League leaders solidified
The teams that came into the week with the best winning percentages in their leagues are still on top, and the leads were either maintained or increased.
No. 1 Wisconsin takes control of the WCHA
Annie Pankowski scored the winning goals both days, and Ann-Renée Desbiens was stellar in net as the Badgers swept a series from Minnesota for the first time since 2009. Pankowski tipped in the winning goal on a power play at 4:05 of overtime on Friday to give the hosts a 3-2 victory. Both teams scored twice in the second period; Gophers Brook Garzone and Milica McMillen sandwiched goals around tallies from Wisconsin’s Sam Cogan and Rachel Jones.
The Badgers backed it up with a 3-1 win on Saturday, as Pankowski scored in each of the first two periods. Minnesota attempted a third-period rally, but that only produced a goal from Sarah Potomak before Sarah Nurse sealed the win with an empty-net goal. The results increased Wisconsin’s program-best start to 18 straight wins.
No. 4 Quinnipiac opens a gap in ECAC Hockey
The Bobcats opened up a five-point conference lead by taking down Dartmouth, 7-1, and No. 7 Harvard, 2-1 in overtime. Junior defenseman Taryn Baumgardt led the attack versus the Big Green with two goals and an assist as Quinnipiac jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the game’s midpoint. Melissa Samoskevich also scored twice, and Taylar Cianfarano, Randi Marcon, and Kristen Tamberg all finished with a goal and a helper. Sydney Rossman saved 21 of the 22 Dartmouth shots.
Rossman had an identical 21 saves on 22 shots as she dueled the Crimson’s Emerance Maschmeyer, who wound up with 31 stops. Cianfarano set up the winning goal with 55 seconds left in OT with a spin move to elude a defenseman before throwing a low backhand on Maschmeyer. Nicole Kosta crashed the net and the rebound went off her skate to Samoskevich on the far side of the crease, and the freshman didn’t miss. Emma Woods had given the Bobcats a first-period lead that stood until Karly Heffernan tied the score at 7:31 of the third period.
No. 2 Boston College remains perfect in Hockey East
BC retained its three-game lead atop Hockey East by sweeping a series at Maine, 5-0 and 7-2. Katie Burt stopped 15 shots to get the shutout in the opener. Notable offensive performances came from Alex Carpenter with a goal and three assists, and three-point games from Kenzie Kent and Kali Flanagan, with two of Flanagan’s being goals. Carpenter became the top scorer in conference games in Hockey East history. Andie Anastos was the top point getter with a goal and two helpers on Sunday, while Megan Keller scored twice.
Mercyhurst holds one-game lead in CHA
The Lakers were one of three conference teams to take three out of four points, as all three CHA games on Saturday ended in ties. Mercyhurst pulled away from Robert Morris on Friday in gaining a 4-1 decision. Emily Janiga scored twice and Jennifer MacAskill and Lauren Kilroy added single tallies. Sara McDonnell made 17 saves, yielding only a Brittany Howard goal.
On Saturday, the Colonials rallied with three straight goals to take a 4-3 third-period lead, but Megan Whiddon’s second goal of the game earned Mercyhurst a 4-4 tie. MacAskill and Taylor Accursi had the other goals for the Lakers, while Amanda Pantaleo, Amber Rennie, Kirsten Welsh, and Sarah Quaranta struck paydirt for RMU.
How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 6 Bemidji State and No. 9 North Dakota played a Friday-Sunday home-and-home series, and each took a 1-0 win from the other’s arena. Becca Kohler scored on a second-period power play to lift the Fighting Hawks to victory in the first game, with both Shelby Amsley-Benzie and Brittni Mowat making 21 saves with the former getting the shutout. On Sunday, it was Mowat earning the 21-save shutout and Kristin Huber supplying the lone goal less than a minute into the final period.
No. 5 Clarkson fell to Colgate on Friday, 4-3 in overtime. The Golden Knights battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, forcing overtime when Olivia Howe scored an extra-attacker goal just five seconds after goalie Shea Tiley departed the ice. The jubilation for Clarkson was short-lived when Shae Labbe needed only 12 seconds of overtime to net the winning goal for the Raiders. Julia Vandyk made 33 saves to get the win. The Golden Knights bounced back with Tiley shutting out Cornell, 4-0. Cayley Mercer tallied twice and Loren Gabel had her second straight game with both a goal and a helper.
Harvard also fell in overtime at Princeton, 2-1, when Kelsey Koelzer fired a shot inside the post at 2:27 of the extra session. Sydney Daniels struck first for the Crimson, midway through the third frame, but Molly Strabley answered for the Tigers 62 seconds later. Kimberly Newell made 25 saves to get the win, and 37 stops weren’t enough for Maschmeyer.
No. 8 Northeastern swept Vermont, 5-1 and 2-1. Sarah Foss made 23 saves in the opener, Paige Savage scored twice, and Hayley Masters, Kendall Coyne, and Maddie Hartman all contributed a goal and an assist. In the second game, Casey Leveillee gave the Catamounts a lead, but Coyne tied the score while short-handed and McKenna Brand won it a couple minutes later. Foss stopped another 26 shots.
No. 10 Minnesota-Duluth had to settle for a 2-2 tie in its opener versus St. Cloud State. Julia Tylke and Vanessa Spataro scored in the second period to put the Huskies up, 2-1, but Demi Crossman got the tying goal in the third period for the Bulldogs, after Michela Cava had opened the scoring. Katie Fitzgerald made 30 saves and helped SCSU to a shootout win. Kayla Black turned in a 25-save shutout as UMD won the series with a 4-0 victory. Maria Lindh, Jessica Healey, Cava, and Ashleigh Brykaliuk scored for the Bulldogs, with the last going into an empty net.
Other action
Colgate had a successful foray into the North Country, backing up the upset of Clarkson with a 2-1 win at St. Lawrence. Jessie Eldridge and Bailey Larson scored to give the Raiders a lead, and although Jenna Marks cut it in half, Vandyk made 23 saves to keep Colgate in front.
Princeton skated past Dartmouth, 4-1. Laura Stacey scored for the second straight day for the Big Green, but that was all they could muster against Newell, who saved the other 30 shots. Morgan Sly, Karlie Lund, and Cassidy Tucker responded with second-period goals, and Hilary Lloyd finished matters into an empty net.
Union had perhaps its most frustrating week of the season, losing three times to remain winless. Jamie Smith gave the Dutchwomen a lead at Providence, but Danielle Hardy, Brittney Thunstrom, Natasia Burzynski, and Christina Putigna rattled off goals for the Friars, who won, 4-1.
Brown’s Julianne Landry then made 38 saves to shut out Union, 2-0, and give her team its first league points. Erin Conway and Samantha Swanstrom potted goals for the Bears.
Jacyn Reeves and Union broke on top in the opening minute versus Yale, but Janelle Ferrara tied the score late in the second period, and Phoebe Staenz won it for the Bulldogs 16 seconds into overtime, 2-1. Melissa Black’s 43 saves for the Dutchwomen weren’t enough, as Hanna Mandl made 23 stops to get the win.
The day before, Yale raced out to a 4-0 lead over Rensselaer just over 17 minutes into the contest and eased to a 4-1 win. Mandl made 22 saves and Jordan Chancellor scored twice.
RPI rebounded with a 2-0 shutout of Brown, with Lovisa Selander denying all 19 shots. Alexa Gruschow’s goal five minutes in held up.
On Friday, Cornell won at St. Lawrence, 4-3, thanks to a hat trick by Jess Brown.
New Hampshire swept a home-and-home series from Merrimack, 4-1 and 2-1 in overtime. Jonna Curtis and Taylor Wenczkowski each scored twice in the opener. Samantha Ridgewell made 55 saves for the Warriors to push Saturday’s game into OT, where Amy Schlagel won it for the Wildcats.
Boston University grabbed leads both days versus Connecticut, only to have the Huskies battle back. A three-goal lead wasn’t enough in the opener, as Theresa Knutson, Jaime Fox, and Justine Fredette scored in the third period to gain Connecticut a 4-4 tie. Knutson’s goal was her second of the day; Rebecca Russo struck twice for the Terriers. Jordy Zacharias’ second goal of the game tied Sunday’s contest at 3-3, but Sarah Lefort’s second goal and fourth point of the game gave BU the 4-3 win.
