Thanksgiving schedules
With the holiday this week, many teams got started early, while others had the week off or played only exhibitions.
St. Lawrence and Mercyhurst, in particular, paid with their legs for the privilege of having their games for the week completed by the time turkey dinner was served. Both played road series the weekend before their Tuesday and Wednesday set in Erie. The host Lakers came out on top in both games by 3-2 scores. The first win required a rally from two goals down that wasn’t completed until Christie Cicero’s goal with 73 seconds remaining, her second tally of the game. Mercyhurst led almost all the way on Wednesday, taking a lead it would not relinquish on J’nai Mahadeo’s goal with 5:04 elapsed. Cicero doubled the lead four minutes later, the teams traded goals in the second period, and a Brooke Webster goal with 12 seconds left was not enough as the Saints fell.
Overtime all of the time
Vermont played three road games versus ECAC foes, and 60 minutes was insufficient to decide any of them. Dayna Colang’s second goal of the game at 3:45 of OT ended a 4-3 win at Brown on Tuesday. Bonus hockey didn’t solve anything at Colgate, as games on both Saturday and Sunday produced 2-2 ties. The Catamounts entered the third period with a lead that didn’t survive on either occasion. Nicole Gass scored for the Raiders to erase a one-goal deficit on Saturday. Colgate needed markers by Taylor Volpe and Taylor Craig on Sunday to come from two down to tie.
Bobcats claim the Nutmeg Classic
After a 1-1 tie at Princeton on Tuesday extended its winless streak to three games, No. 8 Quinnipiac bounced back with wins over RIT and Yale to earn the championship of the Nutmeg Classic. Shiann Darkangelo’s hat trick highlighted the 8-0 trouncing of RIT. She and Kelly Babstock had five-point games, Morgan Fritz-Ward scored twice, and Sydney Rossman notched her first collegiate win.
In the title game, Phoebe Staenz and Stephanie Mock gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Emma Woods answered on a power play with another 49 seconds gone for the Bobcats, Olivia Brackett tied the game 20 minutes later, and Lindsey West potted the game-winner early in the third period. Babstock contributed a pair of assists in the 3-2 triumph.
On the other side of the bracket, Connecticut went winless in the event. The Huskies lost a see-saw affair to Yale, 5-4, despite three-point games by Michela Cava and Kayla Campero. Staenz had three points for the Bulldogs, and Taylor Marchin won it in the last minute. Crunch time proved unkind to UConn in the third-place game as well. Erin Zach assisted on Celeste Brown’s tying goal for the Tigers with under two minutes in regulation, and then Zach won it a couple of minutes into overtime, her third point of the contest.
Last unbeaten falls
No. 3 Cornell entered the week as the only remaining D-I team without a loss. Thanks to a 2-0 win over No. 7 Boston College on Friday at Lynah Rink, the Big Red improved their record to 9-0-2. Hayleigh Cudmore scored on a power play early in the second period and assisted on Taylor Woods’ insurance goal on a third-period power play. Lauren Slebodnick denied all 27 shots in posting the shutout.
Saturday did not go as well for Cornell. Meagan Mangene gave the Eagles a lead 12 minutes into the game, and Slebodnick left with an injury before another minute passed. Paula Voorheis came on in relief and was charged with the loss as the Big Red fell, 4-1. Taylor Wasylk, Danielle Doherty, and Emily Field added goals for BC, and only Jessica Campbell was able to dent the armor of Corinne Boyles, who saved the other 39 attempts.
Streakiest teams
Now that Minnesota’s record streak has receded in the rearview mirror, which team owns the longest active winning streak? Clarkson. And Minnesota. Both have won the last four. In terms of unbeaten streaks, Harvard and Robert Morris are both longer at seven games, and Wisconsin leads the way with 12 straight.
Signs of life
After losing to Robert Morris on home ice on Tuesday, Ohio State was winless in its previous nine games, eight of them defeats. The Buckeyes rebounded on Saturday and Sunday on the road at New Hampshire, sweeping the Wildcats, 3-2 and 2-0. Lisa Steffes got the start in the OSU net both days, including the 21-save shutout. Julia McKinnon keyed the offense with three points on the weekend.
Shots are overrated
Rensselaer was outshot in both games of a road series at St. Cloud State, but thanks to 44- and 31-save efforts by Kelly O’Brien, came home with 4-1 and 2-1 victories. Jordan Smelker and Heidi Huhtamaki had three-point weekends.
How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 2 Wisconsin navigated a second consecutive tough WCHA road series without a loss. Minnesota-Duluth twice took one-goal leads on markers by Demi Crossman and Jamie Kenyon, but Courtney Burke and Madison Packer responded. Overtime ended tied at 2-2, and only the Bulldogs’ Meghan Huertas converted once the shootout commenced, so UMD earned the extra league point. On Saturday, Wisconsin goalie Alex Rigsby was knocked from a scoreless game with an apparent leg injury. Ann-Renée Desbiens came on in relief and completed the team shutout, earning the 1-0 win when Karley Sylvester scored the game’s only goal a couple minutes into the final period.
No. 1 Minnesota overwhelmed Princeton by scores of 6-0 and 9-1. Ten different Gophers contributed goals, none scoring more than twice.
Five players scored for No. 5 Harvard in a 5-0 whipping of Dartmouth, and Marissa Gedman added a couple of assists with hers. Emerance Maschmeyer gained her fourth shutout via 25 saves.
No. 10 Robert Morris posted a come-from-behind, 2-1 win on Tuesday at Ohio State. Brittany Howard and Rebecca Vint scored to keep Jessica Dodds undefeated in net. Howard bagged all four goals for the Colonials, one shy of the program record, in a 4-2 victory over Maine on Friday; Vint and Thea Imbrogno assisted three times.
