NCAA DI Tournament 2025: Opening Round Wrap Up

The Division I National Tournament is underway, and we had three games on the docket Thursday night to get things started. Let's get into what you need to know about everything that went down in the opening round. 

Columbus Regional: 

St. Lawrence (ECAC) 4 vs. Penn State (AHA) 1 

In the first game of the quarterfinals, the Saints of SLU jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Nittany Lions and never looked back. St. Lawrence looked solid from the start, with more high-danger chances in the opening period than PSU, though for the first 14 minutes of regulation time Katie DeSa was able to turn aside the Saints. 

However, late in the period Abby Hustler and Kennedy Wilson found the back of the net within 25 seconds of one another to put the Saints ahead in that aforementioned lead. A hooking penalty against the Nittany Lions top player Tessa Janecke allowed the SLU power play to go to work, and Hustler converted again to make it a three score game. 

For the second period and for much of the third period, Penn State did their best to claw their way back. All told PSU eventually ended up outshooting SLU over the course of the game 33-27, and after a lackluster first period were much stronger on the puck. 

A late 5-on-3 advantage following penalties to Saints’ Melissa Jefferies and Kiley Mastel became a 6-on-3 when PSU pulled their netminder for another attacker. Vastly outnumbered, St. Lawrence couldn’t clear the puck out of the zone well, leading to PSU to get on the board. A shot from the top of the zone from Kendall Butze found the back of the net to make it a two goal game once more. 

With DeSa pulled again, Penn State continued to pressure in the final minutes, however were unable to get many shots on goal. Finally, after four minutes of 6-on-5 action, SLU defender Kristina Bahl picked up the puck and fired it the length of the ice to put the game out of reach, 4-1. 

Player of Note: 

The biggest difference maker in this game was SLU’s netminder, Emma-Sofie Nordström. The junior allowed just one goal on 33 shots against, with that lone score coming while the Saints were extremely short handed. Nordström was solid throughout the night, and has been for the majority of the season.

The 32 saves Nordström made were her most in a single game in more than a month, and though SLU had a solid last few weeks, the second half of the season wasn’t their best. Nordström kept them in this game at times, helped mightily by the cushion after the first period. Her season save percentage is now up to a .936, and she’s going to need to continue this solid play for SLU to advance to the Frozen Four. 

Next Up: 

With the win, the Saints have a date scheduled with Ohio State to close out the regional in Columbus. The Buckeyes, currently ranked No. 2 nationally, have played the Saints 17 times, including two times this season. OSU will be riding an eight-game win streak against SLU into the matchup on Saturday, after taking the two games earlier in the year 3-2 and 5-3. 

The two teams have never met in the NCAA tournament.

Game Info: 

Location: The Ohio State University Ice Rink, Columbus, Ohio

Puck Drop: Saturday, March 15th, 6 PM EST

Stream to Watch: The game will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+, linked here

Ithaca Regional: 

Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA) 6 vs. Sacred Heart (NEWHA) 1 

In their highest-scoring opening round appearance to date, the Bulldogs were hard pressed to get on the board early, but eventually wore the Pioneers out to take the game 6-1. 

Captain Clara Van Wieren got the scoring started for UMD in the first period — and took two penalties in the frame as well. In the second, Danielle Burgen scored her first of the game under seven minutes in, before there was a long stretch of frustration for UMD. The Bulldogs had 16 shot attempts in the next 12 minutes, but were unable to convert. 

In the final 19 seconds of the period however, that changed rapidly. Olivia Mobley found the back of the net for her 18th goal of the season, and 16 seconds later with under five on the clock, Burgen converted for her second of the night. 

Grace Sadura made it a 5-o game 8:37 into the third period, as the Bulldogs continued to pepper Sacred Heart netminder Carly Greene with shots. Credit to Greene, as the senior made 52 saves in the loss, with the Pioneers getting outshot by a 58-12 margin over the course of the contest. 

One of the biggest areas of struggle for the Pioneers was the power play, as they went 0-4 on the advantage and had the same amount of shots on their power plays as their opponents did while short handed (three). 

SHU got on the board courtesy of a late goal from Kate Helgeson, one of their top scorers over the course of the season. The forward’s goal was the first in the NCAA tournament ever in Pioneers program history, and it was also the first goal given up by Duluth in an opening round matchup in their program history. 

Mobley added her second of the game to put the Bulldogs up again by five, as UMD skated into the second round with ease defeating the reigning NEWHA champions 6-1. 

Player of Note: 

Both Mobley and Burgen had two goals apiece, while the former led the team in shots on goal with nine, but the player that stood out to me most was Van Wieren. The graduate student not only had a goal, she also added an assist on Mobley’s second tally in the last minute of regulation. 

With eight shots on goal in total, the forward was second on the team in the statistic. Her contributions on both ends of the ice were heavily felt, including in the faceoff dot where she won 19 of 27 draws for a win percentage of 70.3%. Her two penalties in the first period might be concerning considering who UMD will have to play next, however altogether Van Wieren was outstanding as she so often is. 

She is now one point away from both 40 on the season and 125 in her career overall. 

Up Next: 

No. 3 Cornell looms on the horizon for Minnesota Duluth after the win Thursday, as the reigning ECAC champions look to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2019. The two teams have met just twice in history, over 10 years ago in the fall of 2014. The Bulldogs swept that series at home 7-2 and 2-0. 

Game Info: 

Location: Lynah Rink, Ithaca, New York 

Puck Drop: Saturday, March 15th at 4 PM EST 

Stream to Watch: The game will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+, linked here

Madison Regional:

Clarkson (ECAC)  3 vs. Boston University (HEA) 1 

The final game of the evening may have started the latest; however, the scoring started early for the Golden Knights, before the action stayed at a fairly even level for the rest of the game. 

The two teams traded shots to open the contest, before Anne Cherkowski’s 17th goal of the season gave Clarkson the 1-0 lead 5:09 into regulation. After conceding the lead, BU’s Julia Shaunessy took a body checking penalty 15 seconds later, leading to a Rhea Hicks score on the power play. The goal against was just the 13th given up by the Terriers’ strong penalty kill all season — and it ended up being the goal that sank them in the end. 

Through the first period Clarkson out-attempted BU 30-7, with 13 of those chances ending up on goal to the Terriers three. Things were much more even in the middle frame, as a BU power play chance generated some looks in front, though nothing was able to sneak past Holly Gruber. 

Clarkson again outshot BU in the third period, this time by a 13-7 margin. A goal from BU’s Lindsay Bochna made it a 2-1 game with just over four minutes to play. With Shanahan on the bench however, Sena Catterall picked up the puck and put it home into the open cage to lift the Golden Knights to a 3-1 win.

Player of Note: 

Cherkowski not only had the opening goal for Clarkson, she also assisted on Hicks’ game winner for her 43rd and 44th points of the season. She was one of two Golden Knights to record multiple points in the game, and was on the ice for all three of Clarkson’s goals throughout the contest. Of the 30 shots on goal in total the Golden Knights had, Cherkowski registered four of them off of nine shot attempts. 

Outside of her performance on the offensive side of the puck, the other place the graduate student’s impact was felt was defensively. Clarkson had 15 blocked shots throughout the course of the game, and four of them were stepped in front of by Cherkowski. It was yet another solid performance from the Golden Knights’ top-scoring forward, and it was needed in such a close contest against a tough BU team. 

Up Next: 

Well, this isn’t the first time Clarkson has faced Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, nor will it be their first matchup at LaBahn Arena in Madison — the last being over 10 years ago. The No. 1 Badgers are 5-1-1 all time against the Golden Knights, though the lone loss came in the 2017 National Title game. The two squads last met three years ago, where the Badgers won 3-1 in an NCAA opening round game at Northeastern in the 2022 tournament. 

Game Info: 

Location: LaBahn Arena, Madison, Wisconsin

Puck Drop: Saturday, March 15th at 3 PM EST

Stream to Watch: The game will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+, linked here

Fourth and Final Regional Final:

No. 5 Colgate at No. 4 Minnesota

Location: Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Puck Drop: Saturday, March 15th at 3 PM EST

Stream to Watch: The game will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+, linked here