win of its own, as the Nittany Lions turned the tables with a 3-2 win over Lindenwood the next day. Taylor Gross twice scored to erase deficits and Micayla Catanzariti netted the deciding goal on a power play with 5:50 remaining. Nicole Paniccia upped her record to 5-6-1 at PSU.
Tigers best Bears
With all of those Lions, can Tigers and Bears be far behind? RIT had its best weekend of the young season, traveling to Providence and leaving with a sweep of Brown. The 2-0 win in the opener was comfortable enough against the offensively-challenged Bears, but the difference in the 2-1 triumph in the second game was a third-period short-hander by Erin Zach.
Colonials win another road series
Another CHA squad, Robert Morris, had to settle for a win and a tie at Rensselaer. Thea Imbrogno and Kelsey Thomas had two-point games in the 3-2 victory, but Thomas had to score late on Saturday to equal an early Jordan Smelker tally in the 1-1 deadlock.
The eighth time is the charm?
Vermont tied Providence, 2-2, on Sunday, in the wake of a 5-1 win over Connecticut on Friday. That runs the Catamounts unbeaten streak to three games. This is the eighth time that Vermont has had a three-game string without a loss over the last three seasons. The previous seven times, VMU went down in defeat when trying to up it to four straight.
How the top 10 fared
The number of remaining undefeated teams was cut in half on Sunday, as No. 6 Harvard came up a goal short in a 2-1 loss at No. 7 Boston University. Jenelle Kohanchuk opened the scoring with a shorty for the Terriers two days after she had a four-point game as BU blew away Providence, 7-1.
No. 5 Boston College started the week by snatching a tie out of the jaws of victory, as Reagan Fischer scored twice in the third period to earn a 3-3 tie for Dartmouth. The Eagles did better back in Boston on Friday and Sunday for a home-and-home series with No. 9 Northeastern. BC raced out to an early 4-0 lead and parlayed that into a 6-4 win at NU, as Haley Skarupa had four points. The Eagles started quickly on Sunday as well, grabbing a 2-0 lead. The Huskies fought back to take a 3-2 lead in third period via a Paige Savage goal. The lead lasted all of 32 seconds. Melissa Bizzari registered both the tying goal and the winning one in the final minute to give BC a 4-3 win and a sweep.
No. 2 Cornell dispatched travel partner Colgate with ease by 9-0 and 9-2 scores. Brianne Jenner led the way with a half a dozen goals and a trio of assists on the weekend, and sophomore goaltender Katelyn Pippy was the winner both times.
No. 3 Clarkson also registered a sweep, but again this week the second win didn’t come easily. On Friday, the Golden Knights spotted Quinnipiac a goal and then scored the rest for a 4-1 win. Jamie Lee Rattray completed a hat trick into an empty net. She was the hero in overtime at Princeton the next day, overcoming a successful penalty shot by the Tigers’ Kelly Cooke. Erica Howe stopped 57 of the 59 shots she faced over the two games.
Amanda Makela and Stephanie Ciampa recorded back-to-back 4-0 shutouts over Yale for No. 4 Mercyhurst. The Lakers have not allowed a goal in their last 234 minutes and 45 seconds of play.
The power play let No. 8 Ohio State down on Friday in a 4-2 loss to Wisconsin. The Badgers scored two short-handed goals and added a penalty-shot goal by Karley Sylvester that was drawn via another breakaway while short-handed. The Buckeyes gained revenge on Saturday by charging to a three-goal lead and securing a 3-1 win with 33 saves by Chelsea Knapp. Taylor Kuehl scored twice and now leads OSU with 11 goals.
Michelle Karvinen made her season debut for No. 10 North Dakota in a 3-1 and 7-1 sweep at Bemidji State. Perhaps Karvinen’s addition can revive an offense that has sputtered to this point; she accounted for six points on the weekend, and the seven goals scored by the team on Sunday is three more than the previous one-game high for the year.
No. 1 Minnesota completed its seventh sweep of the year, sending Minnesota State away with 3-0 and 9-1 defeats.
