Women’s Ice Hockey: Augsburg University Auggies vs. Adrian College Bulldogs (Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)
#2 Augsburg sweeps #9 Adrian 4-1 & 3-2 on the road
Augsburg enters their second season with Head Coach ‘Biz’ Bauer at the helm, showing us they’re not going anywhere as they get the massive sweep of #9 Adrian to start their season.
Something odd has happened with Adrian to start the season, senior Riley Johnson, who put up 47 points last season, abruptly entered the transfer portal and then withdrew, returning to Adrian, while senior goaltender Annie Gilbert has entered the portal and has not returned to school as of now, unless things have changed. It’s also rumored another defenseman has entered the portal as well… it’s unclear the full reasons behind this, but in HC Chad Davis’ second season back at Adrian, it’s an odd situation to say the least…
Augsburg split time in net, their freshman of the year goaltender Kayla Simonson played game two, making 21 saves on 23 shots, while senior Marissa Paaske made 20 saves on 21 shots in game one. Adrian, lacking Gilbert, started sophomore Kiera Stack for both games and while despite the losses, made 68 saves on 75 shots (.906).
In this series, the penalties were glaring on the Bulldogs, committing 7 for 14 minutes in game one and 3 for 6 in game two, cleaning up the play. While the Auggies committed 4 for 8 minutes in both games.
Jenna Allen & Aunna Schulte led the way for the Auggies in the scoring department, with Allen scoring a goal in each game and Schulte scoring two in game one.
The Auggies now get to host the back-to-back #1 Wisconsin-River Falls this Friday at 7pm CT as they continue their six game homestead to open the season. The two faced off in an exhibition in mid-October, now they face off in a rematch of last season’s NCAA quarterfinal where River Falls defeated the Auggies 4-2. Adrian will begin their NCHA play as they host Marian for a pair of games.
#5 Gustavus & #6 St. Norbert split series in their NCAA first-round rematch
Last season, these two faced off for the first time since 2018 in the first round of the NCAA tournament after Gustavus received an at-large bid, while St. Norbert won the NCHA so they received the auto-bid.
The story of last season’s matchup was goaltending, funny enough, in game one, all five goals were scored on the powerplay, when was the last time that happened? St. Norbert was a penalty-ridden 9 for 18 minutes in game one, while Gustavus was 6 for 12 minutes. In game two, the penalties were lower, Gustavus with 5 for 10 minutes, SNC 2 for 4 minutes. It was a bad weekend to be a penalty-killing unit…
#6 St. Norbert defeats #5 Gustavus 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Odin Fouchier – Gustavus Sports Information)
In game one, Gustavus simply dominated, outshooting the Green Knights 42-11, Kiera Markell despite the loss, made 39 saves, while Lily Timmons only needed to see 11 shots for the Gusties, she made 9 saves. In game two, SNC started goaltender Tanith Plachetka, a freshman, who made 33 saves on 34 shots, while Timmons made 17 saves on 19 shots. A crazy statistic is Gustavus outshot St. Norbert in two games 76-30, but each team scored the same amount of goals in the pair of games (4)…
It looks like goaltending is in good hands once again in De Pere, they’re loaded in net and with all of the production they lost, there’s everything to like with this squad after they’ve proven they can get outplayed, but their goalies will keep them in any game, giving them a chance to win even when it may look grim at times.
The Spartans shock the Lakers
Oswego entered the season ranked #8 which I believed might be a little high considering what they lost during the offseason. The Lakers lost 12 seniors including 3 fifth year seniors to graduation. It was a mystery to everyone how they would look early on in the season, but I don’t believe this was expected. A loss is one thing, but a 3-0 loss was quite shocking to most. Despite coming through with a 3-2 win the next day vs the Spartans, the 3-0 shutout loss was quite a disappointment after coming off a record-breaking season.
In the upset, the lakers outshot the Spartans 38-33, sophomore goaltender Gianna McCusker was a perfect 38 for 38 on saves in the shutout victory. Laker sophomore goaltender Mia DeVivo made 29 saves on 31 shots, the final goal was an empty-netter. What didn’t help Oswego was penalties, committing 7 for 14 minutes while the Spartans only committed a pair for four minutes.
Great win for Castleton, we will see how they fare in the new Little East Conference, while Oswego has Utica up next in a home/away series this weekend.
Inaugural Wins!
St. John Fisher sweeps Neumann, winning 2-1 & 2-0
I was very high on St. John Fisher for both the men’s & women’s sides with the commitment from the school in terms of investment and they get off to a great start in the Scott McDonald era. The Cardinals defeated neumann 2-1 & 2-0 on the road, marking the start to a program that under McDonald’s leadership is setup for great success down the road.
Williamsville, NY (near Buffalo) native – Freshman Brynn Bacak started in net both games for St. John Fisher, making a combined 39 saves only allowing one goal.
The Cardinals play a home/away series with William Smith this weekend before UCHC play begins with a home/away with Elmira.
Beloit shuts out Lawrence 2-0 (Tuesday – 11/4/2025)
Let’s give a shout-out to Beloit College who as this article is being written got their first-ever victory as a program as they defeated Lawrence 2-0 for a late 8pm CT puck drop. The Buccaneers led various times in their first games, but their third game was when they got it done and get the shutout victory.
Beloit faces Wisconsin-Stevens Point next Tuesday at home, then hosts Wisconsin-Eau Claire for a two game series three & four days later with WIAC play officially beginning in the Saturday game vs UW-Eau Claire.
