Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Princeton, Quinnipiac set the pace in ECAC Hockey

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Princeton, Quinnipiac set the pace in ECAC Hockey · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

0:04
Speaker 1: Uscho.com hi and welcome this is the podcast from uscho.com
0:14
Speaker 1: i'm todd belusky here as always with nicole hazy to
0:17
Speaker 1: talk about ncaa women's hockey and a little bit of
0:19
Speaker 1: the women's world championship since that's also going on this
0:23
Speaker 1: week but nicole that was a a little bit smaller
0:26
Speaker 1: schedule last week but some really fascinating results i thought
0:31
Speaker 1: uh and i i think maybe we're starting to see
0:33
Speaker 1: where there could be a little bit of separation at
0:36
Speaker 1: the top of ECAC hockey beginning with Princeton and Quinnipiac
0:40
Speaker 1: both sweeping series against Colgate and Cornell you know well
0:44
Speaker 1: the home one of each in in the way that
0:47
Speaker 1: they do their series but I just wondering your your
0:51
Speaker 1: thoughts off the top on just how that maybe sets
0:53
Speaker 1: things up for Princeton with the start we talked about
0:56
Speaker 1: last week that they've they've put together and Quinnipiac you
1:00
Speaker 1: know having a really good start as well to just
1:05
Speaker 1: jump out and kind of set the marker down for
1:08
Speaker 1: the teams in ECAC hockey. Yeah, right.
1:11
Speaker 2: You know, we talked a bunch about Princeton last week
1:13
Speaker 2: in terms of, like, what does this mean? Is it
1:16
Speaker 2: something they'll be able to keep up? And they played
1:18
Speaker 2: sort of without a hitch this weekend. Like, those wins were,
1:22
Speaker 2: you know, pretty clear, and they really set the tone
1:25
Speaker 2: for them. I feel like this is the team that
1:27
Speaker 2: I think everybody is going to be trying to catch.
1:29
Speaker 2: I think Quinnipiac is not far behind. But yeah, I
1:32
Speaker 2: think there was a clear separation and not just losses
1:35
Speaker 2: for Colgate, but giving up a ton of goals. So
1:37
Speaker 2: I feel like, okay, that sort of shows sort of
1:40
Speaker 2: where that hierarchy stretches out. And so now it'll be
1:42
Speaker 2: interesting when we see sort of Clarkson and Yale get
1:44
Speaker 2: in playing in those four teams as well. But I
1:47
Speaker 2: feel like Princeton really set themselves apart. But yes, this
1:50
Speaker 2: start where they have not lost yet is not effective.
1:53
Speaker 2: luke it's not you know lock it's not any of
1:56
Speaker 2: those things they're going out and playing really great square
1:58
Speaker 2: hockey and and you know putting pucks in the back
2:00
Speaker 2: of the net and it's not just one or two
2:02
Speaker 2: players and it's not just one or two ships and
2:05
Speaker 2: um yeah i think they're the team to watch until
2:08
Speaker 2: well i mean i think they're they're proving they're the
2:10
Speaker 2: team to watch all season but i would be particularly
2:13
Speaker 2: uh paying attention to them for the next couple weeks
2:15
Speaker 2: while they sort of ride this high and carry that
2:17
Speaker 2: momentum yep It was.
2:18
Speaker 1: A 5-1 win over Colgate on Friday. Chloe Brinson scoring
2:22
Speaker 1: a couple of goals and adding an assist in that one.
2:24
Speaker 1: And then a 2-1 overtime win over Cornell on Saturday
2:28
Speaker 1: for the Tigers. Lucia Di Girolamo with the overtime goal there.
2:32
Speaker 1: Uma Cornea with 37 saves. That just seems like, in goal,
2:37
Speaker 1: you've got such a strong backbone starting there. And I think... That,
2:48
Speaker 1: to me, is one of the reasons I can see
2:49
Speaker 1: this team having a really long runway here of where
2:53
Speaker 1: this can go, right? Because you need scoring, you need defense,
3:00
Speaker 1: but you really need someone you can count on in
3:02
Speaker 1: tight games to be the backstop there.
3:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, and she has been for a couple years, I think,
3:09
Speaker 2: just maybe not getting some of the attention or being
3:12
Speaker 2: as flashy about it. I think that's part of those
3:15
Speaker 2: everything that Princeton has going on is that like, you know,
3:17
Speaker 2: we talked about Mackenzie Alexander, you know, and she had
3:20
Speaker 2: a great, you know, season and, but she's not, not
3:22
Speaker 2: that she's not producing, she is, but like, she's not
3:24
Speaker 2: the name that you're reading out when you're talking about
3:26
Speaker 2: the highest scores and things like that, I think. So
3:29
Speaker 2: there's just more depth there than maybe we've seen from them.
3:31
Speaker 2: And like you said, the goaltending has long been like,
3:34
Speaker 2: she was a great recruit for them. And, and, you know,
3:37
Speaker 2: her serve has been building up to this to be.
3:40
Speaker 2: I mean, it's, you know, 37 seasons. So again, it's
3:42
Speaker 2: not like they're not getting tested. I think that's really
3:44
Speaker 2: important to point out. And then the other thing I
3:46
Speaker 2: just think is like, I want to pay more attention
3:48
Speaker 2: to Chloe Brinson, who is not of all the sort
3:51
Speaker 2: of big name freshmen we talked about coming into the season.
3:54
Speaker 2: She wasn't one of them. But she, you know, coming
3:56
Speaker 2: out DK selects and obviously it's just had this massive impact.
4:01
Speaker 2: She was able to, you know, we've talked about sort
4:03
Speaker 2: of how difficult it can be for freshmen and then
4:05
Speaker 2: a freshman at an Ivy and even more so like you're,
4:08
Speaker 2: you're already behind the eight ball and she's just been
4:10
Speaker 2: absolutely stupendous for them. Not just scoring goals, but like
4:13
Speaker 2: coming up big in high pressure situations. And she's the
4:17
Speaker 2: one that scored a couple overtime goals and yeah, it's not,
4:21
Speaker 2: it's not a fluke when it's happening every week. Right.
4:23
Speaker 2: So the fact that she just sort of, it's continuously
4:27
Speaker 2: doing that. And again, there's just a lot of offensive
4:30
Speaker 2: threats on that team. And I think that really makes
4:32
Speaker 2: a difference for them. to be able to sort of
4:34
Speaker 2: switch out lines and not lose, not have a step
4:37
Speaker 2: down or anything like that. So, yeah, fun team to
4:40
Speaker 2: watch right now. I highly suggest people do it, especially
4:42
Speaker 2: because their games are at ESPN Plus, one of the
4:44
Speaker 2: easier conferences to be able to watch streams on.
4:47
Speaker 1: Same thing with Quinnipiac. 4-0 win over Cornell on Friday,
4:51
Speaker 1: and Natalia Dilbon, 24 saves for the shutout there. Alex Law,
4:55
Speaker 1: two of those goals for the Bobcats. And then 5-2
4:57
Speaker 1: over Colgate on Saturday. Ainsley Dottavino with two goals, Kaelin
5:01
Speaker 1: Marshall goal and two assists. So those... You know, LaMarche,
5:05
Speaker 1: we're expecting to see, you know, put up the numbers,
5:08
Speaker 1: Quinnipiac up to 10, 2, and 1, and she's a
5:11
Speaker 1: big reason it's there. But it's also, I think we've
5:13
Speaker 1: mentioned this in previous episodes, it's more than that. It's
5:16
Speaker 1: the next group and the group after that that's contributing
5:20
Speaker 1: to get the Bobcats to a more, I guess, dependable?
5:25
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's the right word, a more consistent,
5:27
Speaker 1: more predictable.
5:28
Speaker 2: Consistent, maybe?
5:31
Speaker 1: Just a threat every time they're playing.
5:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I believe I brought up Alex Slavafore, who is
5:38
Speaker 2: a player that was very good at U18s and just
5:40
Speaker 2: kind of didn't find her stride, had some injuries and things.
5:43
Speaker 2: And I feel like she is in a place where
5:45
Speaker 2: she is comfortable, where she is surrounded by players that
5:49
Speaker 2: really sort of add to her game. And the pieces
5:52
Speaker 2: are adding up to something, you know, sort of bigger.
5:55
Speaker 2: She's just been, she had a great start. And I
5:58
Speaker 2: was like, oh, I'm keeping an eye on this. I
6:00
Speaker 2: hope it keeps going. And it is. And then Ainsley
6:03
Speaker 2: Dottavito just has, come out like she's not someone she
6:06
Speaker 2: didn't have a ton of points coming into this year
6:09
Speaker 2: um and she just really has stepped up big time
6:11
Speaker 2: and we talk about that that like it's not just
6:14
Speaker 2: like stepping up in terms of scoring points but it's
6:18
Speaker 2: like seeing an opportunity in front of you and being
6:20
Speaker 2: the person that you know fills that role and as
6:24
Speaker 2: people graduate and as there are places in you know
6:26
Speaker 2: on different lines and things like that it's it's seeing
6:29
Speaker 2: that and really upping your game and she's one of
6:31
Speaker 2: those players that's really done that this year Flip.
6:33
Speaker 1: Side, I wonder how much concern you have for Colgate
6:37
Speaker 1: after giving up five goals in back-to-back games last weekend,
6:41
Speaker 1: falling to eight and four. I mean, there's a long
6:43
Speaker 1: way to go here, but I wonder what thoughts you
6:46
Speaker 1: have on just that. You need to hold the goals
6:52
Speaker 1: down to be able to compete in the ECAC. We
6:54
Speaker 1: know that giving up 10 in a weekend is not
6:58
Speaker 1: a great look.
7:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of feel like I'm in a little
7:03
Speaker 2: wait and see on them. Like if we see this
7:05
Speaker 2: again in the next couple of weeks, then I'm definitely
7:08
Speaker 2: going to be concerned because again, it's not scoring and
7:11
Speaker 2: it's not, that's very consistent. That's sort of losing the
7:15
Speaker 2: puck in all areas and not being able to play
7:17
Speaker 2: your style again and letting someone else just completely take
7:20
Speaker 2: over the way that the game's going to go. And
7:22
Speaker 2: so that's the part that's concerning. It's maybe less about
7:24
Speaker 2: the number of goals or the scoring, but the symptoms
7:27
Speaker 2: of like why that happens. And it just feels like
7:30
Speaker 2: Colgate was not ever able to play the game they
7:33
Speaker 2: wanted to play this weekend. And obviously very good teams
7:36
Speaker 2: do impose their will on other teams. But up until
7:39
Speaker 2: this point, I would have said Colgate had surprised me
7:42
Speaker 2: and were a team that kind of were doing more
7:47
Speaker 2: than I thought maybe they would based on their turnover.
7:49
Speaker 2: I will say like Linda Vojkova has been a huge
7:52
Speaker 2: player for them and she is at Worlds with Czechia.
7:55
Speaker 2: I don't think one player makes, you know, makes or
7:58
Speaker 2: breaks things, but she is a game changing player and
8:01
Speaker 2: she's a 200 foot player that really does help control.
8:03
Speaker 2: And she, you know, can be very physical. And I
8:05
Speaker 2: feel like maybe without that presence that like then having
8:10
Speaker 2: to fill that hole and pulling from other places, I
8:12
Speaker 2: think it just really had a bit of a waterfall
8:14
Speaker 2: effect for them. But obviously like you're going to miss
8:17
Speaker 2: players at times. And so I, you know, they have
8:19
Speaker 2: to be able to account for that, you know, if
8:22
Speaker 2: players get injured or they're away for national team stuff.
8:24
Speaker 2: So I would say that like, put an asterisk in it,
8:28
Speaker 2: put a little pin in it and check back. But yeah,
8:30
Speaker 2: I think there was a, it's a bit of a
8:32
Speaker 2: gut check for them this weekend. And I think, you know,
8:34
Speaker 2: as we've talked about with other teams, it's how you
8:37
Speaker 2: respond when you have, you know, a bad game or
8:39
Speaker 2: a bad weekend. It's how you come back the next weekend.
8:42
Speaker 2: If this, you know, it kind of defeats them, then
8:45
Speaker 2: that changes sort of the outlook. But if this can
8:48
Speaker 2: help rally them and they can really learn from those games,
8:50
Speaker 2: then that's obviously kind of the make or break. I
8:54
Speaker 2: think we learn a little bit about the makeup of
8:55
Speaker 2: the team and the character and how And they're young,
8:58
Speaker 2: so stuff like this can either roll off your back
9:01
Speaker 2: or sit in your head for the rest of the year.
9:03
Speaker 2: And so I just think some of those kind of
9:06
Speaker 2: intangible things that just come with building a team and
9:09
Speaker 2: chemistry and all of that and how the locker room is,
9:13
Speaker 2: which you can't always predict and you can't always, like,
9:16
Speaker 2: is it necessarily a negative, like, overall if it doesn't
9:20
Speaker 2: come together? Like I said, they're quite young. So, yeah,
9:22
Speaker 2: I think there's just a lot of concern and we'll
9:26
Speaker 2: have to wait and see what that turns into.
9:29
Speaker 1: Well, other upsets around ECAC land last weekend. Number 9
9:34
Speaker 1: Clarkson falling to RPI 3-1 on Friday. Mia Montanari scored
9:39
Speaker 1: in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and
9:40
Speaker 1: Reese Keating made 40 saves for RPI to get that win.
9:45
Speaker 1: RPI has won two games this season, 2-14. Both of
9:48
Speaker 1: those wins are against top 10 teams. Also beating then
9:53
Speaker 1: number 5 Northeastern 2-1 in overtime back on October 2nd.
9:59
Speaker 1: That's a... I think you sent me the message right
10:02
Speaker 1: away on Friday saying that was one of those that's
10:07
Speaker 1: just like hey credit the RPI for you know it's
10:13
Speaker 1: been a rough start but you're seeing where they can
10:16
Speaker 1: get results but on the Clarkson side that's one that's
10:19
Speaker 1: like Oh, okay.
10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going to hurt. Just plain and simple. In
10:25
Speaker 2: a conference like that, that is going to come back
10:26
Speaker 2: and bite them, I think. I think it's going to,
10:28
Speaker 2: you know, when we're coming down to half points and
10:31
Speaker 2: things at the end of the season. Yeah, I mean,
10:33
Speaker 2: that's not a game that I had turned on because
10:35
Speaker 2: apologies to RPI, but I did not respect your game
10:38
Speaker 2: and I didn't think that that was an outcome that
10:40
Speaker 2: I needed to keep an eye on. So apologies for that.
10:44
Speaker 2: There's only so many screens a girl can do. But
10:46
Speaker 2: I just kind of love like the, Like, not to
10:49
Speaker 2: be too flippant about it, but, like, RBI just being like, ugh,
10:51
Speaker 2: we're not bothering with you if you're not 10. Like,
10:53
Speaker 2: I just love that. Like, I love the energy. But,
10:58
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I love an underdog. And I
11:00
Speaker 2: love a story where we're seeing the pieces of what
11:03
Speaker 2: could come to be. And a team that can get
11:06
Speaker 2: those two wins. And, you know, like, the 2-1 against
11:10
Speaker 2: Northeastern wasn't overtime. Like, this was not. This was, like,
11:13
Speaker 2: they won this game. And they did it with good goaltending,
11:15
Speaker 2: but not, like... stand on your head over that 40
11:17
Speaker 2: saves is a lot but not like 65 right I
11:21
Speaker 2: just felt like they played a really good game like
11:23
Speaker 2: I went back and watched a little bit of it
11:25
Speaker 2: and it was just like it's one of those things
11:27
Speaker 2: where it's like if you can do this why aren't
11:30
Speaker 2: you doing it all the time there's that question yep
11:34
Speaker 2: But it is just like, I think it's just exciting
11:36
Speaker 2: to see the sort of the seeds of what this, like,
11:39
Speaker 2: there's clearly a ton of potential there and they aren't
11:41
Speaker 2: putting it together at all times. But when they do,
11:44
Speaker 2: then something special kind of happens. And so, yeah, it
11:48
Speaker 2: is both hilarious to have two wins, you say two
11:51
Speaker 2: and 14, and your two wins are over 10 teams.
11:54
Speaker 2: Just absolutely bonkers energy.
11:56
Speaker 1: Love it.
11:57
Speaker 2: But also I think, yeah, there's just, there's something fun
12:00
Speaker 2: there to keep an eye on. And there is, Coaches
12:03
Speaker 2: always say, oh, our conference is so deep, you have
12:06
Speaker 2: to show up for every game at RBI that you're showing. Yeah,
12:09
Speaker 2: you do. You quite literally do. And that's fun, right?
12:13
Speaker 2: You can't look past it. And I feel like, I
12:15
Speaker 2: don't know if this was Clarkson looking ahead, not paying
12:19
Speaker 2: enough attention to that opponent, or sort of feeling like, okay,
12:22
Speaker 2: on paper, this is where the better team. There could
12:25
Speaker 2: be a number of reasons, but there's something absolutely silly
12:29
Speaker 2: about RBI being like, I'm only bothering... to beat you
12:32
Speaker 2: if you're ranked 10 or higher. Love it. Love that
12:37
Speaker 2: for them. So I do think like I will just
12:39
Speaker 2: be paying more attention to games that maybe I might
12:42
Speaker 2: have looked past when it on paper seems like that's
12:45
Speaker 2: not a game that they could win. So clearly that
12:48
Speaker 2: doesn't exist for them. And yeah, I think that, you know,
12:52
Speaker 2: all silliness aside, it's just the seeds of what can
12:54
Speaker 2: come there and what happens when things come together. You know,
12:58
Speaker 2: kind of the chemistry we're just talking about with Colgate,
13:00
Speaker 2: like this is that. coming to fruition and getting to
13:03
Speaker 2: be able to get those wins.
13:06
Speaker 1: In, um, in Saturday's schedule, there was a, uh, a
13:10
Speaker 1: meeting with, between Harvard and number 11 Yale. And, uh, we,
13:14
Speaker 1: we've talked before that Harvard has, has put together a
13:17
Speaker 1: couple of, of impressive performances. And this, this one, it
13:20
Speaker 1: might be right at the top of the list now,
13:22
Speaker 1: so far, three, nothing went over Yale, Isabel, why not
13:25
Speaker 1: 30 saves, Carla McSweeney with a goal and an assist
13:29
Speaker 1: for the Crimson, um, which side do you want to
13:32
Speaker 1: start with there? Because it is, it is something where
13:35
Speaker 1: we've seen Harvard put together good performances. Um, maybe just
13:39
Speaker 1: not consistently. Um, but it's also on the Yale side.
13:43
Speaker 1: That's a, um, you know, one you, you thought might be,
13:49
Speaker 1: might be in their category in their favor. So, uh, I,
13:52
Speaker 1: I don't know where to go there.
13:55
Speaker 2: I don't either. Cause I feel like, you know, I
13:57
Speaker 2: definitely did feel like that was probably Yale's game to win.
14:02
Speaker 2: But it's so early that it's so difficult to tell
14:05
Speaker 2: how much credit to give to one team or another.
14:08
Speaker 2: It's like Harvard came out strong and won games, but
14:12
Speaker 2: against teams that they probably should have beat and then
14:14
Speaker 2: lost a series of games to Clarkson, St. Lawrence, and
14:17
Speaker 2: Brown to turn around and take Yale down three nothing
14:21
Speaker 2: like that was it was sort of a complete they
14:23
Speaker 2: everything came together I mean it's a little bit what
14:25
Speaker 2: we were just talking about with RPI where you know
14:27
Speaker 2: when when things click they do but it's just like
14:29
Speaker 2: I don't they were like this last year and they
14:32
Speaker 2: had you know over the last two seasons have completely
14:35
Speaker 2: turned the program around that was down to I think
14:37
Speaker 2: like a handful of single digit wins for a season
14:41
Speaker 2: but I was hoping this year we would see another
14:43
Speaker 2: step ahead and I'm not sure if we're seeing that
14:45
Speaker 2: but it's so hard to tell when we're a couple
14:47
Speaker 2: games into the season you know for them and a
14:50
Speaker 2: couple games into their ecac but i yeah i think
14:53
Speaker 2: i had hoped that we would see a little bit
14:55
Speaker 2: more um of that consistency but yes you know this
14:59
Speaker 2: weekend they played at brown and lost five three and
15:02
Speaker 2: turned around and won at yale free nothing like that
15:06
Speaker 2: the nothing about that computes in terms of like the
15:08
Speaker 2: math of what we're we know so i i it
15:11
Speaker 2: would be nice if i had something brilliant to say
15:14
Speaker 2: about this i really don't because i'm just like i
15:15
Speaker 2: don't i don't necessarily get it yet so I want
15:18
Speaker 2: to see a little bit more from each team. Again,
15:19
Speaker 2: I want to see Yale respond to this because I
15:23
Speaker 2: think we thought that they were a different team than
15:26
Speaker 2: maybe the one that showed up for that game. So, yeah,
15:29
Speaker 2: I don't I don't love how much it felt like
15:31
Speaker 2: Harvard kind of just had that game. And I'm not
15:34
Speaker 2: sure it felt like Yale was going to get back
15:37
Speaker 2: into it, you know.
15:38
Speaker 1: Right. The Newhouse standings have Franklin Pierce at the top
15:42
Speaker 1: at 8-0 after 2-1 and 5-3 wins over post. The
15:47
Speaker 1: series we talked about last week going into the weekend
15:49
Speaker 1: was Long Island against Assumption and it was a pair
15:54
Speaker 1: of close games. LIU winning 3-2 on Friday after coming
15:58
Speaker 1: back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period. Addison
16:01
Speaker 1: Robillard and Autumn Kelly scored goals 21 seconds apart to
16:04
Speaker 1: tie it and then Saga Odebrandt, I don't know if
16:08
Speaker 1: that's the pronunciation, but I couldn't find a pronunciation guide,
16:10
Speaker 1: so I apologize if that's incorrect. But it's going to
16:14
Speaker 1: go ahead goal with 7.33 left in that Friday game.
16:17
Speaker 1: Assumption rebounding with a 3-2 win on Saturday with two
16:20
Speaker 1: goals from Kayla McGaffigan. So it's shaping up to be
16:27
Speaker 1: another close race in new high, and that's one of
16:30
Speaker 1: those series between teams that are now 2nd and 3rd
16:35
Speaker 1: and still within striking range of Franklin Pierce at the top.
16:41
Speaker 1: I thought that was just an important rebound for Assumption
16:45
Speaker 1: on Saturday after coming close, losing that lead on Friday,
16:50
Speaker 1: to come back and win that one on Saturday.
16:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I really think... I turned that game
16:57
Speaker 2: on in progress, I think maybe at the Ferguson intermission
16:59
Speaker 2: after the World Championships games ended. And, you know, Assumption
17:04
Speaker 2: had a 2-0 lead or like maybe went up 2-0
17:06
Speaker 2: right after I started watching. And it was like, okay,
17:09
Speaker 2: this feels like they're controlling this game. And the way
17:11
Speaker 2: that it fell away from them in the third was
17:14
Speaker 2: frankly like something they're going to want to look at.
17:16
Speaker 2: Like it just, I don't know if LIU got a
17:19
Speaker 2: really great conversation at the second intermission in the locker room.
17:23
Speaker 2: But like you said, 21 seconds apart, like that game
17:25
Speaker 2: turned in a dime for them. And what was most
17:28
Speaker 2: concerning to me is LIU went up 3-0 and then
17:30
Speaker 2: in the final couple minutes, Assumption got a power play
17:34
Speaker 2: and did not like a threat just like at no
17:37
Speaker 2: point did that feel like they were going to be
17:38
Speaker 2: able to it was like you got this chance you
17:41
Speaker 2: let the game slip away from you you have this
17:42
Speaker 2: chance to tie it back up and it was a
17:44
Speaker 2: really really sad power play like it just was like
17:47
Speaker 2: the pressure got to them and they were trying to
17:48
Speaker 2: be too perfect. I think, and just like find the
17:51
Speaker 2: perfect shot as opposed to getting pucks to net. And
17:54
Speaker 2: so that was like a little hard to watch, a
17:56
Speaker 2: little frustrating to us. And I mean, I'm sure that's
17:58
Speaker 2: something they'll talk about. But like watching that, it was like, well,
18:01
Speaker 2: of course, L.A. won this game. The two periods I watched,
18:04
Speaker 2: it was like to watch it just kind of eke
18:06
Speaker 2: away from from assumption. So to see them come back
18:09
Speaker 2: and play a much better game, you know, thorough 60
18:12
Speaker 2: minute game. in the second game of that series, it
18:15
Speaker 2: was important because if that would have been my only impression,
18:18
Speaker 2: I think I would have been like, well, I don't,
18:19
Speaker 2: not sure how this team is at the top. So
18:21
Speaker 2: it just, it was maybe some mental breaks and just
18:25
Speaker 2: like not focusing on some of that stuff. But yeah,
18:27
Speaker 2: it was a little, I'm assuming that for fans and
18:31
Speaker 2: for the coaching staff, a little disappointing for how easily
18:33
Speaker 2: that game slipped away from them when they had a
18:35
Speaker 2: pretty secure 2-0 lead. Just, I don't know if they
18:40
Speaker 2: were comfortable and felt like, okay, we're cruising or what
18:43
Speaker 2: it was, but both losing the lead and then just
18:46
Speaker 2: not really looking like a threat to be able to
18:48
Speaker 2: tie it back up.
18:49
Speaker 1: Over in Hockey East, a couple of series I wanted
18:52
Speaker 1: to point out. The Northeastern and Vermont, number four Northeastern,
18:58
Speaker 1: led 3-1 in the start of the third period of
19:01
Speaker 1: the Friday game, but the Catamounts stormed back to get
19:07
Speaker 1: a 3-3 tie and take the shootout victory for an
19:11
Speaker 1: extra point there. That was a fun game. Yeah, and
19:15
Speaker 1: it really changed early in the third period on Eloise Caron,
19:20
Speaker 1: major penalty in game misconduct for spearing. Zoe Charland and
19:26
Speaker 1: Sofia De Anzeris scored power play goals a minute and
19:29
Speaker 1: a four apart in that to pull the game back even,
19:33
Speaker 1: and that was the final result for 3-3. Yeah. Northeastern
19:38
Speaker 1: did come back and win 4-2 on Saturday with a
19:42
Speaker 1: goal and an assist each from Grace Sadura and Lily Makerni. Makerni. Makerni. Sorry.
19:50
Speaker 1: I apologize for that one, too. I'm just apologizing for
19:53
Speaker 1: all pronunciations today. I should just do that in advance. So,
19:57
Speaker 1: Northeastern got four points out of that series, but you've
20:01
Speaker 1: got to think that they're looking at it that they
20:03
Speaker 1: lost two points because ahead 3-1 going into the third period,
20:07
Speaker 1: feeling like you should probably have that one.
20:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I feel like that's what Vermont has sort
20:13
Speaker 2: of been showing and doing, you know, thus far this season.
20:16
Speaker 2: I feel like they are a team that maybe won't
20:18
Speaker 2: end up, you know, top three in the standings, but
20:21
Speaker 2: they are certainly going to mess some stuff up and,
20:24
Speaker 2: you know, cause some problems for some people. Like, I
20:28
Speaker 2: have really enjoyed watching them and watching them come back
20:32
Speaker 2: in a couple different games. Now, like, obviously that game was,
20:34
Speaker 2: the power play helped, but like, Northeastern pulled away in
20:38
Speaker 2: the second game for a while. That was, that was
20:40
Speaker 2: a close and back and forth game too. And I
20:41
Speaker 2: think that's one of those where, you know, one of
20:44
Speaker 2: those differences where Northeastern is a little bit more of
20:46
Speaker 2: a complete team and could, could really finish out that
20:48
Speaker 2: two game weekend and Vermont maybe lost a little steam
20:51
Speaker 2: towards the end. But yeah, I just, I feel like
20:56
Speaker 2: anytime you get a little complacent with Vermont, they're just there.
20:59
Speaker 2: They're going to be really pesky this year. And it
21:02
Speaker 2: was a lot of fun and they set a, a,
21:05
Speaker 2: attendance record for um their gutterson field house and they
21:09
Speaker 2: do a pack the gut and they do that every
21:11
Speaker 2: year and they had their biggest crowd ever this year
21:12
Speaker 2: so good for them and congratulations on that um that's
21:15
Speaker 2: really cool and then they they're the one that saw
21:17
Speaker 2: the the three three tie in the shootout win so
21:20
Speaker 2: um yeah i think you know much as we've talked
21:22
Speaker 2: about these other teams on the brink uvm feels like
21:25
Speaker 2: one of them as well but they're just they're just
21:27
Speaker 2: so pesky and you're just really cannot sort of take
21:30
Speaker 2: your foot off the gaps against them and and The
21:33
Speaker 2: difference on the second game was Northeastern finding that little
21:36
Speaker 2: bit of extra, that extra level that you expect from
21:39
Speaker 2: a top level team.
21:40
Speaker 1: Number 13, UConn swept number 15, Boston College, a 4-1
21:44
Speaker 1: win on Thursday, a 2-1 win on Friday. We had
21:50
Speaker 1: talked a little bit before we started recording here that
21:52
Speaker 1: that feels like on the BC side, a little bit
21:54
Speaker 1: of the BC experience of that there's you know, a
21:59
Speaker 1: step forward and a step back. And it's just, it's
22:01
Speaker 1: been tough to string things together in the positive direction there.
22:05
Speaker 1: But on the UConn side, I think that's a start
22:07
Speaker 1: of a, you know, pulling this back in the direction
22:11
Speaker 1: you needed to go. Now it's the same question again,
22:14
Speaker 1: as we had with BC, I think I'd be able
22:15
Speaker 1: to sustain that. Is it going to be something that
22:18
Speaker 1: happens over the next month of games before we get
22:22
Speaker 1: to the holiday break? That, of course, to be seen there,
22:27
Speaker 1: but important for the Huskies to take that step last weekend.
22:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, that first game on Thursday was fascinating in that
22:37
Speaker 2: BC came out, like, they were out shooting UConn 8-1
22:40
Speaker 2: to start. Like, they had the full control of that game.
22:44
Speaker 2: And UConn, it felt like, was maybe just a little late. Like,
22:46
Speaker 2: it was a Thursday, maybe a little weird schedule. It
22:48
Speaker 2: took them a little time to get into it. But also,
22:52
Speaker 2: other than, like, watching a massive... Like, when... Vermont scored
22:56
Speaker 2: those two goals in a minute. You can watch a
22:59
Speaker 2: momentum change. It's usually from a power play goal and
23:02
Speaker 2: things like that. You could see the momentum change in
23:05
Speaker 2: this UConn-BC game in a way that was just kind
23:08
Speaker 2: of fascinating. There was no one thing, but UConn just
23:11
Speaker 2: sort of around the 12-14 minute mark decided that they
23:16
Speaker 2: were going to be in that game. Jesse Pellerin hit
23:18
Speaker 2: a post and maybe that was, but that wasn't the
23:21
Speaker 2: start of it. But yes, to just watch BC dominate
23:24
Speaker 2: the two-thirds of that first period, and then have UConn
23:28
Speaker 2: come back and basically put the game away in the
23:31
Speaker 2: final couple minutes of the period was just weird and
23:34
Speaker 2: fascinating to watch. I think it says really good things
23:37
Speaker 2: for UConn to come out slow and be able to
23:40
Speaker 2: build that momentum, and that's the kind of thing that
23:43
Speaker 2: you need to be able to do when it comes
23:44
Speaker 2: into February and March. That's something their coaches will be
23:47
Speaker 2: pointing to in the future, because it's hard to make
23:51
Speaker 2: in-game adjustments And they did it really well. But yeah,
23:54
Speaker 2: it was just a bummer to watch BC be so
23:56
Speaker 2: strong and just have it just sort of leak away
23:59
Speaker 2: for like no obvious reason, you know, not a big
24:03
Speaker 2: lot of penalty kill or losing to someone to a
24:06
Speaker 2: penalty or anything like that. It was just, it was
24:07
Speaker 2: a really strange but interesting game to watch. But also
24:11
Speaker 2: I'd wanted to shout out, we were talking about some
24:13
Speaker 2: of these players that, you know, have stepped up into
24:16
Speaker 2: bigger roles. Elie Mertekas had no points for two years
24:19
Speaker 2: at UConn. And after those first, she's got three goals
24:22
Speaker 2: in the first 10 games, including one in each of
24:26
Speaker 2: those games against Boston College, which were absolutely huge.
24:28
Speaker 1: So the winner on Friday with less than two minutes left. Yeah. Yeah.
24:33
Speaker 2: So just another one of those players that, you know,
24:35
Speaker 2: is taking the opportunity that was put in front of her.
24:39
Speaker 2: but you know it's kind of impossible for me to
24:40
Speaker 2: like literally know everybody on every squad when you do
24:44
Speaker 2: recaps and look at box scores certain names come up
24:46
Speaker 2: a bunch so um i just think it's cool when
24:48
Speaker 2: like kind of someone out of nowhere becomes like sort
24:51
Speaker 2: of the new player that you're noticing a bunch of
24:52
Speaker 2: the box scores and she's one of them so um
24:55
Speaker 2: way to go but for her because i just it's
24:58
Speaker 2: such a good story right like we're just seeing these
24:59
Speaker 2: players that are like ainsley did tell you at quinnipiac
25:02
Speaker 2: doing the same thing so wanted to make sure we shout.
25:05
Speaker 1: Out ellie In Atlantic Hockey, Mercyhurst got a sweep of
25:09
Speaker 1: Delaware with 1-0 and 7-1 wins. The two other series
25:13
Speaker 1: were splits. Lindenwood and Syracuse.
25:16
Speaker 2: How do you win 7-1 and 1-0?
25:19
Speaker 1: Well, hey, that's Atlantic Hockey.
25:21
Speaker 2: But like.
25:26
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, we don't have to stop. Fair point. No, yeah,
25:29
Speaker 1: fair point. You're just like, what? Yeah, but Syracuse and
25:32
Speaker 1: Lindenwood split. RIT, Robert Moore split. Penn State was off.
25:36
Speaker 1: So that's the look there. But, yeah, that is a–
25:43
Speaker 1: I think after a 1-0 game, I think for Mercyhurst
25:47
Speaker 1: to come out and win that second one 7-1, and
25:49
Speaker 1: I'm just looking at the– The stats on that one,
25:54
Speaker 1: Berlin Lolliker with the hat trick for Mercyhurst and four
25:58
Speaker 1: points for Maria Poliskova. So a good day for the
26:04
Speaker 1: Lakers there. They're 9-4-1 this season, which is not anything
26:09
Speaker 1: to be sneezed at. And I think that's a good
26:14
Speaker 1: start for the Lakers.
26:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like what that is is a really.
26:22
Speaker 2: Veteran program and a veteran coach um and sort of
26:26
Speaker 2: shows the difference of a team that is has is
26:28
Speaker 2: just more experienced in delaware being a new squad you
26:31
Speaker 2: know pulled like played an extraordinary game to hold you
26:34
Speaker 2: know mercyhurst to 1-0 and and then showed their youth
26:38
Speaker 2: and their inexperience that that they couldn't pull it through
26:40
Speaker 2: a second game i mean i feel like that's what
26:42
Speaker 2: that shows us but um just ridiculous two scorelines it
26:46
Speaker 2: just made well think what i thought i wouldn't so
26:49
Speaker 2: you know good for Delaware again those are all building
26:51
Speaker 2: blocks like you are capable of this now like building
26:54
Speaker 2: up what you need to do to be able to
26:55
Speaker 2: do that night after night.
26:57
Speaker 1: Um that's that's a lot that's been the rundown of
27:00
Speaker 1: of college for for the last week um we're also
27:06
Speaker 1: four days into the Women's World Championship it started Friday
27:10
Speaker 1: I believe right I'm losing track of days here but
27:13
Speaker 1: We're recording this Monday night, and so if you're listening
27:16
Speaker 1: later on Tuesday, we don't have the results of the
27:18
Speaker 1: Tuesday games. But just your thoughts on what we've seen
27:22
Speaker 1: so far, especially in terms of the current college players
27:26
Speaker 1: that are getting those opportunities with teams at the Worlds.
27:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did some of the math and adding up.
27:35
Speaker 2: So through 12 games, current collegians or players that are
27:38
Speaker 2: already committed to an NCAA squad, have scored 13 goals,
27:41
Speaker 2: and have 22 assists in the first 12 games. Those
27:45
Speaker 2: are pretty amazing numbers, and that's not, obviously, the couple
27:48
Speaker 2: players with Canada, but Sweden just relies so much on
27:53
Speaker 2: their Ohio State line, for lack of a better term,
27:56
Speaker 2: and it's Miri Unaker, Janna Raunio, and Hilda Svensson. They
28:02
Speaker 2: are out on a power play unit together, which is
28:04
Speaker 2: both very smart from their coach and epically unfair to
28:07
Speaker 2: anyone that has to face them. um it's just got
28:10
Speaker 2: to be rough they place they're so talented individually they
28:13
Speaker 2: play so well together um but yeah i just it's
28:16
Speaker 2: been fun to see um umeka odera scored two of
28:19
Speaker 2: the goals for japan um she is committed to maine
28:22
Speaker 2: um in preps uh is a prep school in canada
28:25
Speaker 2: so um it's fun to see the younger players um
28:29
Speaker 2: or the players that we get to watch you know
28:30
Speaker 2: weekend week out go out and really show up on
28:33
Speaker 2: that stage um you know when some of the biggest
28:36
Speaker 2: names have been have you know made their mark there
28:38
Speaker 2: so that part has been cool. Um, I think probably
28:41
Speaker 2: the biggest upset so far would be Switzerland over Czechia. Czechia,
28:44
Speaker 2: I think has struggled a little bit. Um, just, well,
28:47
Speaker 2: they've struggled this season with scoring. Um, they were struggling
28:51
Speaker 2: through the, the women's Euro hockey tour as well. Like
28:54
Speaker 2: lots of shots, obviously tons of talent there, but it's,
28:56
Speaker 2: they're just not connecting. It's all those little things and
28:59
Speaker 2: a puck will skip off a stick or, you know,
29:02
Speaker 2: half a step late to the back door, things like that. Um,
29:04
Speaker 2: they epically outshot Switzerland and had tons of opportunities, um,
29:09
Speaker 2: And then went to overtime tied. And you should take
29:14
Speaker 2: the time to find the highlights from that game because
29:16
Speaker 2: Alina Mueller scores in overtime about a minute in for Switzerland.
29:21
Speaker 2: And it was like a bonehead moment for Czechs. Alina
29:24
Speaker 2: Mueller has so much open ice. She comes off the bench.
29:28
Speaker 2: And it's just her and the net and she hits
29:30
Speaker 2: a slap shot and it's beautiful. And I feel bad
29:33
Speaker 2: for the goalie for it. But yeah, you cannot give
29:37
Speaker 2: Lena Mueller that kind of space and that kind of
29:39
Speaker 2: look at net. So yeah, that's probably the most interesting one.
29:43
Speaker 2: And then maybe the other big one is that Denmark,
29:45
Speaker 2: who obviously are the hosts, they were, um, the second
29:49
Speaker 2: team from D1A that got promoted. Austria was, had more
29:52
Speaker 2: points than them, but they both got promoted. Denmark, uh,
29:55
Speaker 2: beat Japan in a shootout and, um, likely puts themselves
29:59
Speaker 2: in the best possible position to not have to play
30:01
Speaker 2: the relegation game. Um, lots of various different things that happen.
30:05
Speaker 2: And as we have these games going to overtime and, um, Shootouts,
30:09
Speaker 2: those are all different points, but the bottom team in
30:11
Speaker 2: each group is the team that's going to play for relegation.
30:14
Speaker 2: And with that win, Denmark put themselves in a really
30:16
Speaker 2: good position to not have to play in that game.
30:18
Speaker 2: So we'll see how that plays out. But really cool
30:22
Speaker 2: for the home country to watch them win that shootout.
30:26
Speaker 2: And they stayed on the ice for a while, soaking
30:28
Speaker 2: it in. So that was probably the best moment so
30:31
Speaker 2: far in terms of just good, pure fun hockey. Like,
30:35
Speaker 2: this is why we love this. So that was very cool.
30:39
Speaker 2: But yeah, we've, you know, US and Canada are doing
30:41
Speaker 2: what we expect them to do, particularly in non-weighted groups
30:45
Speaker 2: this year, putting up a ton of goals. And KK
30:48
Speaker 2: Harvey had a hat trick on Monday. It's the US
30:53
Speaker 2: cruised past Austria 11-1, Canada beat Denmark 10-0, Canada beat
30:58
Speaker 2: Japan yesterday 9-0. So yeah, You know, we're coming up
31:04
Speaker 2: to it. The quarterfinals start on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Friday,
31:10
Speaker 2: the 13th.
31:12
Speaker 1: Yes, I was just saying Friday because Thursday is an
31:14
Speaker 1: off day. Everyone gets that that they do reset, I believe,
31:17
Speaker 1: if remembering. Yeah.
31:19
Speaker 2: So that relegation game will happen. And then also that's
31:22
Speaker 2: the first thing. And then the four quarterfinal games on Friday.
31:25
Speaker 2: So then we've got semifinals and semifinals on Saturday or Sunday.
31:33
Speaker 2: and the bronze and gold medal games on Monday, inexplicably.
31:39
Speaker 2: Bless your hearts. Just saying that as someone trying to
31:43
Speaker 2: figure it out from over here. But yeah, so I mean,
31:46
Speaker 2: it's one of those tournaments that feels like it goes
31:48
Speaker 2: on forever and also goes so, so fast. But you
31:51
Speaker 2: can see a lot of change in teams and a
31:53
Speaker 2: lot of growth over that short period of time. So yeah,
31:57
Speaker 2: it'll be interesting to see how the rest of it
31:59
Speaker 2: plays out.
32:00
Speaker 1: You can read all of Nicole's coverage of the Women's
32:03
Speaker 1: World Championship over at victorypress.org. Sorry, I don't want to say. com, no,. org.
32:09
Speaker 1: So check that out. Also, check out all the scores
32:11
Speaker 1: from the NCAA side and this week's schedule at uscho.com.
32:15
Speaker 1: And we will have more to say about what's coming
32:19
Speaker 1: up this weekend in our later episode this week. So
32:23
Speaker 1: until then, I'm Todd. That's Nicole. We thank you for
32:26
Speaker 1: joining us for the podcast.