This week was arguably the best week of D-III east women’s hockey yet. Featuring an upset of #11 Endicott at the hands of Western New England, more recently, #3 Plattsburgh holding off #9 Norwich 5-4 in OT on Tuesday 11/15, and Elmira got their fourth straight shutout in a weekend sweep of William Smith. We also look ahead to this weekend as the NESCAC begins play, meaning we see the defending undefeated champions, #1 Middlebury makes an appearance for the first time this season with a two-game home series vs Trinity.
Plattsburgh holds off Norwich, Masotta wins it in OT vs her former team
The Plattsburgh Cardinals hosted the Norwich Cadets in a Tuesday evening ranked matchup, getting the 5-4 OT win. This was a great hockey game as Plattsburgh’s Mattie Norton tied the game at 4, scoring 19:41 into the 3rd period, a meager 19 seconds left in the game. Then at 3:23 into overtime, the former Cadet of three years, Julia Masotta, scored the winner.
“I feel like I was more excited coming into the game. I am still really good friends with a few of the girls on Norwich, so I was excited to see them. I think having it be a top ten match up, everyone came into the game with a sense of edge. These games are always circled on both sides of the calendar so I think I was pretty level headed. I tried to treat it like any other game.”
Plattsburgh heads to Norwich in a few weeks for their annual holiday tournament, where depending how the first games go, these two may face in game-two. When asked about returning to her old home, Massota said “I am very excited to play in the holiday tournament. It is a great rink and it is a bit closer to my hometown so a bunch of family plans on going, which is always fun and exciting. It also is going to be two great games regardless of who you play. That is what makes that tournament fun is that you get to play two great teams either way. Norwich is a great team and they have a great coaching staff and I am very grateful to have played there, nothing but positive experiences.”
Plattsburgh looks to remain undefeated as they host SUNY Morrisville & Buffalo State on Nov. 18/19 at 3pm ET both days.
Western New England Upsets #11 Endicott
Western New England, a second-year program, headed into game two of their home-and-home series with Endicott, falling 4-1 at home Friday, but pulled off a program-changing upset on Saturday, winning 3-2 on the road, scoring 3 unanswered goals (all in the 3rd period & overtime) after falling behind 2-0. WNE’s Alyssa Murphy buried the overtime winner 3:13 into the OT period, Murphy also assisted on the game-tying shorthanded goal scored at the 9:21 mark of the 3rd period.
Coach Katie Zimmerman, the first coach in program history as this is only the second year of the program’s existence, when asked about what a win of this magnitude does for a new program like this one said: “A win like this grows some confidence for the squad and gets us a couple big points for conference standings.” In regard to the difference in game two versus the loss in game one, Coach Zimmerman added: “I think we came out with great energy and urgency on day 2. We outshot them in the first period and I think the strong start fueled the finish.”
Western New England’s next endeavor is a home-and-home series with Curry on Nov. 18/20 at 7pm / 6pm ET.
Elmira increases their shutout streak to four
#4 Elmira swept William Smith this weekend, getting two more shutout wins 6-0 & 5-0. Goaltender Leonie Kuehberger recorded her third consecutive shutout victory in game two of the series. When asked about her success early on this season, Kuehberger said:
“I think it all started last season and not settling for the results of last season. It felt personal. That motivated me to get better over the summer. I always do a lot of skills work with my goalie coaches back home at MassCrease over the summer. This summer felt even more important. I strongly believe that there is always something to work on and that there is never a limit to getting better as a goalie and I think having that mindset creates a lot of opportunities for success. I am lucky enough to play behind a lot of skilled defensive players and a shutout is as much their achievement as it is mine. I think that having great communication with the D definitely also contributes to this. Combined with their skill, being able to talk effectively with the D while on the ice has definitely lessened the impact teams are able to make on our net.”
In reference to her Coach Jake Bobrowski, she added: “I think Coach Jake’s approach to coaching has been so successful from the start of the season because he wants to build a more gritty, fast paced aggressive team. From day one he has put an emphasis on battling and driving the puck hard to the net at practice. I think that his goals complement our team’s natural speed and skill and I think we are only at the beginning of what we can do. I am so excited for this season.”
Speaking of Coach Bobrowski, he added glowing remarks about his goaltenders early success: “Leonie’s success started this past off season with her training. That has carried over into the season where Leonie and Alayna both work hard every day in practice and not only push each other, but cheer for one another. Leonie is extremely talented and I would expect her to just continue to get stronger. We have also made the defensive zone, and taking pride in it, a priority so I think as a team we are all really excited for Leonie and for each other. And again being picky as a coach it is still only a handful of games so we have to keep getting better with the next game in front of us.”
Elmira hosts UMass-Boston and Johnson & Wales University this weekend Nov. 18/19 at 6pm/3pm ET.
The Defending Champions Middlebury begin play
The long-awaited return to the ice for NESCAC teams comes to an end this weekend as all D-III women’s (and men’s) teams will have begun play. Middlebury hosts Trinity this weekend for a two-game home series and Coach Bill Mandigo says his team is ready for opening weekend. “Pre-season has gone well. The players have worked hard to get in hockey shape in preparation for the season. They are very excited to play this weekend.”
As NESCAC play begins, we will certainly see a shift in the weekly top-15 polls due to this conference being extremely strong, especially on the women’s side featuring multiple teams with high-ranking potential.
Other Notable Results
#5 Nazareth swept Wilkes, winning 7-1 & 7-0.
#9 Norwich defeated Castleton and Plymouth State, winning 3-1 & 5-1.
#13 Cortland remains unbeaten, sweeping Buffalo State 4-0 & 7-2.
Suffolk swept Nichols, winning 10-1 & 4-1.
Manhattanville swept Lebanon Valley, winning 6-0 & 5-4.
Oswego State swept SUNY Morrisville, winning both games 4-1.
Utica swept Kings College, winning both games 10-0.
Canton swept Hilbert, winning 8-0 & 11-1 (however it should be noted that Hilbert goaltender Tia Card made a sensational 67 saves in the 8-0 loss).
