Women’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal Recap: The Frozen Four Runs Through River Falls Once Again!

The Frozen Four runs through Hunt Arena for the third straight year

Wisconsin-River Falls 1-0 Williams

We saw a three-peat on the men’s side last season as Hobart defeated Utica University to secure their third-straight title, now, they’re going for four. For Wisconsin-River Falls women’s hockey, they’re looking to become the first west team and third team ever to three peat (SUNY Plattsburgh 2014-2017 & Middlebury 2004-2006). The Falcons also earned the rights to host the Frozen Four for the third straight season, they’re the only ones to do so since Plattsburgh did on two occasions (2006-2008 & 2014-2016).

In this one, the Ephs of Williams flew cross-country in attempt to play spoiler in the Falcons chase for the three-peat. The Ephs played a very very good hockey game and gave River Falls arguably a better game than anyone other than Wisconsin-Eau Claire this season, as they only fell by the slim margin of 1-0.

Goaltending was the story in this game as Williams had been riding their senior Erin Pye, who made 45 saves in the effort. Meanwhile, for the Falcons, Jordan O’Kane made 37 saves in the shutout victory.

The lone goal in this game came in the 2nd period just before the midway point. Scoring the winner was MaKenna Aure, one of the best players in all of women’s D-III hockey who at times, seems to be overlooked. Aure has 14 goals on the season and 25 assists to go along with it for 39 points, good for second-most this season in D-III.

The Falcons led the way in the penalty category, committing four to Williams two. This game was a good test for River Falls as they haven’t had a ton of close games this season on the scoreboard, they only had two games since November that was under a three goal margin, so a one goal shutout win is a great test for them as they face an Amherst squad who’s very similar to Williams in the sense that they heavily rely on goaltending and defense.

#1 Wisconsin-River Falls hosts #4 Amherst this Friday in the semifinals at 7pm CT in their home, Hunt Arena.

Norwich is back in the Frozen Four

Norwich 1-0 Hamline

Norwich has had an incredible season under first year head coach Justin Simpson, while Jake Bobrowski returned to Hamline for his first season at the helm of Hamline. Like River Falls & Williams, this game featured one lone goal that decided it all with the stellar goaltending matchup as we tend to see in nearly all games once we get to this time of year.

The Cadets hold the 2-seed, therefore if River Falls were to have been shocked by the Ephs, Kreitzberg would’ve been the site for the Frozen Four, assuming they put in a bid to host.

In this one, the lone goal came a whole one minute into the hockey game, scoring was Anna Lisac, assisted by Livia Brooks & Jordan Brady.

Norwich goaltender Madison Brunet has had an incredible senior season after not seeing much time her first three seasons in Northfield, VT. Brunet only saw nine games of action in her previous three seasons. This season, she’s posted a save-percentage of .948 and a GAA of 0.79… On the other side in the slim loss, Kendra Nordick made 22 saves on 23 shots, like Pye for Williams, Nordick did all she could with her team failing to register a goal.

The Cadets, like the other three east squads, will fly to Minneapolis Saint Paul (MSP) and bus to River Falls, WI where they’ll face Nazareth University in their first-ever Frozen Four this Friday at 3pm CT.

Nazareth takes the next step, flying to their first-ever Frozen Four

Nazareth 2-1 (OT) Wilkes

This game is one that likely not many would have foreseen in the beginning of the season considering neither program has ever made a Frozen Four and Wilkes hadn’t made it out of the first round. However, despite their low SOS’s, Wilkes defeated Adrian in round one and Nazareth benefitted from the bye due to their #3-seed in the NPI, securing the final bye position.

Give credit where credit is due for both squads, ending up with program-changing seasons in terms of expectations and potential recruiting, Wilkes finishing 25-2-1 and Nazareth sitting at 26-1-1 as they enter the next round.

In this one, we were scoreless until the middle frame, scoring late in the 2nd period with just under four minutes left was Gianna Pacillo, giving the Colonels a 1-0 lead headed into the 3rd period.

In the 3rd, Nazareth tied it up on the shorthanded side of things, scoring just over six minutes in on the penalty kill was Meredith Boettcher, tying things up which would remain deadlocked, needing another period to decide things.

Once again, goaltending was the key here, Nazareth’s Mia Gonsalves made 30 saves in the victory, while Wilkes’ Audrey Milne made 35 in the slim loss.

In overtime, the winner was scored five-hole by Logan Marchese, sending her Golden Flyers to their first-ever Frozen Four in Wisconsin.

Nazareth as mentioned faces #2 Norwich at 3pm CT on Friday.

Amherst sets up a 2025 National Championship rematch, defeating Elmira

Amherst 3-0 Elmira

Amherst as we mentioned in our Quarterfinal Preview article, was likely looking to avenge their loss to Elmira in the quarterfinal round that came in the 2023-24 season when Elmira went on to finish as the national runner-up against Wisconsin-River Falls.

Amherst was coming off a first round home victory over Saint Benedict after their historic season, meanwhile Elmira was coming off their upset road victory at Augsburg.

In this one, Amherst’s Natalie Stott earned the shutout victory (real shocker), making 35 saves in the victory. Elmira’s Olivia Last played a solid game, making 39 saves on 42 shots in the loss.

The opening period was scoreless, but the scoring began just past the midway mark of the 2nd period when Maeve Reynolds broke the deadlock, putting the Mammoths up 1-0, which would hold until the 3rd period.

The dam would be broke open once the 3rd period began, the Mammoths scoring 41 seconds into the period on the powerplay (Bea Flynn), doubling the lead, followed by a third goal a mere two minutes later (Marie-Eve Marleau), making it a commanding 3-0 lead against an Amherst squad with Stott in net and an incredible defense.

Following their victory over Elmira, Amherst will meet River Falls once again in Hunt Arena where the Mammoths fell 3-1 in last year’s national championship game. The Mammoths as mentioned will look very similar to Williams in terms of play style and strong goaltending, but the question will always remain, can they score enough to win?

Amherst this season has been held to two or fewer goals 14 times this season (48%) and scored 71 total goals, meanwhile, River Falls enters with 151 goals on the season and were only held under three goals three times this season including their game against the Ephs. The question will always be, despite Stott’s incredible goaltending, can she either play perfect and allow zero, or can Amherst score enough to overpower this Falcon offense that for the past three seasons has stood out as the nation’s best no matter the circumstances.

Amherst visits River Falls and will drop the puck at 7pm CT on Friday.