Here’s a new semi-weekly column of my weekend game picks for certain games. I had to take a play from Tim Costello‘s playbook once again, bringing it to the Women’s D-III side of things!
Overall record 0-0
Friday:
Oswego at Morrisville
I think this game will be closer than some expect. Oswego enters with a 2-1 record with two wins over a solid William Smith team, only loss being to #3 Plattsburgh. Morrisville enters with a 2-1 record as well, only loss being to #11 Cortland who they took to overtime at home. Morrisville should put up a fight through the first two periods and keep it close, possibly send the game to overtime, I see a good chance this takes an extra period to end it. Give me Oswego to win it, but not by much, likely an empty net goal is required to seal it.
Oswego 4-2
Dubuque vs Marian
Dubuque comes off a sweep of Trine, winning 5-4 OT & 2-0. Goaltender Savannah XXXX is feeling it at the moment, look for her to have another good weekend against a Marian team that I think matches up pretty evenly with the inaugural Spartan squad. I’ll take Dubuque to keep it rolling along in the NCHA and move to 3-1 on the year. An issue we saw with the Spartans vs Trine was their heavy penalty minutes, totaling over 20 for two games. If they can clean up the penalties and Savannah Wuitschick stays hot, they shouldn’t have any problems against Marian, wouldn’t shock me if they swept them to go 4-1.
Dubuque 3-1
Wilkes at #8 Utica
Wilkes is a team many may not think of to give Utica a run, but they’re much improved with a lot of Canadian recruits brought in by Head Coach Dave Labaff. They gave Manhattanville two great games last weekend, falling 3-2 and 3-2 in OT. I expect Utica to win, especially at home in the Nexus Center, but like last weekend vs Lebanon Valley, Utica’s shown they’re vulnerable in certain aspects. I think Wilkes gives them a run but falls short in the end, don’t expect a #8 blowout victory.
Utica 4-2
Chatham at Manhattanville
Chatham’s coming off a program-best year, Manhattanville remains an underrated team with Captain Gabrielle Cox who was near the top of the goal scorer list last season. Expect her to have 1-2 goals in this series and it wouldn’t shock me if she got 3. In this game, being in the Playland Ice Casino (still one of my favorite arena names in all of D3, except there’s no table games or slots to be found). This is an intriguing series in the UCHC as both teams are wildcards, either team could win this, but give me the Valiant’s in a close one.
Manhattanville 4-3.
Saturday:
#15 Endicott at Western New England
Feels like I’m loving the upset-scare this weekend (makes my hardcore analysis look better if it occurs), but I do believe this game is Western New England’s. Endicott will likely win at home on Friday, but I think, like las year, the Golden Bears pull one out and defeat Endicott in game two. WNE enters with a big senior-heavy class, Endicott looks like the Endicott we’re used to, but give me WNE to upset the Gulls and get their first ranked win of the year.
Western New England 3-2
Hamline at Saint Mary’s
This game is intriguing on various levels, Saint Mary’s is looking like they’re for real, Hamline also looks much improved. I think HC Chad Davis of Saint Mary’s has his team in a good place, it wouldn’t shock me if they replicate the Lake Forest series and beat the Pipers handily. We will see what Hamline is in this weekend series, Saint Mary’s has proven themselves already as they defeated #7 UW-Eau Claire last weekend and feel to #4 UW-River Falls by a slim margin of 3-1.
Saint Mary’s 4-1
#11 Cortland at Canton
This is another matchup between two teams looking to get to the next level, just in different ways. Cortland has seen the conference championship, they’ve even beaten the Queens of the conference Plattsburgh on numerous occasions, but the next step for them is the NCAA tournament. The Roos of Canton on the other hand are looking to get a signature win over a ranked opponent, this could be the weekend for them as they get a Cortland team who needed overtime to defeat Morrisville (who’s HC and AC are both former Red Dragons). Cortland will need to get off to a good start with a few early goals if they want to avoid the upset. Callie Grant’s Roos should be ready to go.
Cortland 5-3
Nichols at Suffolk
Nichols, a team who defeated ranked Endicott last week, enters with a 3-1 record and is an intriguing opponent this week. I’m curious to see how they fare vs a Suffolk Rams team that could be in what you call “wounded animal” mode where they come out looking to win and win badly. The defending CCC champion Rams are 0-4, in need of win. I don’t want to call this weekend a must win for them, but if they drop to 1-5 or 0-6, they’re going to have a lot of issues getting through the rest of this season considering they haven’t even played runner-up Endicott yet. I’ll take Nichols here in a close one, I think Suffolk takes game one, but give me the Bison to split, hard to see them drop two this weekend.
Nichols 5-2
