Hockey East Roundup: October 4-8, 2024

After a single game between Boston University and Merrimack last Tuesday opened conference play, Hockey East was back in action with all non-conference opponents on tap over the weekend. From opponents in the national top-15, to more local matchups within New England, this weekend had it all. Let’s look at the last set of games before league play begins in earnest.  

Any rankings included are in USCHO/USA Hockey poll format. 

Huskies Work Top-15 Splits – Yes, Both Huskies

After starting 0-2 thanks to two highly anticipated matchups against Minnesota, UConn bounced back in a big way in their Friday afternoon contest against Penn State. After conceding the first two goals, the Huskies clawed their way back into the game, started by a power play mark from senior Brianna Ware. Freshman Claire Murdoch tied the game soon after, with her first goal in the NCAA. And it was junior Brooke Campbell who gave the Huskies the win, after she scooped a shot from the top of the zone into the back of the net with 3:50 remaining. 

Saturday was a different story, with Penn State leading in shots 13-6 by the end of just one period. Brianna Ware opened the scoring for UConn, but the Huskies conceded three straight goals following that. Junior Meghane Duchesne-Chalifoux scored her first goal since her rookie season to make it 3-2, but an empty netter in the dying seconds sealed it for Penn State. 

Special shoutout, however, to defender Ava Rinker for her effort over the weekend. The senior had assists on all five goals scored by the Huskies, and earned the first Hockey East Defender of the Week award in 2024-25. 

For the other Huskies in the conference, they had their own Hockey East honoree in senior Skylar Irving, who went home with Player of the Week thanks to her four point performance against Quinnipiac Friday night. Coming into the season, a question for Northeastern was where their scoring would come from after a relatively unproductive offensive start to last year. 

The answer? Irving, who led them on the scoring front in 2023-24, and who now has six points in four games this fall already – including the game winner on Friday night off an incredible feed from freshman Éloïse Caron. The duo worked together on three of the Huskies' four goals, and have looked outstanding on the top line alongside graduate transfer Jaden Bogden.

The second game of the series however, was all Bobcats, with the No. 10/9 team in the country rebounding with a solid offensive game of their own. The Huskies couldn’t quite solve Kaley Doyle in the 3-0 loss, and dropped their record to 2-2-0 heading into conference play. 

Holy Cross, Providence Sweep NEWHA Opponents 

I touched on these two briefly in my NEWHA roundup, but the Crusaders and the Friars especially had pretty dominant showings in their games on Friday and Saturday. 

First up is HC, who had a home-and-home against Saint Anselm, the first game of which they won 5-1. They were led by sophomore Emily Crovo (two goals), and two skaters notching their first goals in the NCAA – freshman Amanda Aslan who opened the scoring, and sophomore Abby Garvin. The Crusaders broke their single game shots on goal record in the matchup, recording 61 through 60 minutes. Junior Brooke Loranger, who started her third-straight game, recorded her second win of the season, and improved her save percentage to a .922 in those games with 23 saves against the Hawks. 

The Crusaders switched it up in goal on Saturday, with Abby Hornung getting the nod for the first time this season. The junior turned away 27 of 29 shots on goal en route to the win, with the game winner coming off the stick of Reghan Chadwick.

Then we have Providence, who opened their season with two matchups against Saint Michael’s. And honestly, this just isn’t fair for the Purple Knights. The team is yet to score a goal this season, and were shut out 8-0 and 6-0 by the Friars this weekend in Rhode Island. 

The home team was aided by an outstanding performance Friday from Kiara Kraft. In 28 games last season, Kraft had just two goals – and in her first appearance of 2024-25 the sophomore recorded the first hat trick for Providence since November of 2022. Multiple Friars recorded multi-point games, including Kayla Kutes who finished with three assists. 

Saturday wasn’t very different, with the Friars skating to a 6-0 victory thanks in part to three power play goals. Sophomore Audrey Knapp notched two goals and an assist in the second game of the series, bringing her total to six points on the weekend overall. All told, 19 different Providence players recorded at least a point across the two games, and both Hope Walinski (five saves) and Taya Currie (four saves) earned a shutout on their record for the season.

Providence did turn around and get shut out in their mid-week game against Quinnipiac on Tuesday, but limited the Bobcats to just one goal on 34 shots. The lone tally came from a Maddy Samoskevich power play goal with under four minutes to play in the third. Walinski ended the night with 33 saves in the loss. 

BU journeys to St. Paul, but falls short against Minnesota 

If you'd have told me last week the BU Terriers would have played two relatively close contests against Minnesota, I probably wouldn’t have laughed at you but I would have thought you were making it up. Hand up, that’s on me for not respecting BU enough, apparently. 

While the Terriers dropped both games in Minnesota, Friday’s 1-0 contest was hard fought until the end. Quite literally, as it took a power play goal from Abbey Murphy with 1:20 left in the game for the Gophers to score on Callie Shanahan. The netminder made 40 saves in the loss, while her offense only mustered 11 shots on goal the opposite way. The BU penalty kill managed to stifle Minnesota on the player advantage three times before the game-winning goal - no easy feat. 

On Sunday, with the extra day off between, head coach Tara Watchorn opted to put Mari Pietersen in net. The sophomore gave up five goals in the loss, including three unanswered after Lilli Welcke tied the game at one in the second period. Riley Walsh scored her first as a Terrier to make it 4-2, however the Gophers proved to be too much for BU to handle as they dropped their second of the weekend. 

The games, especially Friday's, were still close though. I'd have everyone in Hockey East on notice if they’re scheduled to play BU coming up in the next few weeks. 

The Rest of the East 

Boston College vs. No. 1/1 Wisconsin (WCHA) 

Friday: Wisconsin 7, BC 1

Saturday: Wisconsin 7, BC 0

Remember how I said last week this was the matchup to watch? Yeah, I think BC probably disagrees with me. The Eagles did not have a productive weekend, getting outshot a combined 104-29. Yikes. 

Abby Newhook scored her second of the season on Friday, with Sammy Taber and Gaby Roy grabbing assists on the play. And on Saturday, Bailey Callaway made 54 saves en route to the loss. 

UNH vs. Assumption (NEWHA) 

Friday: New Hampshire 6, Assumption 0 

Saturday: New Hampshire 1, Assumption 1 

I touched on this in more detail in my NEWHA roundup, but this is not the best weekend for UNH. Friday went swimmingly, including a 23 save shutout for Sedona Blair (who earned Hockey East Goaltender of the Week honors) and 10 Wildcats who recorded a point. 

Saturday most certainly did not, with Assumption stonewalling the Wildcats until the last minutes of the game, and then taking the shootout to boot following overtime. Definitely not the best weekend in New Hampshire, but still had some positives moving forward into the rest of the season. 

Vermont at No. 5/3 Clarkson (ECAC) 

Friday: Clarkson 6, Vermont 2

Saturday: Clarkson 5, Vermont 1

Angelica touched on this series in more detail in the ECAC roundup, so I won’t take too much time here (but be sure to check out her recap in full!). It was a forgettable series to open the season for the Catamounts, as they dropped both games to the Golden Knights. 

Both Sydney Correa and Jane Gervais played well, making 36 and 37 saves respectively in their starts. Evelyne Blais-Savoie, Kyla Bent, and Lara Beecher all had a goal and an assist apiece, but it just wasn’t enough to outlast a rock solid Clarkson team. 

Next Week’s Matchup of the Week: 

Providence at Maine - Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 7 PM 

After back-to-back dominant performances for the Friars, I think it only makes sense to see how that momentum carries them into the Alfond to take on a Maine team that hasn’t played since Sept. 28. 

The main sticking point? Last season the Black Bears took two of three against Providence, including a 2-1 OT win in February, and I’m intrigued to see how Providence responds this year.

While PC was predicted to finish fifth in the conference preseason poll, last fall was not as kind to them as they would have hoped. 

It’ll be interesting to see how exactly these two teams match up against one another, especially after two very different out-of-conference results. I believe Providence might rebound after their struggles last year for a win or two here, especially after playing Quinnipiac far closer than Maine did two weeks ago. 

Full Upcoming Schedule: 

All games are available on ESPN+

Conference: 

BC/Holy Cross - Thursday at 7 PM (at HC), Saturday at 2 PM (at BC)

UConn/UNH – Friday at 6 PM (at UNH), Saturday at 6 PM (at UConn, also on NESN) 

Merrimack/UVM – Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 3 PM (both at UVM) 

Providence/Maine – Friday at 6 PM, Saturday at 7 PM (both at Maine)

BU/Northeastern – Friday at 7 PM (at NU, also on NESN), Saturday at 3 PM (at BU)

Non-Conference: 

Providence vs. No. 10/9 Quinnipiac – Tuesday at 6 PM