We had a great weekend of Women’s D-III hockey out East, including arguably the best tournament each year, the Panther/Cardinal Classic! To go along with that, one team headed out West for a non-conference matchup, and we also had the annual Codfish Bowl! Lots to cover from this past weekend on the eastern front and we’re almost to the semester break, hard to believe, but we’re almost there, time flies!
Panther/Cardinal Classic *Hosted by Middlebury*
It’s always a fun tournament every year it’s played, whether it’s in Plattsburgh, NY or Middlebury, VT, we’re always in for a fun time. This year featured #4 Plattsburgh, #5 Middlebury, #9 UW-Eau Claire, & #15 Endicott. The opening round matchups were Middlebury vs Endicott & Plattsburgh vs UW-Eau Claire.
#5 Middlebury vs #15 Endicott 11/25/23 3pm EST
As most games with a NESCAC team go, we had a low scoring, defensive affair. Middlebury took this 1-0 to advance, with the lone goal coming late in the 1st period from Britt Nawrocki at the 16:02 mark. This would hold up as the game-winner. Sending Middlebury to the title game.
Overall, there wasn’t much to say about this game, penalties were one per team, the Panthers led in shots 23-16, Sophia Will got the shutout victory for Middlebury.
#4 Plattsburgh vs #9 UW-Eau Claire 11/25/23 6pm EST
The score of this game doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story here, it’s a lopsided win, Plattsburgh running over Eau Claire 6-1, but the Blugolds surprisingly outshot the Cardinals 24-20. Penalties were four minors for UWEC & three minors for Plattsburgh, no powerplay goals.
Things started off quite quickly for Plattsburgh, scoring a pair of goals in the first two minutes, 44 seconds apart, by the same player funny enough. Zsofia Pazmandi buried two quick ones at 1:14 & 1:58 to put her Cardinals up an early 2-0 lead. Lilli Bills added the third Cardinal goal in the 2nd period at 3:27 to put them up 3-0. The Blugolds lone goal came at 7:31 of the 2nd period by Maddie Hulter at 7:31. Aizah Thompson would score a pair for Plattsburgh, one in the 2nd period (9:31) and the other in the 3rd (18:06), Riley Calhoun tossed a cherry on the win with a goal at 19:14.2 to give Plattsburgh a dominant 6-1 victory.
UW-Eau Claire vs Endicott 11/26/23 2pm EST *Consolation Game*
Gulls’ vs Blugolds, don’t see that too often, sounds cool though. In this one, Eau Claire wouldn’t fly back west winless, they defeated Endicott 3-2 to finish the weekend (1-1). This was a close game, the Blugolds winning the shot battle 24-16 and this was a clean game on the stat sheet, with zero penalties being committed by either team.
UWEC got on the board first, midway through the opening period, Sophie Rausch, the point leader in D-III Women’s hockey (14G & 6A = 20 pts) through her ten games played, scored at 10:29, which would be answered by the Gulls’ Mackenzie Graham at 17:33. Another pair of goals were scored in the middle frame, Sydney Johnson a quick 55 seconds into the period (00:55) for Eau Claire, and then Payton Hansen tied it back up at 7:30 for the Gulls.
The winner was scored by Quinn Hartmetz at the 11:05 mark, just over halfway through the final period. Eau Claire’s Josie Mathison, who didn’t play in game one vs Plattsburgh, was credited with the 14-save victory.
Plattsburgh vs Middlebury 11/26/23 6pm EST *Championship Game*
Two familiar faces meet again, UW-River Falls spoiled the reunion last season, beating both teams in their own tournament, but the Panthers & Cardinals returned to the championship game.
It must be a while since Plattsburgh was outshot two games in a row, but Middlebury dominated on the stat sheet, winning the shot total 38-17. Unlike the consolation game, this game was loaded with penalties, Plattsburgh committing 6 for 12 minutes & Middlebury 3 for 6.
Cardinals’ goaltender Lilla Nease was the story in this one, stopping 37 of 38 shots to get the victory over the #5 Panthers.
This game had zero goals through two periods… then it all started. Finally, after 47 minutes, Plattsburgh’s Julia Masotta scored at 12:44 to put her team up 1-0, while her teammate Emily Kasprzak doubled the lead at the 15:38 mark. Kate Flynn scored the lone Panther goal late at 18:02, to which Plattsburgh’s Zsofia Pazmandi continued her great weekend, scoring in the last second of the game shorthanded to give the Cardinals the 3-1 championship victory.
Codfish Bowl (16th Annual for Women’s Hockey)
This year’s Codfish Bowl featured the normal UMass-Boston, along with #2 Amherst, Suffolk, & Bowdoin. Opening round games were Amherst vs UMass-Boston & Suffolk vs Bowdoin.
The longest-running tournament on the men’s side, this year in their 58th year, now in its 16th on the women’s side, continues to be a fun tradition, whilst also carrying a great name.
The opening round games resulted with #2 Amherst defeated the host UMass-Boston a slim 1-0, Natalie Stott picking up yet another shutout victory, as per usual. While Bowdoin defeated Suffolk 2-1 to help the pair of NESCAC’s go 2-0 vs the NEHC in these games. Despite the loss, Suffolk’s Lily O’Neil made 30 saves in the loss.
#2 Amherst vs Bowdoin 11/26/23 4pm EST *Championship Game*
We had a battle between the ice ages, the Mammoths, now extinct, but still playing hockey, against the currently endangered Polar Bears.
Amherst came in undefeated, seeing across the ice a familiar NESCAC foe in Bowdoin. This was obviously a non-conference game between the two conference members being it’s a neutral tournament.
Shots in this one was 30-20 in favor of the Mammoths, while penalties were one-sided, Bowdoin committing 5 for 10 minutes, Amherst committing none.
The scoring began at the 6:56 mark of the 1st, Marie-Eve Marleau scored her first of two goals, while later in the period (16:38), her teammate Mary Thompson scored on the powerplay, putting Amherst up 2-0 after one.
Alyssa Xu added another to her season total, scoring very late in the 2nd at 19:28.4, giving Amherst the 3-0 lead headed into the 3rd period. It was then Marie-Eve Marleau once again, scoring her second of the game, this one coming on the powerplay, giving Amherst the 4-0 shutout victory over Bowdoin.
Natalie Stott picked up another shutout victory, making 20 saves in the effort.
East/West crossover action in Adrian, MI
Oswego State continued their opening stretch of away games by making the eight-hour drive to Adrian, MI for Thanksgiving weekend. The Lakers played well overall, falling to the #8 Bulldogs 2-1 & 1-0.
In game one, most of the scoring came early on, Adrian’s Paige Pomerleau scoring 1:47 into the 1st, while Jocelin Hundanish added a shorthanded goal at 6:58 to give Adrian a quick 2-0 lead over Oswego.
Oswego got their lone goal at the midway point of the middle period, Ashlyn McGrath at 9:58 of the 2nd.
Adrian led in shots 29-18 and penalties were common, Adrian committing 7 for 14 minutes, Oswego 6 for 12 minutes.
In game two, the lone goal was scored by Adrian’s Tia Liscelle early in the 2nd period at 1:32, holding up to be the game-winner and giving her Bulldogs the weekend sweep over the Lakers.
Oswego outshot Adrian 32-31 in this game, both goaltenders with stellar performances, Michaela O’Brien with the 32-save shutout victory, Lexi Levy with the 30-save defeat. Adrian continued their success vs Oswego, this was their fourth straight win, holding an overall record of 7-2, with the pair of losses coming back in 2010 & more recently in 2021.
