Time flies, here we are, the national championship game is officially here tomorrow, Sunday, March 17 at 3:00pm CST.
UW-River Falls enters the game on home-ice a perfect 30-0-0, whilst Elmira enters 23-7-1 as they’ve been on a roll as of late after hitting some rough patches earlier in the season. This game will be interesting with Elmira surviving after a goal-line review with about 20 seconds left in their semifinal game vs Middlebury yesterday in which they held on to win 1-0.
Meanwhile, the Falcons of River Falls defeated Adrian 3-2 after a late wraparound goal scored by Bailey Olson, only 1:50 left on the clock. They look to end their season a perfect 31-0-0 and go down as one of the greatest, if not he greatest D-III women’s hockey team in history. Newly awarded Laura Hurd winner Maddie McCollins and Coach of the Year Joe Cranston are helping make that case. Now for the picks:
#10 Elmira (23-7-1) vs #1 UW-River Falls (30-0-0) – 3/17/24 – 3pm CST
CS – The year of the Falcon. River Falls is all I have to say. What’s there not to like? UWRF enters a perfect 30-0-0, they show no signs of stopping. They’ve defeated Gustavus and Adrian in their last two games, they’re sleeping in their own beds and using their own locker room, how do you not pick them?
Elmira has strung wins together and has earned their way in and defeated three impressive teams on their journey to the title game. The Soaring Eagles defeated Cortland, Amherst, & Middlebury, not a team to sleep on anymore, but they’ll need to play perfect and their game of the year if they want to beat River Falls.
I took Gustavus in the joke of a quarterfinal game as it was the forth time the two had seen each other this season, I didn’t make that mistake last night and I won’t today. Give me River Falls to roll and stay perfect. – UW-River Falls, 4-1
TC – The championship game is here with UWRF looking for a perfect season capped by a national championship. Recently minted Laura Hurd Award winner Maddie McCollins and her teammates have been on a mission to win a title and have the benefit of home ice and crowd in their favor. The home team favorites should not take lightly an Elmira team that has proven to be a playoff nightmare for all opponents upsetting a pair of favored NESCAC opponents to reach the title game. This is the kind of game that will start out slow making the home crowd a bit nervous. No overtime required here and as UWRF builds a comfortable lead late on the way to making hockey history in D-III women’s hockey – UW-River Falls, 3-0
BL – UW-River Falls stands 60 minutes of hockey away from perfection and a national championship after rallying for a win over Adrian Friday night.
