With a slew of ranked teams in action last weekend, some games went as expected, while others, not so much.
This week’s USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll may seem some changes, but it won’t be at the top.
No. 1 Plattsburgh went on the road and swept William Smith in dominating fashion, 10-0 Friday and then 11-1 on Saturday. Bridget Balisy had three goals and an assist Friday, to go along with a goal and three assists from Morgan MacInnis and four assists from Shannon Stewart. Goalie Camille Leonard made just 11 saves. On Saturday, Stewart went for three goals and a helper, Mia Favretto was plus-7, and Kayla Meneghin and Melissa Sheeran each had a goal and two assists. Giovanna Senese scored twice with an assist and Ally Ross stopped nine shots in goal.
No. 2 Elmira won a pair at Neumann over the weekend by scores of 8-2 and 5-2. The nation’s top scorer, Ashley Ryan, added three goals and two assists in the wins and Kelcey Crawford and Kyle Nelson split the games in net, with Crawford winning the first game and Nelson the second.
Norwich, ranked No. 3 after a spell at No. 1 a few weeks back, skated to a 1-1 tie with St. Anselm Friday night before rebounding for a 3-1 win the next day against Castleton. St. Anselm goalie Lindsey Brown blanked the Cadets for almost two and a half periods Friday before Erin Joyce’s power-play goal at 8:26 of the third pulled Norwich into the tie. Brown made 26 saves in the game. Saturday, Norwich and Castleton were tied 1-1 going into the third, only to see Madison Gallagher and Kim Tiberi score to lift Norwich.
Here’s where it starts to get fun.
No. 4 Middlebury and No. 9 Amherst played to two ties, 2-2 Friday and 1-1 Saturday. Maddie Winslow’s goal 13:49 into the third period gave Middlebury the tie Friday, and then Jessica Young lifted Middlebury again with a goal at 18:25 of the third period Saturday. How will the voters vote? Push Middlebury down for two non-wins? Or boost Amherst up for tying the No. 4 team in the country? Or a mixture of both?
Adrian also faltered, as the No. 5 Bulldogs tied Concordia (Wis.) 4-4 Friday night and then edged Concordia 2-1 the next night. After Samantha Reiter gave CU the 4-3 lead at 17:14 of the third period, Kelsey Kusch netted a power-play tally at 19:23 to pull Adrian into the tie Friday night. On Saturday, Adrian scored two in the first and held on the rest of the way as Jade Walsh made 21 saves. Again, might we see Adrian drop a spot or hold steady? It’s in the hands of the voters now.
No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus swept Augsburg in a home-and-home series. Lindsey Hibbard turned aside all 10 shots she faced Friday night and Carolyn Draayer scored two in a 5-0 victory. Saturday night, Gustavus Adolphus rallied with two late third-period goals from Draayer at 12:04 and Rachel Skoglund at 16:02 to give Gustavus the 2-1 win and weekend sweep.
Wisconsin-River Falls won two on the road at St. Scholastica, getting a 4-2 win Friday night and a 4-1 win Saturday. Alice Cranston had two goals and an assist and Chloe Kinsel a goal plus two helpers Friday for the No. 7 Falcons, followed by Karleigh Wolkerstorfer picking up two goals Saturday. Angie Hall faced just five shots, kicking out four on Saturday, while at the other end, Lindsey Hartfiel stopped 33 shots.
Lake Forest made some noise, splitting with No. 8 Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Lake Forest scored two in the second and three in the third in a 5-2 win Friday night behind Michelle Greeneway’s two-goal, one-assist outing, but Wis.-Stevens Point rebounded to gain a 7-5 win the next night with five unanswered goals after trailing 5-2 late in the second period. What do you think? Does Stevens Point drop in the rankings?
No. 10 Bowdoin was the other ranked team that failed to grab four points, going to a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan Friday night and coming back with a 2-0 win Saturday. Julie Dachille salvaged the tie for Bowdoin Friday with her goal at 16:52 of the third. Lan Crofton stopped all 30 shots Saturday to give the Polar Bears the win.
Jordan Verleye’s goal 1:51 into overtime pushed Hamline past St. Olaf 3-2 on Friday and Williams and Hamilton played to a scoreless tie that same night. Sam Walther (Hamilton, 20 saves) and Christina Cleroux (Williams, 27 saves) each posted perfect nights. Cleroux made 20 saves in a 2-0 shutout the next night.
On Friday, Bridget Smith stopped all 16 to lead Oswego over Chatham 2-0 Friday. Taylor Neisen kicked out all 17 as St. Thomas blanked St. Catherine 4-0 and Sydney Belinskas stopped all 15 in Trinity’s 9-0 win over Sacred Heart.
Emily Bondrager’s goal 5:29 into the third period proved to be the game-winner Friday as St. Norbert edged Finlandia 2-1 before the Green Knights roared back for a 10-1 win on Saturday.
Holy Cross goalie Alexandra Stevenson picked up a seven-save shutout over New England College Saturday and St. Mary’s goalie Tori Hermann notched a 24-save goose egg Saturday against Bethel.
The big game ahead this week is a Tuesday night special as now-No. 3 Norwich is at No. 1 Plattsburgh. Expect a tournament-like atmosphere.
