Women's Hockey is back following an almost three week break at the end of the fall semester. The first week back saw almost every ranked team play, with the exception of No. 1 Ohio State and No. 7 St. Cloud.
Without further ado, here's a recap of how each ranked team did and a look to the following weeks.
No. 2 Minnesota
Minnesota hosted No. 11 UConn in two games on Friday and Saturday, and the Golden Gophers won both by scores of 5-3 and 3-1, respectively.
In Friday's game, Minnesota fell behind early, trailing 1-0 after the first period, but they responded with two goals in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 entering the final frame; the Golden Gophers scored two goals early in the third to take a 4-2 lead and added a fifth goal late after a UConn score to close the deficit to one. On Saturday, the Golden Gophers came out running, taking a 3-0 lead after two periods; in the final period, UConn scored early, but Minnesota managed to keep them from scoring again and spoiled the comeback attempt.
Scoring on the weekend for Minnesota were Madeline Wethington (2), Abbey Murphy, Maggie Nicholson, Audrey Wethington, Peyton Hemp, Josefin Bouveng, and Lauren O'Hara.
This weekend, Minnesota will host top-ranked Ohio State in two 1-2 matchups that could well determine the winner of the WCHA, as well as the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament; the following weekend, the Golden Gophers will head north to face Bemidji St. in two games before finishing the month at home against Minnesota St. Mankato.
No. 3 Wisconsin
The third-ranked Badgers hosted Hockey East bottom dwellers Merrimack in Madison on Friday and Saturday, and both games ended with Wisconsin winning 6-1.
On Friday, Wisconsin fell behind after a Merrimack goal just over 10 minutes into the first period, but the Badgers responded with a goal of their own 12 seconds later, and from that point on, the game was all Wisconsin, as the Badgers scored two goals late in the second period and three within the last 3:25 of the game. In Saturday's game, Wisconsin picked up where they left off, scoring four goals in the first period and the first six of the game before the Warriors scored a goal with just under four minutes left.
The Badgers received goals from Lacey Eden (2), Laila Edwards (2), Britta Curl (2), Cassie Hall (2), Kirsten Simms (2), Sarah Wozniewicz, and Laney Potter in the two games.
Looking forward, the Badgers will be hosting St. Thomas in Madison for a two-game set on Saturday and Sunday before they finish the month with two games at Minnesota St. Mankato and two games at now-No. 7 Minnesota Duluth.
No. 4 Colgate
The Raiders hosted No. 10 St. Lawrence and No. 5 Clarkson on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before hosting unranked Syracuse on Tuesday evening. Colgate exited the three games with a 2-1 record, beating St. Lawrence 7-3 on Friday before losing 1-0 to Clarkson on Saturday, and finishing the three games with a 12-0 thrashing of the Orange on Tuesday.
Against St. Lawrence, Colgate came out strong, scoring three goals in the first period to take a 3-1 lead and adding two goals in the second to lead 5-2 after two periods; Colgate scored again early in the third period before letting up a power play goal with just under two minutes left and tacking on an empty-netter in the final minute of play. In Saturday's contest, Colgate allowed one goal eight minutes into the game, and the rest of the game would be a defensive battle, with the goaltenders playing extremely well; Colgate goalie Kayle Osborne would finish the game with 23 saves on 24 shots.
On Tuesday, Colgate came out firing on all cylinders, scoring three goals in the first period, five in the second, and four in the third period; Colgate winger Kas Betinol had four goals in the contest.
Scoring for the Raiders in the three games were Betinol (4), Dara Greig (3), Emma Pais (2), Kristýna Kaltounková (2), Allyson Simpson (2), Kaia Malachino (2), Tessa Holk, Danielle Serdachny, Sydney Morrow, and Gwen Eichfeld.
Next weekend, the Raiders will have a home-and-away with now-No. 8 Cornell, and the following weekend they will face No. 6 Quinnipiac and No. 11 Princeton on the road before finishing the month at home against Harvard and Dartmouth.
No. 5 Clarkson
Undefeated no more! Clarkson finally lost their first game of the season on Friday against No. 9 Cornell in Ithaca by a score of 3-2 in overtime, but they rebounded on Saturday to win a defensive battle 1-0 over No. 4 Colgate in Hamilton.
On Friday, Clarkson started strong, scoring the first goal of the game in the first minute of the second period before allowing Cornell to tie it at 1-1 entering the third; Clarkson would once again score in the first minute of the third period, but Cornell would tie the game halfway through the period before hitting the game winner halfway through overtime. Clarkson would rebound on Saturday with a gritty 1-0 win over Colgate thanks to a shutout from goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk, her sixth of the season and the Golden Knights’ ninth.
Scoring for Clarkson on the weekend were Dominique Petrie (2) and Brooke McQuigge.
Looking ahead, the Golden Knights will host RPI and Union next weekend before heading facing No. 15 Yale and Brown on the road the following weekend and finishing the month with a home-and-away against their heated rivals, St. Lawrence, in the next rendition of the Route 11 Rivalry.
No. 6 Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs played on the road against No. 8 Quinnipiac on Friday and Saturday, and they ended up losing the first game 2-1 before tying the second game on Saturday, 2-2.
On Friday, Minnesota Duluth started strong, scoring the first goal of the contest 12 minutes into the first period; after that, the game went Quinnipiac's way, despite being out shot 37-15 by the Bulldogs, with the Bobcats scoring the equalizer with a minute left in the first before scoring the game-winner early in the third period. In Saturday's game, Minnesota Duluth again started strong, taking a 2-0 lead after two periods before Quinnipiac scored two goals in the final six minutes to tie the contest at 2-2, which would be the final score.
The Bulldogs got scores from Clara Van Wieren, Mary Kate O'Brien, and Hanna Baskin.
Going forward, Minnesota Duluth will host Bemidji St. on Friday and Saturday before having a weekend off and hosting third-ranked Wisconsin in two games to finish January.
No. 8 Quinnipiac
The Bobcats hosted No. 6 Minnesota Duluth in two games on Friday and Saturday, and they needed to pull off comebacks in both games to reach the respective final scores of 2-1 and 2-2 before heading back into ECAC play for the rest of the season.
In Friday's game, Minnesota Duluth struck first, scoring 12 minutes into the first period, before Quinnipiac responded with a goal with a minute left in the period; neither team would score again until the third period, where the Bobcats scored the game-winner six minutes in off of the stick of Nina Steigauf. On Saturday, Quinnipiac fell behind again, this time 2-0 after two periods; the Bobcats would score two goals in the final six minutes to tie the game and reach the final score.
Scoring on the weekend for Quinnipiac were Kendall Cooper, Steigauf, Maddy Samoskevich, and Sadie Peart.
This weekend, Quinnipiac will return to ECAC action by playing on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth, before hosting No. 5 Colgate and No. 8 Cornell the following weekend and finishing off January on the road at No. 15 Yale and Brown.
No. 9 Cornell
The Big Red hosted No. 5 Clarkson and No. 10 St. Lawrence over the weekend and came away with two wins, ending Clarkson's undefeated streak 3-2 in overtime before defeating the Saints 3-1.
Against Clarkson, Cornell played a very strong game, quickly answering both of the Golden Knights’ goals before Lily Delianedis knocked in the game-winner in overtime. The following day, Cornell started strong, scoring early in the first period before adding a second goal in the second period to take a 2-1 lead after two periods; in the third period, Cornell added an empty-netter with under a minute left.
Scoring for the Big Red were Rory Guilday, Izzy Daniel, Delianedis, Grace Dwyer, Karel Prefontaine, and Georgia Schiff.
Going ahead, Cornell has a home-and-away with No. 5 Colgate next weekend before playing on the road at No. 11 Princeton and No. 6 Quinnipiac and ending January with two home games against Dartmouth and Harvard.
No. 10 St. Lawrence
The Saints traveled to Hamilton and Ithaca this weekend to face No. 4 Colgate and No. 9 Cornell and lost both games, with Colgate winning 7-3 and Cornell winning 3-1.
On Friday, Colgate took a quick lead, finishing the first period with a 3-1 lead, and the final two periods saw Colgate score two goals and St. Lawrence score one goal in each period to reach the final score of 7-3. On Saturday, the Saints allowed Cornell to take a two goal lead halfway through the second period before Anna Segedi netted a power play goal to make it 2-1 after two periods; Cornell would add an empty-netter to reach the final score.
Scoring for the Saints on the weekend were Segedi (2), Aly McLeod, and Abby Hustler.
Looking ahead, the Saints will be home against Union and RPI this weekend, they will travel to face Syracuse on January 16, and they will play at Brown and No. 15 Yale on the 19th and 20th. For the final weekend of January, the Saints will have a home-and-away with their heated rival, No. 4 Clarkson, in the next edition of the Route 11 Rivalry on January 26 and 27.
No. 11 UConn
The Huskies traveled to Minneapolis this weekend to play No. 2 Minnesota and came away with two two-goal losses by scores of 5-3 and 3-1.
On Friday, UConn took a 1-0 lead after the first period, but Minnesota came back and tied the game at 2-2 after two periods; Minnesota pulled away with a three-goal third period to put a stamp on the victory. In Saturday's game, UConn fell behind early, trailing 3-0 after two periods before scoring a goal early in the third period, but that would be as far as their comeback attempt could get.
Scoring for the Huskies were Megan Woodworth (2), Kathryn Stockdale, and Ainsley Svetek.
Looking forward, the Huskies have a game at Merrimack and then home against Boston University next weekend; the following weekend they will play at home against Maine on Friday and then at New Hampshire on Sunday, and they finish off the month with two home games against Vermont.
No. 12 Princeton
Princeton played two games at home against Providence this weekend and won both by scores of 6-1 and 2-1.
Princeton started off Friday night's game by scoring six goals in the first two periods, with the team scoring three in each period, before they allowed Providence to score 13 seconds into the third period; neither team would score again as they reached the 6-1 final score. On Saturday, Providence scored the first goal of the game five minutes into the first period, and held a 1-0 lead after one, before Princeton scored halfway through the second period; Sarah Paul would score the game-winner for the Tigers with two minutes left in the game.
The Tigers received goals from Paul (3), Issy Wunder (2), Sarah Fillier (2), and Gabby Kim.
Next weekend, Princeton will play Dartmouth and Harvard on the road before playing No. 8 Cornell and No. 5 Colgate at home the following weekend and finishing the month at Brown and No. 15 Yale.
No. 13 Boston College
The Golden Eagles only played one game this weekend, a Saturday contest at Maine, and won 3-2. Boston College took the lead early in the first period, and Maine tied it at 1-1 at the end of the second period; the Golden Eagles scored two goals two minutes apart in the middle of the third period to take a 3-1 lead, and they were able to hold off a late Maine charge that included an extra attacker goal with just over a minute left.
Caroline Goffredo and Sammy Taber were part of every goal for the Golden Eagles, with Goffredo scoring both goals in the third period and Taber scoring the first goal of the game; they both assisted on each other's goals.
Looking forward, Boston College will host Holy Cross on Friday and then go on the road against New Hampshire on Saturday; on Tuesday, January 16, they will play Boston University as part of the Beanpot, then the following Friday, they will play at home against Merrimack. On January 23, the Golden Eagles will participate in the second part of the Beanpot against either No. 14 Northeastern or Harvard, and in the final weekend of January, Boston College will be on the road against Providence on Friday before hosting the Friars on Saturday afternoon.
No. 14 Yale
The Bulldogs played three games this week, hosting Northeastern on January 2 before traveling to Erie to face Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday. Yale lost to Northeastern 2-1 in overtime, and they beat Mercyhurst 2-0 on Friday before falling to the Lakers 2-0 on Saturday.
Against Northeastern, Yale scored the first goal of the game 13 minutes into the first period, and they controlled the game until the third period, where Northeastern would tie it early before netting the game-winner 3:15 into the overtime period; Yale lost despite outshooting Northeastern 46-19 across the game. On Friday, Yale won a defensive battle that was 1-0 until the final minute, when Elle Hartje put in her second goal of the game on an empty-netter; her first goal came with 7:35 left in the second period. In Saturday's game, the final one of the week for the Bulldogs, Mercyhurst took the lead with a goal two minutes into the first period, and they would add a second goal early in the second period; Yale outshot the Lakers 46-23 in the shutout loss.
Scoring for Yale this week were Hartje (2) and Kirsten Goode.
Yale has this weekend off before hosting No. 4 Clarkson and No. 10 St. Lawrence in two weeks and finishing off January at home against No. 6 Quinnipiac and No. 11 Princeton.
No. 15 Penn State
Penn State hosted Union for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday and lost 2-1 in overtime on Friday before thrashing the Garnet Chargers on Saturday 6-2.
The Nittany Lions opened the scoring late in the first period on Friday night, and Union would answer with a goal of their own 58 seconds later; those would be the only two goals in regulation, as Union would sink the game-winner 1:05 into the overtime period after being outshot by Penn State 35-14. On Saturday, Penn State came out of the locker rooms determined to right the wrongs from the night before, and they scored two goals in the first 5:17 to take a 2-0 lead after the first period; both teams would score two goals within the first 7:32 of the second period to make the score 4-2 before the Nittany Lions tacked on two goals near the midpoint of the third period to reach the 6-2 final score.
The Nittany Lions received goals from Brianna Brooks, Karolina Hengelmüller, Lyndie Lobdell, Katelyn Roberts, Julie Gough, Mya Vaslet, and Stella Retrum.
Going forward, Penn State has two games at RIT this weekend before hosting Syracuse in State College for two games the following weekend, and they will finish the month with a home game against Robert Morris on January 26 and Lindenwood the following day.