D-III Women’s Week In Review: The Bennies & Gusties Shock The MIAC, Colby & Middlebury Battle For NPI, & Goodreau Makes History!

The season is winding down quicker and quicker as we narrow down the teams still with games left to play after another weekend of playoff hockey. Most leagues have their championship game set, while others such as the NESCAC have their ‘final four’ set to take place this weekend where both the semifinal and final will be played at the highest remaining seed entering this weekend. We saw some ‘MIAC Madness’ once again as both top seeds fell this past weekend, opening up the possibility for potentially three MIAC teams to reach the NCAA tournament as Augsburg is a lock for an at-large & Hamline is in ‘last one in’ territory, plus of course the auto bid of either Gustavus or Saint Benedict.

This article will discuss some brief NPI talk, but lookout for Scott Huston’s weekly ‘Bracketology’ for both the Men’s & Women’s sides, respectively. With less games being played, the results become more and more important for determining at-large bids. Scott gives his thoughts & analysis along with a projected bracket based on the current-NPI rankings, while also discussing the potential movement and/or bracket positioning depending on the various outcomes that may take place the following week(end).

With that all being said, let’s discuss the most notable occurrences of this past weekend, setting the stage for the all-important conference championship weekend!

The Bennies & Gusties flip the script!

Saint Benedict shocks #5 Hamline, winning 4-2 in the TRIA

We’ve talked a lot of Saint Benedict hockey (15-7-4) recently and for good reason, but this past weekend they pulled off their biggest win in a very long time, if not ever, defeating #5 Hamline (20-5-1) on the road 4-2 to setup a date with no stranger to the dance Gustavus (15-10-2) for the MIAC Championship this Saturday in St. Cloud.

If you would like to read our preview of this game by Tommy Berry, please click here.

The Bennies season continues to roll on, they’ve continued to shock the rest of the MIAC as they’ve gotten their biggest win yet in the Lindsay Macy era. Against Hamline, the Bennies led 2-1 after the opening period as they got on the board just under three minutes into the game, followed by a shorthanded Piper goal with just over five minutes left in the period to tie it up. The Bennies scored under a minute later which gave them the lead entering the 2nd period.

There was one goal scored in the 2nd period and it was from Hamline tying it up entering the 3rd period which would be all Bennies on the board. Bailey Vesper & Shae Stinnett (2nd of game) scored a mere EIGHT second apart (8:03 & 7:11)… sealing it for Saint Benedict and giving them an unexpected home game in the conference finals given the upset over in Minneapolis.

Saint Benedict will host Gustavus and look to win their first ever MIAC conference championship in program history, as well as make their first ever NCAA tournament in program history.

Gustavus isn’t done yet, winning 1-0 over #2 Augsburg in an overtime thriller on the road

Gustavus has had their worst season in a long time (which says how good they’ve historically been) as they found themselves struggling to stay above .500 and even falling below .500 earlier this season. The Gusties have played the #1 rated strength-of-schedule and it’s well-warranted given the strength of the MIAC this season and their non-conference schedule. Their non-conf schedule included St. Norbert 2x (away), UW-Eau Claire (away), Adrian 2x (home), & 2x UW-River Falls (home/away)… Give Gustavus credit where it’s due, they gave everyone the games they wanted to see and now it’s potentially paying off despite their less-than-impressive record we’re used to seeing on an annual basis.

Augsburg on the other hand has been rolling and didn’t miss a beat from last season as they entered the weekend 21-3-1 and split with the Gusties back in early December when the two met previously.

This one was similar to last season when these two met in the MIAC championship where we saw overtime, but in that one, the Auggies reversed the script on Gustavus who was the reigning annual favorite year-in and year-out and defeated them 3-2 in overtime after defeating Saint Mary’s 3-2 in FOUR overtime the weekend prior.

This one featured one lone goal, coming in overtime, it was Gustavus’ junior defender Kylie Scott with the winner just over five minutes into the fourth period (05:09).

Gustie goaltender Lily Timmons had her second-straight MIAC playoff shutout win, making 32 saves on 32 shots from the Auggies. Last week, she made 26 saves in the 2-0 quarterfinal win against Bethel.

Just when you thought Gustavus was done, they find themselves back in the MIAC title game against a program that’s in unfamiliar territory to this point. The Gusties are on the verge of getting their seat back at the table in the tournament and given how low their seed will be based on NPI, maybe we see an early round game against #1 Wisconsin-River Falls, an early NCAA tournament matchup we’ve become accustomed to over the years, just under different circumstances where the two should’ve faced off in later rounds based on budgets and geographical constraints.

#7 Middlebury & #11 Colby setup a date for potentially the final at-large bid

The NESCAC has had their solid seasons from their usual four teams, and as Scott said in his last week’s Pre Playoff Bubble Watch: Women article, “Death. Taxes. Colby women’s hockey being on the bubble.  This team continues to live on the razor’s edge year in, year out, being the last at-large team into the field 3 of the last 4 years, and tracking to do it again.”

Well, he’s not wrong, but now with the dual upsets in the MIAC, there goes one at-large bid with Augsburg, placing Eau Claire (11th) on the outside looking in, essentially needing a win over River Falls (#1) and some help in front of them… which may still not be enough with the MIAC taking the extra unexpected at-large bid.

For Colby, they sit 10th and Middlebury sits 9th… Now, Middlebury hosts the conference semifinals / finals being the #1 seed, thus, Colby is on the road and Middlebury is home for NPI terms. The team between them is the Pipers of Hamline who are highly regarded out west, debated to be deserving of a higher rank than 9th despite their loss to the Bennies of Saint Benedict.

If Middlebury were to beat Colby in the semifinals, Colby is out and Hamline is the ‘last one in’ barring any upsets such as Elmira over Nazareth. If Colby wins however, there’s a good chance since the Panthers aren’t a wide margin from the Pipers in NPI, the home loss may drop Middlebury below Hamline and the Mules would slide themselves into a likely at-large despite how their title game goes with Amherst/Williams… Just some food for thought as we’re at that point of the year where these little things matter such as home/away games and NPI.

This could potentially be undone by as mentioned, a Nazareth loss to Elmira, sealing another unexpected at-large bid, or… Arcadia beating Wilkes… Which if the MAC gets two bids, there’s some serious discussions that need to be had as the league plays 21 conference games annually and is arguably the weakest auto-bid league when compared to the NESCAC or MIAC… The only question is if Wilkes loses, does their lack of SOS (66 of 79) and already having one loss play a role in their drop in the NPI as Arcadia isn’t highly ranked but they’re now low either, sitting 22nd.

Of course, either of these teams can go on to win the NESCAC auto-bid, but the loser of this game is highly-likely eliminated from NCAA tournament contention. Since the inception of NESCAC women’s hockey in 2001-2002, Middlebury under HC Bill Mandigo has only missed the tournament a mere three times (’10, ’14, ’19)…. Colby meanwhile has made the past three of four NCAA tournaments (’22, ’23, ’25), occupying the final at-large bid each time as the teams in front of them lost in their respective conference title games, thus moving the Mules above them after their falling in the NESCAC semifinal on all three occasions and winning at most, 17 games (prior to NCAA tournament play).

Middlebury defeated Trinity by a slim 1-0 margin, while Colby defeated Hamilton handily by a 6-2 final score. These two face off this Saturday at 1pm ET in Vermont in a game that most likely, will end someone’s season.

#1 Wisconsin-River Falls’ Megan Goodreau continues to make history!

Head Coach Joe Cranston is no stranger to Laura Hurd award-winning players on his roster as he’s had the past three of four winners and has the most all time with four. These players are:

2017 – Dani Sibley (27G, 37A) – 127 career points
2022 – Callie Hoff (26G, 41A) – 197 career points
2024 – Maddie McCollins (33G, 31A) – 160 career points
2025 – Bailey Olson (27G, 33A) – 128 career points
??? 2026 – Megan Goodreau (35G, 39A) – 205 career points & counting

Goodreau has already broken plenty of program and league records this season as she continues her incredible feat. Here are some of her accolades set this season:

• Program single-season goals record with (previously held by Maddie McCollins with 33).
• Program single-season powerplay goals record (previously held by Kora Torkelson with 10).
• Program single-season point record (previously held by Callie Hoff with 67).
• Program career points record (previously held by Callie Hoff with 197).
• 3rd player in NCAA D-III Women’s Hockey history to eclipse 200 career points (Laura Hurd (237) – Elmira College, Elizabeth Gibson (226) – SUNY Plattsburgh).
• Two-time National Champion (’24 & ’25).

This past weekend she inched closer to the single-season points record set by Laura Hurd with 77 back in 2001-2002 in 28 games. Goodreau will complete the feat in more games, but she’s a mere three points away after putting up 5G & 2A in a pair of games against Wisconsin-Superior, giving her 74 on the season. She’s currently a lock for the Laura Hurd award and will almost certainly become Cranston’s fifth winner of the award, fourth in the past five seasons.

The Falcons (26-1-0) host their rivals Wisconsin-Eau Claire (20-7-0) who’ve been the only team to defeat them this season in the WIAC Championship this Saturday at 2:05pm CT in Hunt Arena, before embarking on their NCAA tournament journey, eyeing a third-straight National Championship in potentially their own rink for a third-straight season as well.