D-III Women’s Week in Review: New Year’s Tournaments & The Pipers Head East!

Second half play is upon us and we were treated to a handful of new year’s tournaments with some great matchups we don’t see very often. Some teams such as Hamline have begun their second half charge, really making some noise as they got their sweep out east including a dominating 5-1 win over #7 Endicott. NPI is becoming more of a talking point and these non-conference games play a huge role in the calculation as they’re uncommon matchups geographically and conference-wise.

Let’s review this past weekend’s events and matchups that held the most weight.

Norwich wins their own East/West Classic

*Hosted by Norwich University

Opening Games:
Oswego (6-3-0) @ Norwich (8-2-0) – Norwich 3-2
#15 Elmira (6-2-1) vs #12 Plattsburgh (5-4-0) – Elmira 5-4 OT

Consolation:
Oswego vs #12 Plattsburgh – Plattsburgh 4-0

Championship:
#15 Elmira @ Norwich – Norwich 5-2

To start things off, this event may need a name change as we’ve seen multiple years without a west team in the field. However, it remains a marquee annual event as we tend to see some common matchups from the Northeast, but there’s always ranked teams and fun historic rivalries.

Norwich, as we mentioned in our preseason discussions and first half podcast linked earlier, needs to be near-perfect this season in non-conference play and arguably perfect in conference play due to the Little East Conference lacking an auto-bid on the women’s side. The Cadets will need to earn their way in via the WIAC-way, also known as an at-large bid. So far, the Cadets are doing what’s needed, moving along nicely with a strong 10-2-0 record, only dropping games to #12 Plattsburgh on opening weekend on the road and to Williams in overtime after outshooting the Ephs 22-0 in the 1st period. Speaking of the Ephs, their senior goaltender Erin Pye has been incredible, holding a record of 5-1-2, 0.86 GAA, & .976 save – %.

In the opening round, the host team Norwich faced Oswego State who’s coming off the best season in their program’s history. However, this season, Oswego’s been struggling to gain much momentum as they lost nearly half of last year’s squad to graduation. In this one, it was penalty ridden with Norwich committing five and Oswego four. The Cadets led in shots by approx. double, 37-18. Uniquely in this game, all but one goal came in the 2nd period, with Oswego leading after one period 1-0 from a goal by Jenna Majewski. The remaining four goals came in the middle frame, three by Norwich, one by Oswego.

In the late game, we saw two stellar programs in #15 Elmira & #12 Plattsburgh, with Plattsburgh setting records for all the wrong reasons this season but are still a solid team that’s the frontrunner in a weaker-SUNYAC than we’re used to seeing in recent memory.

Plattsburgh led in shots 32-22, but goaltending was a struggle, which has been a common theme this season for the Cardinals. Elmira goaltender Sara Sevcikova made 28 saves in the win, while Chloe Lewis allowed five goals, making 17 saves in the loss. Interestingly enough, the penalty sheet was unique, we had a too-many-players-on-ice penalty on each team, while Plattsburgh was given a five-minute-major for boarding, the remaining penalties were minors.

This game had nine total goals; we ended the 1st period tied 2-2 as Elmira tied it up with just under 30 seconds left in the period. Both teams would then each score a goal in the following periods to end regulation deadlocked at 4-4. The Soaring Eagles would then have the hero of the game, Iliana Smith, scoring at 3:02 of the overtime period, assisted by Anna Lugge.

#15 Elmira @ Norwich – Norwich 5-2

We were given a familiar matchup in the finals, a pair of former-NEHC foes where Elmira shutout Norwich 1-0 last March to advance to the NCAA tournament in the last ever NEHC conference tournament.

In this one, Elmira might’ve been worn out due to the less rest of the late game and overtime, but Norwich thoroughly controlled the entire game. The Cadets got on the board early, Geena Cookinham scored a quick 6:16 into the game, followed by late in the period (18:39), her teammate Marja Linzbichler doubled the lead, giving the Cadets the 2-0 lead entering the 2nd period.

In the 2nd, Cookinham scored her second of the game, then Lauren Tuzik scored just under three minutes later to make it a commanding 4-0 Cadet lead. Just before the end of the middle frame, Anna Lisac poured it on, making it 5-0 entering the 3rd period. Elmira wouldn’t get on the board until the final period on the powerplay, scoring two powerplay goals in about four minutes, but that was all she wrote.

Between the pipes for Norwich, Madison Brunet made 16 saves on 18 shots, while Elmira’s Sara Sevcikova was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 19 shots, while her replacement Olivia Last made 10 saves on 11 shots.

Norwich wins their home tournament in a season where you could argue it’s more important than ever, needing every win they can get due to the lacking auto-bid.

#4 Amherst takes the Mustang Cup

*Hosted by SUNY Morrisville

Opening Games:
#9 Adrian (10-3-0) vs Trinity (2-5-0) – Adrian 2-0
#4 Amherst (5-0-2) @ Morrisville (1-9-0) – Amherst 4-1

Consolation:
Trinity @ Morrisville – Trinity 5-1

Championship:
#9 Adrian vs #4 Amherst – Amherst 3-1

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

The Mustang Cup is one that many may overlook as the host SUNY Morrisville has had a rough start to the season, but when you look at the guests on their event list, it’s quite the trio. Morrisville welcomed a pair of NESCAC teams in #4 Amherst & Trinity, as well as the upper echelon of the NCHA in #9 Adrian.

In the opening round, Adrian battled Trinity to a 2-0 win, but the game was extremely close as Adrian had a slim lead in shots, but Trinity’s goaltender Madeline Carter made 27 saves while allowing only one goal in the loss. Adrian’s Kiera Stack continued her solid play, making 27 saves in the shutout victory over the Bantams. The lone non-empty net goal was scored in the early half of the 2nd period by Adrian’s Hannah Markovich.

In the other first round game, Amherst as expected, controlled the entire game vs the Mustangs. Goaltender Maleigh Tittel started for the Mammoths, making her first appearance this season. Tittel had a tiring night, making two saves on three shots in the 4-1 victory. Meanwhile, despite the loss, Morrisville goaltender Sydney Canham made 47 saves on 51 shots. The star of the game for Amherst was Defenseman Gretchen Dann; she scored a pair of goals and assisted on another.

#9 Adrian vs #4 Amherst – Amherst 3-1

This game I was very intrigued by before the tournament even started. It was a very likely scenario we saw these two meet in the championship game, the first ever meeting between these two programs. The main intrigue comes from the identity of these two squads as they’re largely polar opposites. Adrian comes in relying on their high-powered offense, however as of late, they’ve gotten great goaltending from Kiera Stack. Amherst comes in relying on their incredible defense and goaltending from the best goaltender in D-III Women’s hockey, Natalie Stott. I believed in our first half overview/looking ahead podcast that if Adrian could get to four goals, they would win the game, but otherwise I liked Amherst in this one.

Adrian entered with the 4th ranked offense, averaging 4.27 goals-per-game, while Amherst sat at 22, averaging 2.89 gpg. Amherst entered with the #1 ranked defense, giving up a mere 0.67 gpg including three shutouts. Adrian also entered with a solid defensive ranked at #11, but their strength-of-schedule has been relatively low (53rd / 79th), so this stat might be slightly exaggerated at this point in time. Another difference between these two teams is penalty minutes, Amherst entered 9th overall, only averaging 5.43 minutes per game (19 penalties in 7 games), while Adrian entered 7.85 minutes per game (51 penalties in 13 games).

In this game, both goaltenders had solid games, Stott making 27 saves on 28 shots in the win, while Stack made 26 saves on 28 in the loss. Both teams committed two penalties apiece, both by the same players (Emily Hohmann – Amherst & Emma Simon – Adrian).

In this one, Adrian got on the board first and would hold the lead for most of the game, the 3-1 scoreline is a bit deceptive as it would make it out to seem Amherst controlled the game more than they actually did. Courtney Ben scored on the powerplay, making it 1-0 Bulldogs five and a half minutes into the 2nd period following a scoreless 1st. This lone goal would stand as the potential winner until a mere 4:49 remained in the game. Amherst tied the game up on the powerplay, it was Calleigh Brown tying the game at 1-1.

The Mammoths would keep the pressure up, taking the lead a quick two minutes later (17:24), it was Gretchen Dann once again, scoring her third goal of the weekend for a total of four points. The Mammoths would cap off the game with an empty netter by Maeve Reynolds with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Amherst remains semi-perfect, moving to 7-0-2, while Adrian continues their woes in ranked matchups, falling to 1-4-0 on the season in ranked games, while maintaining an unbeaten 10-0-0 in games vs unranked opponents.

Cortland wins the Utica Kickoff Tournament in a shootout thriller

*Hosted by Utica University

Opening Games:
Wilkes (8-1-0) @ Utica (3-6-0) – Wilkes 3-1
Cortland (4-5-1) vs #13 Colby (4-1-0) – Cortland 2-1 OT

Consolation:
#13 Colby @ Utica – Colby 5-1

Championship:
Cortland vs Wilkes – Tie 4-4 (Cortland Shootout Win)

The year’s Utica Kickoff Tournament gave us plenty of excitement, featuring a tie in the final, but allowing for us to see a shoutout to decide the winner.

In the opening round, Wilkes handled a struggling Utica squad despite being outshot, winning 3-1 and never trailed in the contest. Audrey Milne made 31 saves in the victory, while Alex Venning made 24 saves in the loss.

The lone ranked team in this field was the Mules of Colby College, a team we don’t know enough about yet due to their lack of games played thus far, but as a program, they’ve always got high expectations. Cortland on the other hand, a team this season who lost a lot to graduation last season, entered the event with a below .500 record, surprising many.

In this game between the Mules & Red Dragons, Cortland was led by their goaltending, Eline Gillodes made 34 saves on 35 shots, while Colby goaltender Ally Martiniello made 10 saves on a mere 12 shots faced. This game came down to the wire and finished in thrilling fashion, with Colby scoring the first goal of the game in the 2nd period at 7:19 of the period, leading 1-0 entering the 3rd. With a mere 38 seconds remaining in the game, Cortland scored the tying goal, it was Fanny Aneborn with a wrist shot hitting the water bottle, sending the game to overtime. We would then see the local from Rome, NY Drew Kopek end the game, scoring a breakaway goal for the Red Dragons, sending them to the championship vs Wilkes and getting a ranked win.

Cortland vs Wilkes – Tie 4-4 (Cortland Shootout Win)

In the championship, we ended on a regulation tie with four goals coming in the 3rd period. We were deadlocked at 2-2 entering the final period when we would see a pair of quick goals from Cortland, Katie Mahoney scoring her second of the game at 6:55 and then shortly after, Kira Cook at 7:57, giving the Red Dragons a 4-2 lead with 14 minutes left. However, Wilkes would come back, scoring two goals with less than three minutes on the clock, Nina Hudakova at 17:17 & Jordan Ferry at 18:13, sending us to overtime.

Overtime would remain scoreless and end with a regulation tie, but on Wilkes’ final attempt on the shootout, the puck was mishandled and Cortland gets away with a trophy for the short drive home.

Castleton keeps the Bagley Invitational trophy in Vermont

*Hosted by VTSU Castleton

Opening Games:
Anna Maria (3-5-1) @ Castleton (5-6-0) – Castleton 1-0
Potsdam (4-5-1) vs Worcester State (5-5-0) – Worcester State 2-0

Consolation:
Potsdam vs Anna Maria – Potsdam 3-2

Championship:
Worcester State @ Castleton – Castleton 2-1

The Bagley Invitational featured four programs who this season are looking to get their feet under themselves and string together some wins. Castleton would’ve been my pre-tournament favorite despite the relatively similar records as they’ve shown the most promise this season coming out of the first half.

In the championship game, Castleton outshot the Lancers 28-20, with goaltender Kara Boassaly making 19 saves in the victory, while Kelsey Czerniawski made a solid 26 saves in the loss. Worcester State led in penalties, committing three, while Castleton committed two.

We were served a scoreless opening period, but the scoring began very late in the 2nd period including the eventual winning goal. Meg Aiken scored late at 18:21 of the period, while the winner was scored with a mere 41 seconds left, Brooke Noble.

The Lancers would cut the deficit in half just before the midway mark of the 3rd, Abbey Millman scored at 7:33, but that was all the Lancers could muster up as the Spartans win the trophy and keep it close to home.

#7 Hamline (10-2-0) hitting their stride

I wanted to take this last piece to make note of Hamline University as we got to see them travel east to Boston, MA for a pair of games. The Pipers defeated #7 Endicott in a commanding 5-1 victory, while also defeating UMass-Boston 5-1 the following afternoon. It was a quick turnaround for Hamline in this one, the Pipers faced Endicott in Beverley, MA at 5pm ET Monday, then headed to UMass-Boston for a game the following day at 1pm ET.

Against Endicott, who was coming off a 1-1 tie vs #4 Middlebury, the Pipers led in shots 42-30, goaltender Harper Powell made 29 saves in the win. Annika Lindgren had two goals to lead Hamline.

Against UMass-Boston, they outshot the Beacons 35-10, Kendra Nordick making 9 saves in the win. Abigail Chamernick scored once and assisted twice in the game.

Overall, this season Hamline has looked fairly dominate in all of their games besides their two losses, one coming to current #11 Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the other more shockingly coming to Bethel. The Pipers have outscored opponents 47-15, allowing a mere 1.3 goals-per-game. Goaltending has clearly been their strength besides the offense, goaltenders Harper Powell & Kendra Nordick playing through a rotation with each starting six games and holding nearly identical stats, Powell edges her out in the save-% category at .949. Head Coach Jake Bobrowski is finding plenty of early success in his return to the place he was once an assistant for a handful of years under former Head Coach Natalie Darwitz.

Look for Hamline to make some noise come MIAC playoff time and NCAA tournament time as the west this season is looking good on the NPI side of things currently. The Pipers have the potential to be Frozen Four bound depending how the bracket shakes out.