NCAA Women's Hockey: Week 9 Recap

Current Rankings (Week 10):

1. Minnesota
2. Cornell
3. Boston College
4. North Dakota
5. Boston University
6. Clarkson
7. Harvard
8. Wisconsin
9. Mercyhurst
10. Minnesota-Duluth

Week 9 Notes

Minnesota remained perfect with a two-game sweep of New Hampshire. The Gophers throttled the Wildcats this weekend, winning 10-2 and 4-0. They out-shot UNH 37-9 in the first game, and 43-16 in the second. The fact that Minnesota has been able to keep up this fantastic play all season is remarkable. They are now perfect through 16 games and they have shown no signs of slowing down.

Cornell suffered a drop in their offensive production this weekend. They squeaked past Dartmouth on Friday with a 2-1 win in overtime, then fell to Harvard on Saturday by a score of 3-1. It was a little unexpected, as it looked like their offense was starting to take off, but these were two gritty in-conference match-ups and the lack of production can be forgiven. The Big Red will want to get back on track as soon as possible, however, to avoid getting into any bad habits.

The Crimson, on the other hand, put on a defensive show against Cornell. They limited the Big Red’s explosive offense to just one goal on 22 shots, and they even managed to put up 33 shots themselves, showing improved offensive capabilities. Prior to that, Harvard also defeated Colgate by a score of 4-1 in one of their best total team efforts of the year. They then defeated Northeastern 3-1 on Tuesday. Freshman goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer stuck out this weekend; she’s played well for the Crimson between the pipes and it’s very possible that she’ll take over the starting job for the long-term.

Boston College had a great showing at this weekend’s Nutmeg Classic. They defeated Quinnipiac 3-0 on Friday and then beat Yale 5-0 on Saturday. Corinne Boyles was in net for both shutouts. The Eagles’ played well against the Bobcats, but they throttled the Bulldogs, out-shooting them 55-17. Their top-six is firing on all cylinders right now and finally proving a) what their potential is and b) that they can play to their potential pretty consistently.

North Dakota’s play is officially tracking upwards as of late. After sweeping Minnesota-Duluth with a 4-3 overtime win and a 5-2 win, they are 5-0 in their last five games. The return of Michelle Karvinen to the line-up, and the switching of Monique Lamoureux from forward to defense has done wonders for the offense. Scoring nine goals in one weekend against a very solid Bulldogs defense is a big plus, but UND had some downs this weekend as well. In Friday night’s game, they allowed Minnesota-Duluth to score two goals in the final 13.7 seconds to tie the game. Those kinds of defensive breakdowns simply can’t happen if North Dakota is to stay in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Wisconsin put in two solid performances against St. Cloud State this weekend. They defeated the Huskies 6-0 and 6-3. Although Brianna Decker was at the forefront of their offense, the Badgers are showing a much more balanced attack than they were at the beginning of the year, and it has paid off. In Saturday’s 6-3 win, St. Cloud scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. Wisconsin responded with five unanswered goals of their own to defeat the Huskies, showing very good composure.

Three Stars of the Week

1. Brianna Decker, Senior, Forward, Wisconsin: Notched four goals and three assists to power the Badgers’ offense and lead Wisconsin to a sweep over St. Cloud State.

2. Monique Lamoureux, Senior, Defense, North Dakota: Scored five goals this weekend for UND, all from the blue line. Her offensive play has really picked up on North Dakota’s run.

3. Michelle Picard, Sophomore, Defense, Harvard: Had four assists for the Crimson this week while also asserting herself defensively and providing positive play from that perspective.

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.