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Ohio State takes over No. 1 after sweeping Wisconsin with third-period surges · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Uscho.com Hi and welcome to another edition of the podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Todd Molesky and Nicole Haase with you from uscho.com and
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: we've got the answer to the early season question of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: who's number one and that is Ohio State after the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Buckeyes swept number one, previously number one, Wisconsin in Columbus
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: this weekend. That's one of the things we're going to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: be talking about here on this edition. Also getting into
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: some other sweeps of uh, series, uh, matching ranked teams
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: last weekend. Uh, a couple of upsets. We'll get to
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: all those, but Nicole first, uh, wanted to get your
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: thoughts on Ohio state beating Wisconsin twice and the rematch of, well,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: all of the last four national championships, like we've talked
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: about plenty of times, um, two to one on Friday,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: coming back from a deficit entering the third period. And
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: then five to three on Saturday, again, uh, with a
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: third period push, uh, Combined in the third period, Ohio
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: State outscored Wisconsin 4-0, and the shots were 36-9 in
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: those two games in favor of Ohio State. And so
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: that really did seem like where the Buckeyes were able
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: to make their push and use maybe a little bit
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: more depth to beat the Badgers.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: They were 4-7 on the power play, including both goals
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: in the first game coming on the power play. I
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: think I have a couple of thoughts. The first is
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: like no excuses. Ohio State was the better team. I
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: think that it was just clear, you know, sort of
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: in the big and small things. I think a lot
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: of cracks were exposed for Wisconsin. And I think some
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: of those are different if their two defenders are there
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: and not at camp. I don't think that's an excuse.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: I don't think that's the only thing you can look
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: at here and say like that was the difference in
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: this weekend. But I thought, yeah, yeah. I think Wisconsin's
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: lack of depth or maybe lack of experience. Like it's
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: just a younger team. Um, and there was a lot
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: of dumb plays and there was a lot of miscommunication, um, including,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: you know, one of the late goals on Saturday where
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: it just felt like nobody knew who was going to
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: take the puck. You know, Iowa state said, we, we
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: will right in front of your net. Thank you. Um,
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  Speaker 2: Their last goal, Ohio State's last goal on Friday was
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: after a really stupid penalty taken by Adela Shapovalovova. There
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: was some whacking at your goalie. That's always going to
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: cause a response. But I mean, just really, she took
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: the penalty. They immediately scored. That's the end of the game.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Ohio State played the sort of relentlessness that we, that
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: sort of hard push press in Wisconsin struggled with it,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: which we talked about. We knew they would struggle with
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: time and space, especially the younger players who aren't used
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to it. You know, they struggled to get their goalie
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: out when one time came on Friday, like Ohio State
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: put tons of pressure on them. And then on Saturday,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, they pulled their goalie and didn't even put
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: a six skater out. There was a time when they like,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: I think they pulled their mark jumps and took the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: time out because they only had four out on the ice.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Like they're just there was a lot of sort of
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: silly mental mistakes that we're not used to seeing from
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: a team like that, that I think they just were. Well,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: I think they were exhausted. I do think there's something
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: to be said about it being the third period in
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: both games, I think. Wisconsin really pushed back in the
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: second in both of those games, played really hard. And
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: then I think they just, they started to run out
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  Speaker 2: of steam and Ohio State found another gear in the third.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: I think there was some of that. But yeah, I
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: think it was exactly what you'd expect from a team
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: that just graduated a generational class that has a lot
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: of young players whose depth is, I don't think it's
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: that Wisconsin doesn't have the depth. I think it's that
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  Speaker 2: their depth is not to the point that you would
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: expect it to be or to match up to Ohio
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: State's depth at this point. It's young players who hadn't
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: been in that situation and aren't used to... And then
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: you had Kelly Gorbatenko out too as well. I mean,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: she was on the line sheet, but she didn't... And
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: I think a player like her with her size and
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: as the captain, her not being in the ice in
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  Speaker 2: addition to some of the other stuff. So I think
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of reasons. And I also think Wisconsin
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: got outplayed and needs to be a team that can
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: overcome those kinds of reasons and make better choices on
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: the ice and... not make the mental mistakes. And yeah,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, it can be twofold. I think,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: you know, Wisconsin fans can probably comfort themselves with this,
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  Speaker 2: the idea that this series would look a little different
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: if those players were on the ice, but also Ohio
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: State's the best team in the country. And I don't
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: think there's any denying that. The depth there, the ability
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: of players, like it's not just Joy Dunn or not
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: just Tilda Svensson, right? Like there's a ton of scoring
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: coming from all across the ice from forwards from defenders.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Like they just, they, I would bet that maybe Musrell
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: thinks they didn't play a great series and that like,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: based on the things we've talked about, they should have
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: won by more. But also like if they didn't play
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: their best possible series, then that's how they played. Like
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: things are, things are scary for everybody else. Like they just,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: they looked moderately unstoppable at times.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I think getting back to the third period part, that
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: was a, This is not new from Ohio State, but
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: we see that they, when they're in a close game
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: or trailing in the third period, that they find their best.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: They find another gear. We saw that really in the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: championship game last season. They're down by two goals going
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: into the third period and pop a couple in quick
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: and kind of flip that game around for a while.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: And in games when they're tied with Wisconsin, especially going
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: into the third period, uh, we, we've seen them find
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: a little bit more, uh, to draw from there. And, and,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and I think that is something that is important for
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: them as they go through the season that, you know,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: they're going to find some adversity. They're going to find
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a time like on Friday where they're behind going to
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the third and they're going to have to dig deep.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: And they were able to do that. And I think
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: for me, that was impressive to see that, uh, where essentially,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: you know, three weeks into the season for, for some teams, but, um,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: to have that in October is a really strong sign
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: for them to know that they can draw on that
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: whenever they need to because it's going to come again.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that is a point of pride for them,
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: both mentally and physically. I know that they, you know,
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: have some of the toughest preseason training and, like, that's
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: on purpose and that's part of their MO and that's
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: part of what Nadine does and you have to be
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: able to handle that all to be a Buckeye. And
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: that's why some players... end up transferring out because she
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: expects a ton from them. And that is so that
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: in that situation, they have what it takes to be
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: back out in the ice and doing what they were doing.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: But it's also mental. And I think that's really important
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: to talk about, too, particularly because it's not necessarily coming
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: from like fourth or fifth year students. Right. Like you're
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: seeing this from Freshmen already and from sophomores. And again,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that's the type of player that needing recruits purposely. But yeah,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: you have to. They went up 3-1 in the end
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: of the first on Saturday. They gave up a goal
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: in 20, 34 seconds in, whatever it was. They Wisconsin
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: came back and tied it in the second. And there
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: was kind of no doubt in my mind when she
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: saw how Ohio State came out in the third period
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: that they were going to take that game. They scored
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: once and it was like, and then they scored a
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: second time. And you were like, yeah, Wisconsin's not coming
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: back from this. Like you could just tell that that
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: was Ohio State's game, like everything about the demeanor and
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: the way that they played. And they just, they sort
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: of exacerbated and, like, put a spotlight on all sort
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: of the cracks and the problems that Wisconsin was having. So, yeah,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: it was a complete game and, yeah, absolute shout out
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: to sort of their culture and their style. Because, like
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: you said, in early October, to have all of that,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: to have that wherewithal to go out there and do that,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: pull those games out and really just demolish Wisconsin in
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: both third periods was super impressive. Yeah.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Ohio State's big players played big. I mean, Joy Dunn,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: I don't think she scored, but she was around the
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: puck a lot. She was everywhere. Every play. Mira Unicare
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: was great on the blue line. Hilda Svensson had a
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: really good goal or important goal on Friday. Sandy Van Hanen,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: impressive again.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Which is like their three Europeans is the one maybe
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: we talk about the least in terms of like Hilda
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: and Mira. Right. but yeah, Sonny had a spectacular weekend.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, and so that's, you know, when you're in
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: those kinds of situations, you need those players to deliver
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: and Ohio state got that. But, um, yeah, on, on
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: the Wisconsin side of things, they're going to, I mean,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: we always thought Mark Johnson talks about every year. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to be, you know, we're building for March
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and they're going to take this, uh, opportunity where, yeah,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: they had to play, play short on the D especially. Um,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: with two of their top four D at the Canada's
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: camp pre world championship camp and Laney Potter saw a
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: ton of minutes. And I think that did contribute to the,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: you know, the third period where, yeah, they were out
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: of gas and Ohio state took advantage of that as
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: good teams do, you know, you find the weakness and you,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: and you, and you go at it and yeah, it's, it's,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: you know, These two teams play again the last weekend
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: of the regular season, and that's, I think, going to
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: feel a lot different, especially now. Wisconsin's going to have that,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: you know, that motivation a little bit on their side.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, you know, both things are true, which
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: is that Ohio State dominated and looked really good, and
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: the sky is not falling for Wisconsin. All things considered, like,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: they didn't look great for very long periods of time.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Ohio State, you know, dominated for very long periods of time,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: and they lost two close games. So I think, you know,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: it was cut to loss, the two close games, I think.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: And what went wrong are things that should be fixable
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: and things you can expect in October, the miscommunication and
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: some of the silliness and letting other people get in
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: your head and all that sort of stuff. So I think,
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: you know, for both teams, there's happy, there's things to
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: take away from this and, and, you know, for Wisconsin, these,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: you want these losses in October, this like, there's nothing
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: but things they can learn from here. And yeah, I,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: yeah I think you know it's it's I don't want
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: to take away from Ohio State by not like I
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: just want to be clear like Ohio State dominated they
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: look spectacular um and all and and I think they're
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: the clear number one team I think you know Wisconsin
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: coasted on being the defending national champs and not losing
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: a game to start they got the the you know
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: honorific of getting that first um in the polls until
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: they didn't deserve it anymore and now you know Ohio
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: State has proved so I do think we probably see
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Ohio State in that spot, barring some major upsets throughout
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: the season. I think that's probably Ohio State's spot to
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: keep for now. But yeah, I think both teams will
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: come out of this better for what they did this weekend.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: All right, let's take a spin around the rest of
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: the country last weekend. St. Cloud State, number eight, last
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: weekend had to go to Number 14, Colgate and St.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Cloud had started 4-0, riding pretty high, and then Colgate
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: brings them back down to earth with a pair of victories,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: 4-2 on Friday, 2-1 on Saturday. Linda Vositskova, I hope
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I'm pronouncing that right, but I probably botched it, broke
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: a 2-2 tie with a shorthanded goal in the third
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: period in that Friday game, and Chloe Gufers with two
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: goals in the Saturday game for the Raiders to complete
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: the sweep. That's a A good set of results for
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Colgate to go to 4-0. St. Cloud takes a step
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: back to fall to 4-2. These are teams that, I
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: know on Colgate's side, it feels like there can be
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: another step for them this season. St. Cloud is still
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: building to that point, and I think that may be
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: showed this weekend.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Pursuant to the conversation we just had, I think St.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Cloud didn't have sort of that closing, that mental, like they,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: they answered every, the first two Colgate goals on Friday.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Like that was a really interesting and fun game until
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: about halfway through the third period when I felt like
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Colgate kind of really started to take full control and
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: it didn't feel like St. Cloud was, was going to
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: get that back. So that was just interesting in that way.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: I think that's where that, like, you're kind of new
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to this, you're kind of a young team, you're kind
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: of figuring it out. They just it wasn't that full
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: 60 minutes for them but i don't i wasn't super
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: upset i thought for someone who was like high on
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: saint cloud to start i thought they they showed out
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: well in that series i didn't think that there was
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: a huge margin between the two um and and it
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: was the sort of stuff that you expect from a
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: team in their position um i think they probably thought
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: they could go in there and at least get a
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: win and that's a bit of a bummer for them
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: but overall i thought um I think positive for, again,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: positive for both those teams because Colgate's the one where
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: we're like, we're not sure. They've lost a bunch of
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: players to graduation in the past few years, and so
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: they're in this kind of interesting rebuild point, but want
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: to be a team that is perpetually in the conversation.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: And so I think they're proving that even with big
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: graduating classes, this is a big series for them to
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: get those two wins, I think. And a huge weekend
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: for Chloe Goofers. She had, I think, three goals and
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: maybe an assist too, so Just in terms of things
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: we have not been talking about for them to, to,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: to step up, I thought. And Pochukova is someone that like,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: I was, I think when I was in Finland, so
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: two years, two years ago for world championships, she was
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: yet uncommitted sort of of everyone else in her, her
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: year and her birth year. And she, she committed to
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Colgate for a little shortly after that she had been
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: captain of that squad. And she felt like someone that
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: had sort of slid under the radar, some of the, um, recruiting.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: So exciting to see her sort of step up and
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: be big immediately for them. I think she's going to
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: continue to be a name we'll be talking about for
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: the Raiders.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: There's a result on Friday as I'm kind of watching
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: the scoreboard throughout the day. I see Syracuse is leading
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Penn State to nothing. I'm like, that's interesting. Well, we'll
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: see how that goes. And then later on, I see
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: they're up four to two. Well, okay. It It's even
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: more interesting, and then it's 4-4 going into overtime, but
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Syracuse did get a 5-4 win over No. 4 Penn
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: State at home on Friday. Jocelyn Fiala scored her second
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: goal of the game in overtime for that win. Ava
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Javik with 40 saves for the win for Syracuse. Outshot,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: but stayed in that game, and that's an important result
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: for Syracuse to build on. Penn State did get the
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: split of the series with a 4-0 win on Saturday
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: behind a couple of goals from Nicole. Hall and 30
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: saves for the shutout by Madison Campbell. But that's a, everyone,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: you know, the way that Penn State has just kind
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: of rolled through things the last few seasons, it's, everyone
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: is shooting for them. And Syracuse is a team that has,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: you know, struggled throughout the last few years and Now
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: getting a result like that, overtime win is still a win,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the way you look at it. You get to celebrate
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: that win. It doesn't count for as many points as
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: a regulation win, but I would imagine that still means
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: an awful lot for Syracuse to get a win in
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: that series.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: It's the win, but I think the way that they
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: did it, which is that they took the lead and
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: then gave it up twice and still came out with
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: the win. I think that's apparently the thing we're going
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: to talk about here, sort of that mental fortitude. Again,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: this early, they're under a new coach. There's a lot
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: there that they showed previously sort of who they are
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: in their character to be able to pull out that win.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And particularly, like Penn State's a team that's really going
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: to excel in three-on-three overtime. So I think particularly being
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: able to withstand that and withhold that and get the
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: puck in possession is so hard then for them to
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: do that and be able to move down and get
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: the goal. Yeah, I ended up switching over to it.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: And at one point I was like, wait, what's happening?
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: And then I was like, oh no, that's its fourth period.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: That's the that's the end of the game. Like they,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: they won. I was just confused. Like I tried to
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: turn the game on at the end and it was like,
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: it's over. And I was like, no, it's not. I'm
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: looking at that anyway. Yeah. Very excited to keep up
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: with that. I mean, it was a fun day on Friday.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: What did we have? Like 10 ranked games, I think.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: And four of them were upsets.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Or team games with ranked teams. So yeah. You know,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: there's going to be growing pains for Penn state, you know,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: kind of just like we were talking about with the
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Scots and they, they graduated a generational class that completely
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: built that program. They're not that far into their, you know,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: D1 tenure in terms of like having graduated to NCAA D1.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: And there's going to be some ups and downs, but
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: they've got a lot of really strong pieces. But I'm
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: just excited to see the parity in AHA because Penn
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: State had sort of taken that step forward and really
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: created a gap. And it's those these types of wins
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: are so good for a team. you know, sort of
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: in the bottom half of the standings to build on
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: in confidence and momentum and all those, you know, sort
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: of intangible things. For Syracuse to buy in and believe
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: a win like this goes a long way.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: A similar kind of result or a statement you could
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: make after St. Thomas got a road win at number
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: 10 Minnesota Duluth Friday, 2-1. Chloe Boreen scored both goals
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: for the Tommies, including the winner with 52 seconds left
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: in that game. St. Thomas outshot Duluth 36-17 on the road,
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: which that to me was the impressive part. The sign
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: that was like, okay, this wasn't just a fluke win
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: on the road, you know, going into another team's building,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: a ranked team's building and winning. No, they had more
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: than a few shots at getting more than two goals
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: and able to take care of that. Duluth came back
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: to win 3-0 on Saturday with Mary Lou Grenier getting
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: 24 saves for the shutout. Molly Cole scoring in the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: second period to put the Bulldogs ahead, and they got
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: two empty netters to run away with that one, 3-0.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: But St. Thomas is in that similar situation of trying
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: to build, trying to find their way, and trying to
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: get the wins that are going to mean something and
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: kind of push that Bulls a little bit, it feels like.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: in the WCHA, and this is kind of one of
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: those that goes in that category.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: It feels like they've been doing it maybe a little
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: more slow and steady as opposed to Minnesota State's marquee wins.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: As opposed to kind of being flesh in the pan,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: it feels like this has been building for a while
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: for St. Thomas, and they get a couple of upsets
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: or a couple of ranked wins every year, and every
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: year they're doing it a little more But it has
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: been maybe not as like surprising or flashy as some
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: of the, you know, Minnesota State upstate sets with Minnesota
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: or something like that. So I think I feel like
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: maybe we get more excited about St. Cloud State or
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Minnesota State, but St. Thomas has sort of quietly been
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: doing this in the background the whole time. I will say, too,
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: I feel like what that game particularly did was highlight
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: how much UMD's offense relies on Kaitlyn Kramer. I think
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: we all knew that, but she's one of the players
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: that was missing for Canada camp. And I thought it
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: was just really obvious that like, that's who they rely
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: on for not just shot volume, but for finishing. They
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: need a couple more players that are going to be
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: able to finish things and really like be reliable when
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: those situations come down to it. And when they were
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: in front of the net, it was like a few
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: times it was a little like friends. I know you
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: all know how to shoot better than this. So yeah,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, You know, kudos to, I think it was
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Dani Strong because she has the cool pads, the checkerboard pads.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: But yeah, kudos to the goal setting for both sides.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: because Mary Lou Grenier had two great games as well
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: for someone who does not normally spend, doesn't get a
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: lot of looks because Evgascon is Evgascon. So, but yeah,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: I think probably we need to pay a little more
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: attention to what it is that St. Thomas is doing
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: because it is a little more slow and steady, a
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: little more consistent than, you know, one big upset or
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: what are two A year. But yeah, they're just slowly
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: sort of building and making that program solid so that
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: it's not just a one-year thing, right? We might see this. Yeah,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: it feels like they've just consistently been building to just
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: be in the conversation for talking for fourth place, right?
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: And that's the first step if they're going to sort
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: of take that next one. But I think they proved
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: that they are on the same level as UMD this week,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: so It should be interesting to see what that looks
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: like as the rest of the season plays out.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: I was curious how Northeastern was going to respond from
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: their season opening loss to RPI. They got a 2-0
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: win at Providence on Friday. Strikers to Blocky scored both
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: of those goals. Both scored handed within 90 seconds of
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: each other on different penalties. At first I thought that
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: she scored twice on the same penalty kill, but they
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: were actually different penalties, but That close together. Lisa Janssen,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: 26 saves for the shutout. And then Northeastern hosted, I
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: put in air quotes, New Hampshire on Sunday and got
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: a 6-3 win. That was a difficult, that was a
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: slog for them, though. They fell behind, went up 3-1,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: and then Danica Botterell scored goals 2-3 for her on
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the game for a hat trick to tie it at 3-3.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: But Stryker is a blocky, scored a goal-hit goal with
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: 9-0-1 left for Northeastern. Molly McCurtain and Grace Sitter added
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: on later to make it 6-3. Interesting weekend for the Huskies,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the Northeastern Huskies. I think that they had to get
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: some wins on the board this weekend. They did it.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: it's still that early season like, well, there are things
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: we're going to have to work on out of this
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: for them going forward.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: But arguably, you know, they were two tough games that
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: they came out of with wins. So it's, you know,
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: some from column A, some from column B. But yeah,
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I think the sentence, strikers of Lockheed scored the go-ahead
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: goal is one we will be saying a lot. I
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: think she's, you know, we already knew, but another year of.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: She's definitely going to be, she's an early contender for
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: NW season awards, right? Just an absolute game changer. I
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: feel like one of the things that I found interesting
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: was sort of Northeastern's, Northeastern was forcing mistakes. They weren't
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: necessarily capitalizing all the time, but that's a thing that
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I think is going to grow as part of their game.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: They were forcing teams to sort of play catch up
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: to them regardless of the score. And that's how they
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: were drawing some of those penalties and enforcing kind of
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: some stupid plays from their opponent. And so I think
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: that is a thing that there's just a smartness to
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the game. And then some of that is, you know,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: it's a blocky psyche when some of the other players.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: But I also just think that they're doing, they're understanding
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: where they are in their development. They understand what they're
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: capable of. They're not going out there and blowing the
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: doors off anybody right now. So I think it's just
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: really smart hockey to me from them and sort of
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: understanding what they can do to get the win, even
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: if it's, I mean, obviously 6-3 is a good win,
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: but like the 2-1, they sort of eked that out,
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: but they did it by playing really smart hockey and
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: putting themselves in a position. So I don't know. I
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: don't love just two shorties from Stryker in 90 seconds,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: like just because I feel like maybe they should be
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: in a better position, but also like shout out to
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Providence who played, I think, two really good games this
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: weekend without getting much out of it. I think there's, there's,
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: They're showing sort of the signs of what you want
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: to see in the moments of brilliance. So, yeah, be
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: interesting to see what keeps happening with Northeastern. But I
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: think that what we're seeing when they're pulling out winds
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: like this is sort of the seeds of what's going to,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: you know, build them through February and March.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: We've reached the time of the show where I throw
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: it to you to give you the floor to touch
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: on anything else that caught your eye over the weekend.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Well, I, you know, we had another 10 a.m. game,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: which I'm always a big fan.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Of.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: So this morning, like, there's just more of the kids' games,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: which is, I guess, fun and interesting. And, like, as
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: the person who works for Nolan was, like, sitting and
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: working on the stuff for this weekend, I was excited
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: to put more stuff on. I thought one of the
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: interesting ones was Franklin Pierce. Franklin Pierce in Vermont. Vermont,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: who kind of had jumped out and really surprised people.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Franklin Pierce kept it close with them on, I think, Friday.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: It was 2-1. Just, I really was... thought it was
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: good to see. We're seeing so much interconference and some of,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: we're seeing some of the strata and like, you know, where,
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: where teams sort of match up and things like that.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: And so that was an interesting outcome for me. And yeah, I,
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know. It was, it was an interesting weekend
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: with all those upsets on Friday. And then I felt
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: like Saturday was a little flat in comparison, a little sad,
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: but Friday was a fun day. Right.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: So that's going to wrap up our first edition of
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: the week. We'll be back later this week to talk
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: about what's coming up on this weekend's schedule. So for
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Nicole Hawsey, I'm Todd Molesky. Thanks for joining us on
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: the podcast.