This Week In The Women’s Hockey East (Oct. 7- Oct. 14)
By: Brian DeAlmeida
Last Week In Review:
Ah, it’s that time of year again when women’s ice hockey is back in action.
Regular season NCAA hockey was played around the country as the WHEA 12 regular season games played. Yet, out of those 12, only three of them featured Hockey East teams, with three of them featuring the Terriers.
The most anticipated game of the week was the St. Cloud State vs Merrimack game on Friday, as Warriors played their first varsity hockey game. Fans flocked the arena as the two teams played an absolutely incredible game where, to the dismay of the almost packed house, St. Cloud State walked away as victors with a 6-4 win. The Huskies would score 4 goals in the final 7 minutes in the win.
Another match-up lived up to the hype last week, and that was when the #2 Boston College Eagles (2-0-0)(0-0-0 HE) beat up Minnesota Duluth (0-2-0) 4-1 and 4-2 in their weekend series. The reigning Patty Kazmaier award winner Alex Carpenter lead the Eagles scoring 4 goals in two games.
Boston University would also bring home two Hockey East award winners, as Victoria Hanson was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Sammy Davis was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. BC’s Alex Carpenter and Maine’s Audra Richards were named Warrior Co-Players of the Week.
What To Watch For:
With 14 games slated for this week, we are in for more exciting hockey. This week will also feature one of the only weeks in the entire season where there will be no Hockey East intraconference games.
The Terriers will take on Penn State (0-2-0) who just came out of a tough weekend series with the top ranked Gophers of Minnesota. The Nittany Lions dropped both games by a score of 2-0 and 5-0.
A continued theme of this season will be seeing how the Merrimack Warriors adjust to DI hockey as they will play a weekend series with Robert Morris (0-3-1). After a strong showing against a very good St. Cloud State team, don’t be surprised to see Merrimack at least split the series with the Colonials.
Another series to watch will be the Northeastern (1-0-1)(0-0-0 HE) as they take on two CHA foes in Syracuse and Lindenwood. The Huskies will only have one more season with standout senior Kendall Coyne at the helm of their offense, so watch for them to make some noises especially as the season rolls on.
Brian’s Red Hot Pick of the Week:
Picking hockey games is never an easy task, and it is especially difficult this early in the season with loaded conference like the Hockey East. Regardless, here are my top 3 Red Hot picks of the week:
Pick #1
The Series: Robert Morris @ Merrimack
The Story:
With two games under there belt in their first week in DI hockey, I believe Merrimack is poised for a big weekend series with Robert Morris. They were up 4-2 on St. Cloud State in their opener before the wheels fell off late in the 3rd period. Don’t be shocked if Merrimack takes at least one of the two from Robert Morris who is coming off an 11-19-15 season and have started this year 0-3-1 with 2 loses to Colgate and a lose and tie with #9 Bemidji State.
My pick:
Merrimack will take their new program on their road and win their away opener before dropping the second one in a tight game.
Pick #2
The Game: St. Lawrence @ Boston College
The Story:
This one may come as a shocker to some, but Boston College is pretty good and is well deserving of the #2 ranking. They play an 0-3-1 St. Lawrence team up at Chestnut Hill and those poor Saints will not be very blessed on their Columbus day trip.
My pick:
Not only will BC win both games, but the poor scoreboard will not be able to handle the amount of shots and goals the Eagles will put up. And I cannot forget to mention that Alex Carpenter will show everybody why she deserves to become the first 2-time Patty Kazmaier award winner.
Pick #3
The Series: Penn State @ Boston University
The Story:
So this will not be a very popular pick on this side of Commonwealth Ave, but the Terriers are going to take on a tough Penn State team that have not seen. The Nittany Lions are coming off two tough games against the top ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. Sure they will face another Top 10 opponent, but the Terriers have had problems finishing plays in front of the net and this may come to bite them this weekend.
My pick:
Watch out for Penn State to take the first game of this series but for the Terriers to learn from the out-of-conference mistake and come back to beat Penn State on Saturday.
This Week’s Hockey East Schedule:
Friday October 9
Syracuse AT Northeastern 2:00pm
Lindenwood AT New Hampshire 5:00pm
Penn State AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY 7:00pm
Quinnipiac AT Maine 7:00pm
Clarkson AT Vermont 7:00pm
Merrimack AT Robert Morris 7:05pm
Saturday October 10
Quinnipiac AT Maine 2:00pm
Lindenwood AT Northeastern 2:00pm
Syracuse AT New Hampshire 2:00pm
Penn State AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY 3:00pm
Vermont AT Clarkson 3:00pm
Merrimack AT Robert Morris 3:05pm
Sunday October 11
St. Lawrence AT Boston College 1:00pm
Monday October 12
St. Lawrence AT Boston College 1:00pm