NCAA Week 5 Preview: Quinnipiac, Boston College Clash For Top 5 Edge

Women’s college hockey fans are finding themselves a little spoiled with another headliner matchup after last week’s Battle for Minnesota that saw the Minnesota Golden Gophers come out on top over the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. This week, the No. 4 ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats face the No. 6 ranked Boston College Eagles in a home-and-home series where both teams are looking to correct some week 4 troubles. In addition to one other SB Nation top ten ranked contest, the Ivy League also sees it’s top teams like Princeton and Harvard start their seasons.

John Mazza previews Week 5:

No. 4 Quinnipiac @ No. 6 Boston College, Fri 10/21 and Sat 10/22 vs. Boston College

• Last week the Bobcats sustained their first loss of the season to Mercyhurst before coming back for an overtime victory the next day.
• With no score after 3 periods in Saturday’s game, Taylar Cianfarano (Oswego, NY) scored the golden goal in OT to push Quinnipiac past Mercyhurst.
• Netminder Sydney Rossman (Excelsior, MN) made 32 saves over the weekend, including 9 on Saturday to give her a shutout.
• Boston College comes in after a rough weekend. After defeating UNH 4-1 on Friday, the Eagles lost to Maine, ending a 52-game undefeated streak in Hockey East play.
• Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, MI), Kristyn Capizzano (Oakville, ON), Makenna Newkirk (Scottsdale, AZ), and Grace Bizal (Minnetonka, MN) had multi-point nights on Friday, each with a goal and an assist to push the Eagles past New Hampshire.
• Junior defender Toni Ann Miano (Bronx, NY) tied the game for BC late in the 3^rd, before Maine’s Vendula Pribylova scored the game-winning goal with 37 seconds left on the clock. /

No. 1 Wisconsin @ No. 9 North Dakota, Sat 10/22 and Sun 10/23

• The Badgers swept No. 7 Clarkson last weekend, improving their record to 5-0-1.
• Just a minute into overtime on Friday, junior Emily Clark (Saskatoon, SK) scored the game-winning goal, pushing Wisconsin past Clarkson 3-2 after trailing 2-1 going into the final period.
• With Saturday’s victory, head coach Mark Johnson earned his 400^th career win. He is the 3^rd NCAA Women’s Hockey head coach to do so and the 1^st in the WCHA.
• The Fighting Hawks opened their home schedule with two wins against Minnesota State.
• Senior goaltender Lexie Shaw (Troy, MI) made 17 saves on her way to her second-consecutive shutout of the season. This, as well as her 19 saves on Saturday, earned her the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week award.
• Freshman Emma Nuutinen (Vantaa, Finland) was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week after a four-point weekend. She scored her first 2 collegiate goals on Friday, followed by a goal and an assist on Saturday./

No. 5 Colgate @ Syracuse, Fri 10/21 and Sat 10/22 vs. Syracuse

• With a bye-week last week, Colgate is still undefeated, after last playing Merrimack on Oct 7 and Oct 8.
• During the Oct. 7 victory, Olivia Zafuto (Niagara Falls, NY) scored the game-winning goal with 17.2 seconds left in the game, after picking up the rebound from Bailey Larson’s (Sycamore, IL) shot.
• The next day, Colgate shutout the Raiders, 6-0. Julia Vandyk (Cambridge, ON) made 23 saves in the shutout, improving her GAA to 1.01 for the year.
• Syracuse played a tough opponent in Northeastern, coming away from the weekend with a tie and a loss.
• Freshman Savannah Rennie (East St. Paul, MB) scored her first collegiate goal on the power play during Friday’s 2-2 tie.
• With 43 saves over the weekend, netminder Abbey Miller (Anoka, MN) was key to the Orange’s success. After recording a career-high 23 saves on Friday, Miller made 20 saves in the 1-0 loss on Saturday. /

Robert Morris @ Merrimack, Fri 10/21 and Sat 10/22

• Robert Morris came away with a win and a tie against Vermont last weekend, remaining undefeated.
• Freshman Jaycee Gebhard (Plenty, SK) had a 4 point weekend, tallying a goal and an assist on Friday as well as 2 assists on Saturday.
• Forward Brittany Howard (St. Thomas, ON) also had a stellar weekend, recording 2 assists on Friday and 2 goals on Saturday.
• After defeating Maine 5-1 last Friday, Merrimack suffered a 6-2 loss to New Hampshire.
• With 2 goals apiece, sophomores Paige Voight (St. Michael, MN) and Jessica Bonfe (Woodbury, MA) led their team to an overwhelming victory over the Black Bears.
• On Saturday the tables were turned as the Warriors fell to the Wildcats. Despite making 21 saves on Saturday freshman Léa-Kristine Demers (Repentigny, QC) was pulled for the extra attacker. UNH capitalized on this, scoring 2 empty-net goals. /

No. 10 Princeton @ Providence, Sat 10/22 and Sun 10/23

• Princeton will open its season this week against the Friars.
• Last year, Princeton finished the season 22-9-2 on the season.
• The Tigers will rely on NWHL 2016 first overall Kelsey Koelzer (Horsham, PA) to lead the blue line and top scorer Karlie Lund (Eden Prairie, MN) upfront to make up of the loss of the 5 graduating seniors, including Jaimie McDonell who was drafted to the Brampton Thunder in the 2016 CWHL draft.
• On Tuesday night, the Providence Friars defeated the Union College Dutchwomen 4-2.
• Cassidy Carels (Bruxelles, MB) scored the game-winning goal on the power play. The goal was assisted by Rachel Rockwell (Broadview Heights, OH) and Christina Putigna (Grimsby, ON).
• The Friars also scored an empty-netter with 33 seconds left in regulation. Avery Fransoo (North Battleford, SK) passed the puck to Putigna. Putigna got the puck to Brooke Boquist (Thunder Bay, ON) who netted it, giving her team a 2-goal lead. /

Note: All rankings listed are from Week 4’s SB Nation’s Women’s College Hockey Division 1 Poll.