D-III Women’s Thanksgiving Week in Review: Tournaments Galore! Vermont, Massachusetts, & Iowa!

We were given a weekend of Thanksgiving tournament across the country on both the Men’s & Women’s sides of Division III hockey, showcasing teams that may not play each other very often or treat us to some crossover east/west action. We’ll discuss the three tournament that took place with the main event being the Panther/Cardinal Classic featuring four top 10 teams, while also heading to Boston & Iowa to briefly recap their respective events.

#1 Wisconsin-River Falls wins another Panther/Cardinal Classic
*Hosted by Middlebury College

Opening Games:
#9 Endicott (5-1-0) @ #3 Middlebury (4-0-1) – Endicott 3-2
#1 Wisconsin-River Falls (5-1-0) vs #6 Plattsburgh (5-1-0) – UWRF 3-1

Consolation:
#6 Plattsburgh @ #3 Middlebury – Middlebury 6-1

Championship:
#1 Wisconsin-River Falls vs #9 Endicott – UWRF 3-1

If you would like to read our brief tournament preview by Tommy Berry, it can be found here.

Once again, we were treated to an incredible event as always whether it’s in Vermont or Northern New York. Middlebury was the host this year as it rotates every-other year it seems. We were given four top 10 teams in one building to compete in the best annually running women’s Division III holiday tournament that featured a few shocking results to many…

#9 Endicott (5-1-0) @ #3 Middlebury (4-0-1)

The first game of the day featured the hosts Middlebury and a team who made a statement earlier this season with their win over Plattsburgh, Endicott. Endicott has been a team continuing to make strides each season, consistently winning the Conference of New England, but never making a splash NCAA tournament run once there.

In this one, the Panthers held the slight shot advantage, leading 30-27, while the teams tied in the penalty category with two apiece.

The Gulls would strike first and head to the locker room for the 1st period intermission up 1-0, it was Mackenzie Graham scoring just past the midpoint of the opening period (12:20), assisted by Lilly Corso & Cammi Ahern. This lead would be gone quite quickly once the 2nd period was underway, Middlebury’s Zoe Pincelli tied it up a quick three minutes in, while her teammate Trinity Walsh would score on the powerplay a short three minutes twenty-four seconds later, giving the Panthers the lead early in the 2nd period.

However, Endicott would keep up the effort late in the period in the final seconds, Lilly Corso scored with a mere six seconds and change left in the 2nd period, tying the game up once again headed into the 3rd period 2-2. This period would test both goalkeepers mightily, but at the 06:30 mark of the 3rd, the eventual winner was scored by Endicott’s Abbey Agrodnia, giving her Gulls their second top 10 win of the season as mentioned earlier, defeating Plattsburgh 3-1 earlier this month. Goalkeeper Lauren Ferrari (again, incredible name) made 28 saves in the huge victory.

#1 Wisconsin-River Falls (5-1-0) vs #6 Plattsburgh (5-1-0)

Wisconsin-River Falls made their way back east to the other side of the Panther/Cardinal Classic, their most recent trip being to Plattsburgh where they won the event in 2023, beating both “hosts” Plattsburgh & Middlebury. The Cardinals came into this one with their only loss coming by way of Endicott, otherwise, handling business in their somewhat easy start to the season.

In this one, the Falcons led in shots 27-19 and Plattsburgh led in penalties, committing three to UWRF’s one.

The scoring would begin like our first game, River Falls getting on the board about seven minutes in, it was Sophia Hess giving her Falcons the lead which would hold up for the rest of the opening period. Coming out of the locker room for the 2nd period, the Cardinals would tie it up a little over five minutes into the period, Bailey MacKellar scored unassisted to tie things back up against the back-to-back national champions.

Later in the period (14:37), River Falls regained the lead once again, it was Alexis Larsen sending the Falcons to the intermission once again up a goal, this time leading 2-1. The game would eventually be sealed up on a Falcon powerplay after a late high-sticking penalty on the Cardinals, star forward Megan Goodreau ended it with just about one minute-thirty seconds left in the game, sending her team back to the championship as the Falcons took this one 3-1.

Goaltender Jordan O’Kane made 18 saves in the victory, while Chloe Lewis made 24 saves in the loss.

#1 Wisconsin-River Falls vs #9 Endicott – UWRF 3-1

We’ll go straight to the championship game as the consolation ended in a surprising 6-1 blowout win for Middlebury, delivering seven-time national champion head coach Kevin Houle his worst career loss… I, nor do I think many saw that one coming.

In the championship, Endicott put together a great fight that despite the final result being a loss, shows a lot about this team when it comes conference playoff & potential NCAA tournament time. The Gulls are playing themselves into potential at-large bid territory if they ended up losing in the CNE playoffs with the wins their racking up on the schedule, they just cannot afford to drop many, if any league games outside of the playoff due to strength-of-schedule issues.

There was as much scoring in the final three minutes as there was in nearly the entire game. The Falcons got on the board late in the 1st period, Kennedi Bielenberg-Howarth scored on the powerplay, sending the Falcons to the intermission with a 1-0 lead. This lead would remain one all the way until the 3rd period, it was Sophia Hess scoring her second of the weekend, doubling the Falcon lead just under five minutes into the 3rd period.

The craziness would begin with under five minutes left in the game when Endicott headed to the powerplay, with just under three minutes left, Maddie DiNardo scored, cutting the deficit in half, making it 2-1 with 2:35 left in the game. However, the Gulls shortly after would take a tripping penalty as the Falcons made a rush into the zone, sending River Falls to the man-advantage late. Once again, Megan Goodreau sealed this one, scoring on the powerplay with just about a minute and a half left in the game.

Goaltender Jordan O’Kane made 19 saves in the victory, while Lauren Ferrari made 34 saves despite the loss. Great weekend for River Falls as they continue to roll through their schedule, only suffering a loss to their rivals in Eau Claire. Meanwhile, it was also a good weekend for Endicott, they defeat the #3 ranked team Middlebury and lose a close one to the back-to-back national champions.

The Polar Bears win the 18th Annual Codfish Bowl
*Hosted by UMass-Boston

Opening Games:
Manhattanville (2-4-0) @ UMass-Boston (4-2-0) – Tie 1-1 (Manhattanville Shootout-Win)
#15 Bowdoin (3-2-0) vs William Smith (5-1-0) – Bowdoin 5-1

Consolation:
William Smith @ UMass-Boston – UMB 2-0

Championship:
#15 Bowdoin vs Manhattanville – Bowdoin 4-1

A fun event held annually in Boston as we saw four teams gather round in the Edward T. Berry Ice Rink for the 18th Annual Codfish Bowl hosted by UMass-Boston.

Polar Bears as I’ve read don’t primarily consume cod but consume Arctic Codfish when it washes ashore or other food sources are scarce. In this case, it was their primary source of prey, as Bowdoin rolled through their pair of games in the tournament.

Bowdoin entered the weekend ranked #15 and there’s a good chance they gain a spot or two after winning their games by a combined 9-2. The Polar Bears defeated William Smith 5-1, outshooting them an impressive 51-15. The turning point in this game came late in the 2nd period as these two were tied 1-1, but Bowdoin scored a quick pair of goals about a minute apart (Meghan Britt – 17:57 / Molly Cataldo – 18:54), giving Bowdoin the 3-1 lead entering the 3rd period. The Polar bears scored another rapid pair of goals (Bea Palmer – 04:47 PP / Meghan Britt – 05:53), making it 5-1 and essentially ending the game.

#15 Bowdoin vs Manhattanville

Manhattanville earned themselves a spot in the title game versus Bowdoin after they tied 1-1 with the hosts UMass-Boston but won the tournament-shootout to advance to the next round versus the Polar Bears.

Once again, Bowdoin handled their business here once again, outshooting the Valiants 30-12, which gave them a cumulative shot advantage for the weekend of 81-27. I think it’s safe to say you’ll likely win a fair number of games if you keep up that pace of shot advantages.

In this one, Bowdoin wrapped things up early, the Polar Bears scored three goals in less than seven minutes just after the midway mark of the 1st period. Ava Provenzo scored at 11:30, then Bella Mele doubled the lead four minutes later, teammate Kendrick LaPrade tripled the lead with just under two minutes left in the period (18:02), sending the Polar Bears to the intermission up 3-0.

The 2nd period would be scoreless and we wouldn’t see our next goal until midway through the 3rd as Manhattanville’s Catrina Chinetti scored a powerplay goal, cutting into the lead. Late in the game, Bowdoin’s Bea Palmer sealed things up, scoring and making it 4-1 with just under four minutes left in the game. Polar Bears take this one 4-1.

Aurora wins the 2nd Annual Mississippi Match-Up
*Hosted by University of Dubuque

Opening Games:
Aurora (0-8-0) vs Beloit (1-6-0) – Aurora 2-0

MSOE (3-4-1) @ Dubuque (1-7-0) – Dubuque 4-3

Consolation:
Beloit vs MSOE – Cancelled

Championship:
Aurora @ Dubuque – Aurora 4-1

This was year two of the Mississippi Match-Up hosted by University of Dubuque as it’s Dubuque’s third year as a program. The men’s team has begun hosting an opening-weekend event featuring some high-caliber teams from the west and potentially east in the near years to come. Meanwhile, the women’s event featured Saint Mary’s last season whose season ended in the MIAC semifinals vs Augsburg, a frozen four squad.

This season, it featured four programs mostly in their beginning stages, Dubuque: a third-year program, Beloit: a first-year program, MSOE: a second-year program, & Aurora, a ninth-year program. A great event for multiple programs trying to get their feet under them and see what they can become as the years go on. The fun aspect to me was the championship game featured two teams sharing the same name – the Aurora University Spartans & University of Dubuque Spartans…

Aurora entered the weekend winless which to their credit, haven’t exactly had an easy start to the season. The Spartans have faced nationally ranked Hamline 2x, Adrian 2x, & St. Norbert 2x, along with Lake Forest who was off to a 6-0-0 start before dropping four-straight to 6-4-0.

Aurora @ Dubuque

In this one, the shots were relatively even with Dubuque leading 23-21, with Dubuque leading in penalties four to Aurora’s one.

The scoring was started quick from Aurora’s Payton Dykstra, scoring a quick two minutes into the game. Dubuque’s Natalie Meeder would score in the late seconds of the 1st period (19:46.9), sending it to the 2nd period tied 1-1.

The 2nd period is where the game was decided as the final three goals were scored. Aurora’s Cara Cook scored just past the midway mark at 11:22, Payton Dykstra netted her second of the night late in the period at 17:48, then Emiliana Cassillo tripled the lead with under a minute left in the period (19:17.1). Aurora takes this one 4-1 and gets their first two wins of the season as they look to gain some momentum as they return to NCHA play.

Other Notable Weekly Results

#13 Elmira @ Cortland – Cortland 3-1
#15 Bowdoin vs Univ. New England – UNE 2-1
#10 Gustavus @ #12 Wisconsin-Eau Claire – Gustavus 1-0 (OT)
Lebanon Valley vs Hood College – Hood 3-1