NCAA Week 7 Preview: Rivals Meet

With Boston College chomping at the bit to solidify their current top five place in the polls, the city of Boston will be witness to an exciting home-and-home series between the Eagles and the Terriers. Though the Terriers are only .500, they have the offensive talent to hang with the Eagles. With a schedule that’s only going to get tougher, this makes for a potential doozy of a series. In the CHA, Syracuse heads to Robert Morris after picking up their first two wins of the season in dominant fashion. In the ECAC, No. 5 Quinnipiac draws No. 8 Clarkson and No. 7 St. Lawrence back-to-back after struggling with Boston College a few weeks ago. Lastly, in the WCHA, the now unranked - and presumably ticked off - Bemidji State Beavers head to Wisconsin to take a run at the best team in the nation.

John Mazza previews Week 7:

No. 4 Boston College vs. Boston University, Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5 @ Boston University

• BU is looking to get back into the national spotlight, after dropping two games to Northeastern.
• On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the Terriers faced the Huskies at Matthews Arena. Despite transfer student Mary Parker (Milton, MA) scoring her 100^th career point, BU could not overcome Northeastern and fell 6-2.
• A week later, on Oct. 25, BU returned home to face Northeastern. On the backs of junior Victoria Bach’s (Milton, ON) two goals and senior Maddie Elia’s (Lewiston, NY) goal and assist, the Terriers almost came back from a 4-1 deficit — but fell just short with a final score of 4-3.
• Last week, No. 4 BC swept UConn in the home-and-home series. They look to continue their Hockey East dominance when facing cross-town rival BU.
• Captain Andie Anastos (Farmington Hills, MI) scored a hat trick for the Eagles, leading them to a 3-0 victory on Friday. All three goals came on the power play, tying the current NCAA record for power play goals in a single game.
• On Saturday, Ryan Little (Guilford, VT) led BC to a 5-1 win after scoring two goals. These were the first goals of the season for the sophomore and the second and third of her career./

Bemidji State @ No. 1 Wisconsin, Saturday, Nov. 5, and Sunday, Nov. 6

• After losing both games to North Dakota last weekend, Bemidji is looking to get back into the top 10 against No. 1 Wisconsin.
• Bemidji fell to an early 3-0 deficit in Friday’s game. Abby Halluska (Delano, MN) opened up scoring for the Beavers midway through the 2^nd period with her first career goal. However, Bemidji would go on to lose 5-2 to the Fighting Hawks.
• Despite goaltender Brittni Mowat (Glenboro, MB) making 22 saves on Saturday, Bemidji could not find the back of the net. After adding an empty-net goal, the Beavers were shut out for a final score of 2-0.
• After sweeping Minnesota State this week, the Wisconsin Badgers remain No. 1 in the polls.
• Senior netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens (La Malbaie, QC) received her 42^nd shutout on Friday, helping Wisconsin to a 3-0 victory. The Patty Kazmaier finalist is now one shutout away from tying Noora Räty’s NCAA record of 43 shutouts.
• On Saturday, junior Baylee Wellhausen (Williams Bay, WI) scored two goals, leading the Badgers to a 3-1 win. This was Wellhausen’s second career multigoal game.  /

No. 8 Clarkson @ No. 10 Princeton, Saturday, Nov. 5

• Clarkson started ECAC play last week. The defeated both Harvard and Dartmouth and increased their overall record to 6-3-1.
• On Friday’s game against Harvard, the Golden Knights shut out the Crimson, winning 4-0. Cayley Mercer (Exeter, ON) led the team in points with two goals, and netminder Shea Tiley (Owen Sound, ON) made 20 saves for her first shutout of the season.
• Saturday saw another decisive victory for Clarkson, this time defeating Dartmouth 6-1. Senior Genevieve Bannon (Candiac, QC) tallied a goal and three assists, while freshman Ella Shelton (Ingersol, ON) scored her first collegiate goal.
• Princeton also started conference play last weekend. After beating Brown on Friday, Princeton tied Yale on Saturday, remaining undefeated.
• Opening conference play against Brown, the Tigers shut out their opponent with a 4-0 win. Junior goalie Alysia DaSilva (Oakville, ON) made 22 saves en route to the shutout.
• The next day the Tigers tied the Bulldogs late in the 3^rd. With only 1:29 left in the game, senior Cassidy Tucker (Plymouth, MI) found the back of the net with assists from Kelsey Koelzer (Horsham, PA) and Morgan Sly (Collingwood, ON). /

Minnesota State @ No. 2 Minnesota, Friday, Nov. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 6

• Last weekend, Minnesota State was swept by No. 1 Wisconsin.
• In Friday’s shutout loss, goaltender Brianna Quade (Newcastle, ON) made an impressive 34 saves for Minnesota State, but it was not enough to stop the Badgers.
• Freshman Demi Gardner (Warroad, MN) scored the only goal for Minnesota State in the 3-1 loss on Saturday. This was the first goal of the game, but they could not hold off the Badgers offensive.
• No. 2 Minnesota defeated St. Cloud State at home on Thursday and Friday, improving to 7-1-0 in conference play and 9-1-0 overall.
• During Thursday’s night game Dani Cameranesi (Plymouth, MN), Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, MN) and Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, BC) combined for 11 points, leading the Golden Gophers to a 5-2 win.
• With her first goal of the season, senior Kate Schipper (Brooklyn Park, MN) scored what would be the game-winning goal during Friday’s 3-0 shutout victory.  /

No. 7 St. Lawrence @ No. 5 Quinnipiac, Saturday, Nov. 5

• Last week, St. Lawrence defeated both Dartmouth and Harvard, starting ECAC play with a perfect 2-0-0 record.
• Friday afternoon, forward Kayla Vespa (Hamilton, ON) scored her first career goal, leading her team to a 2-0 defeat of Dartmouth.
• The next day saw another shutout for netminder Grace Harrison (Auckland, New Zealand). With her outstanding performance in net, as well as Kennedy Marchment’s (Courtice, ON) first career hat trick, St. Lawrence easily defeated Harvard 4-0.
• Quinnipiac also started ECAC play with a perfect 2-0-0 record after beating Yale and Brown on the road last weekend.
• With two power play goals, Taylar Cianfarano (Oswego, NY) led the Bobcats to a 4-1 victory over Yale in Friday night’s ECAC opener.
• Quinnipiac did not slow down, defeating Brown 8-0. Netminders Sydney Rossman (Excelsior, MN) and Abbie Ives (Bedford Hills, NY) combined to make 8 saves on the way to the shutout.   /

Note: All rankings listed are from Week 6’s SB Nation’s Women’s College Hockey Division 1 Poll.