NEWHA Playoffs 2025: Quarterfinals Preview

The opening rounds of the playoffs continue, and in NEWHA there are four series this weekend for your attention. Spots in the semis are on the line, and it all kicks off Friday — let’s get set with what you need to know.  

Playoff Format 

The first round of the playoffs for NEWHA are four best-of-three series. The top seeds hosts the lower seeds, with the first game of the quarterfinals on Friday.

Following the QF, the four teams that won head to the semis, hosted by the two highest remaining seeds. This round is single elimination, and will be played on Wednesday, March 5th. The winners from those two games then play on Saturday the 8th in the championship game, again hosted by the highest-remaining program.

The winner of the championship will receive the autobid into the NCAA tournament, which is scheduled to begin the following week. 

The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows: 

1. LIU – 57 Points (19-6-3 in conference)

2. Franklin Pierce – 51 Points (17-10-1 in conference) 

3. Sacred Heart – 51 Points (16-9-3 in conference)

4. Stonehill – 48 Points (13-10-5 in conference)

5. Saint Anselm – 41 Points (10-11-7 in conference)

6. Assumption – 36 Points (10-16-2 in conference)

7. Post – 36 Points (11-14-3 in conference)

8. Saint Michael’s – 16 Points (4-24-0 in conference)

The order of previews is in order of game start times on Friday, Feb. 28.

No. 8 Saint Michael’s at No. 1 LIU

Friday at 2 PM | Saturday at 2 PM | Sunday at 2 PM - If Necessary

The Sharks worked their way to the No. 1 berth to claim their third-straight regular season title in the final weeks. They'll host a Saint Michael’s team that had a more productive season than in 2023-24, but who still struggled overall. 

The Sharks swept the season series from the Purple Knights, with 5-0 and 1-0 victories in November, and back-to-back 2-1 overtime wins four weeks ago. All told this should be an easy weekend for LIU, who ended the year with just one loss in their last seven contests. 

Goal scoring wise, it’s all Sharks too. They averaged 2.1 goals per game over the course of 2024-25, helped in part by their 19.4% conversion rate on the power play. On the opposite side, the Purple Knights are again scoring below a G/GM (0.9), and just wrapped up the season with back-to-back shutout losses. 

Saint Michael’s also conceded 2.5 times more goals than LIU did, at a 4.4 team-GAA compared to LIU’s 1.7. With the fifth-worst penalty kill (72.3%) and the worst PP (6.5%) in the NCAA, the Knights are hard pressed to find scoring, and struggle to keep pucks out of the back of their net. 

On the goaltending front, I’d expect to see LIU's Abbie Thompson. The grad student in 28 starts finished with a .936 save percentage and four shutouts. Overall, she allowed more than two goals in just four of her starts, and made a combined 704 saves.

Then, on the opposite side, I anticipate Annika Lavender getting action for Saint Michael’s. In 20 starts, the junior set a new season-high SV% with a .907. She also earned the first two wins of her career, to go along with her 741 total saves. She did get removed from her last start however, after taking a five minute major penalty for slashing 15:47 into the game against Franklin Pierce on Saturday. 

Yes, they put a goaltender in the box. It was wild. 

The other option in goal for the Knights is Jordana DeMarinis, who started two games against LIU. The freshman made a combined 75 saves with seven goals allowed, though her season (13 starts) SV% of .919 is higher than Lavender’s. Both of her starts against the Sharks came in the first game of the weekend, so there is a chance we see her take the net in Game One on Friday.

No scoring threat on LIU is more dangerous than senior Jeannie Wallner. She finished the season as the team's top point scorer with 24, helped mightily by seven points in the last five games. With 13 goals, she’s found the back of the net the most consistently for LIU, though she was quiet in all appearances vs the Purple Knights.

Alizée LeBlanc is the name to watch on the other side. Though her eight points doesn’t seem like a lot, the vast majority of those have come in the second semester – which is also where the team’s productivity increased. One of LeBlanc’s two goals this season came against LIU on Feb. 1st, and if Saint Michael’s wants to generate some chaos, they’re going to need her to produce again in order to do so. 

No. 7 Post at No. 2 Franklin Pierce 

Friday at 4 PM | Saturday at 7:30 PM | Sunday at 7 PM - If Necessary 

Though they had a strong conclusion to the end of the season, Post missed out on the sixth spot thanks to a tiebreaker, leaving them to take on a Franklin Pierce team they split the season series with. 

In October, the Ravens skated to a 3-2 win to open the season set, before Post recorded a 3-2 overtime win the following day. FPI got their lick back with a 5-2 win right before Thanksgiving, and then the last meeting in January swung back in Post’s favor during another 3-2 decision.

Offensively, the Ravens have had one of the more consistent offenses in NEWHA, with a 2.7 G/GM average and a 19.2% PP. They have the advantage in both departments over Post, who averages just 1.8 G/GM with their 13.5% PP conversion rate. 

The teams are more even on the defensive side of things. While FPI averages 2.3 GAA (and just 1.9 in conference), Post’s 2.7 isn't too far off. The Eagles also edge out the Ravens when it comes to the PK, with an 88% success rate from their units compared to FPI’s 84.8%. 

The reason both of these teams have seen such success defensively? Well, it’s because they have two of the best goaltenders in the conference to back stop them. 

Jill Hertl is a staple for FPI. Though her .933 SV% isn’t as high as it was a season ago, it’s still a top-five mark in NEWHA. In total, she’s made 753 saves in her appearances, pushing her well clear of the 2000 mark over her three seasons in the NCAA. 

On the other side is Hannah Saunders, a four-time honoree for NEWHA goaltender of the week in 2024-25. In 26 starts, the junior finished the regular season with a .941 SV%, the highest such mark of her career. With 777 saves, she recorded six shutouts over the campaign, and helped the Eagles to their winningest season in half a decade. 

The other big parts pushing Post forward have been Rowyn Ringor and Julia Wysocki. The freshman Ringor finished the regular season with 25 points, the second best mark on the team.

The name to watch offensively however has to be Wysocki, the highest scorer in Post program history. The senior finished with 26 total points, the most of anyone in conference. She was also first in goals with 17. Two of those scores came in the first period of Post’s 3-2 win against FPI in January, and she’s had a point in three of the four meetings this season. 

On the opposite side, Franklin Pierce will be looking for a lot out of Brynn Levinson. The redshirt freshman finished the regular season strong, with a pretty dominant second half altogether. With 24 total points — 15 of which are goals — she finished with one of the highest points per game marks in the conference at a 0.8. She’s been relatively quiet against Post compared to some other opponents (just one goal in four games), but that should hopefully change this weekend.

No. 5 Saint Anselm at No. 4 Stonehill 

Friday at 5 PM | Saturday at 6:30 PM | Sunday at 6:30 PM - If Necessary 

There isn't much of a difference between St. Anselm and Stonehill in the standings department, or in their in-game action this season.

The lone out-right win between the two belongs to the Hawks, who beat Stonehill 5-2 in November. The following three games were all ties: 1-1, 2-2, and 4-4. 

If we look at the stats, the scoring struggles that plagued Stonehill continued through the end of the year, with a 1.9 G/GM average. What’s surprising is their consistent success on the PP (22.4%) didn’t translate into the scoring department overall. 

St. Anselm on the other hand has a better G/GM average (2.2), but a worse PP at 13.6%. Additionally, Stonehill’s PK has been far more successful this season at a 85.8% success rate, while the Hawks are a bit further behind at 80.9%. 

Goaltending wise, I’d lean slightly in favor of St. Anselm, even though their team-wide 3.3 GAA is higher than Stonehill’s 2.9. 

Ava Hills over 16 starts for the Hawks has been solid, with a .933 SV% in her junior campaign. During her appearances against Stonehill this season, she made a combined 100 saves with just four goals against. 

There is a slight question mark on the other side of the ice for Stonehill. Freshman Alexsa Caron made all four starts against St. Anselm this season, highlighted by a 59 save effort back in November. In recent weeks however, the return of Eve Stone has been a welcome sight for the Skyhawks — she’s gone 3-0-1 in four starts with two shutouts and a .943 SV%. Though Caron has proven she can perform well against St. Anselm, the steadiness of the goaltender who backstopped Stonehill to the tournament title last year might be the safer bet. 

Bailey Feeney (Stonehill) and Gracee Donovan (St. Anselm) are the two skaters I’d keep an eye out for to score. Feeney had points in all four games, including the lone regulation goal for Stonehill in the aforementioned 1-1 tie. The junior leads her team in overall scoring, with 11 goals and 25 points this season. 

Donovan might be the bigger threat, however. Not only did the senior have five points in four games, all of them came in the form of goals — with two multi-goal efforts to boot. While she’s second in total points on the Hawks, she leads them in goals with 15, the second highest mark in the conference. St. Anselm will need her to score if they’re interested in pulling off an ‘upset’ in this series.  

No. 6 Assumption at No. 3 Sacred Heart 

Friday at 7 PM | Saturday at 2 PM | Sunday at 2 PM - If Necessary

Oh Sacred Heart. 

After holding onto the top spot in the conference for dear life, the Pioneers just couldn’t close out the regular season. Instead, they wound up in the third spot. 

They get to take on an Assumption — who, funnily enough, they swept in the regular season. Back-to-back shutout wins in early November 1-0 and 4-0 started the series on the right note for SHU, and that continued four weeks ago thanks to 2-1 and 2-0 victories. 

However, the end of the season was far more productive for the Greyhounds than the Pioneers. Assumption went 4-2-0 in their last three weeks of action, though they dropped their last game. SHU also dropped their last contest, but a 2-4-0 record speaks for itself. 

Production wise, SHU generates a lot of shots but doesn’t always find the back of the net on them. The 2.0 G/GM average isn’t the highest mark in NEWHA, and when you compare it to their 30.5 shots per game, it look a bit worse. Their goaltending has been outstanding though; while the team gives up 30 shots per game, their goaltenders have combined for a 1.9 GAA.

And I say goaltenders because the Pioneers have seen performances from multiple netminders this season. More on that in a minute. 

One of the biggest struggles for both of these teams have been their power plays, which are exactly the same; 10-for-98 (10.2% conversion). That has been felt harder by Assumption, who have scored on average 1.5 G/GM — and who’ve been shutout 11 times over the course of the year. 

The biggest success this season has been their starters in net: Jadyn Weiser and Carissa Mudrak. 

Both have made 17 starts, and are above a .915 SV% in those appearances, although Weiser has been the more reliable netminder with a .938. Weiser’s lone shutout of the season came earlier this month, as she made 40 saves to stonewall St. Anselm. Since then, she’s allowed just two goals in her last two starts, making a combined 51 saves. 

Although against Sacred Heart, it's Mudrak who has seen more success. In two starts, the graduate student allowed two goals on a combined 64 shots. If I was on the Assumption coaching staff, I’d lean toward Mudrak getting the first start of the series, especially after her success in the closing weeks. 

Which leads me to who will tend the opposite crease. The goaltending situation for Sacred Heart this season has been tough, with both Jillian Petruno and Carly Greene missing time. Greene has fortunately been back in the last few weeks, and I’d expect her to get the nod, especially after a shutout on the first day of February. All told, Greene has the highest SV% of anyone in NEWHA with a .954, and while backup Lauren Larson is also a viable option (with a 35 save performance against the Greyhounds), Greene has the better numbers overall. 

It will, however, come down to how well the offenses for these teams will perform. 

The name I would keep an eye on in this department is senior Kate Helgeson for SHU. While she’s third in scoring on the team this season with 13 points, the forward had two assists in the series set back in the fall, as well as a combined seven shots across four games. If SHU is going to get things going, they’re going to need Helgeson to generate some chances — and maybe convert on a couple too. 

On the opposite side I’m looking at Jenna Chaplain to finally find her scoring touch. Though she went pointless in the meetings between squads, to close out the season she had three points in the last two weeks, including two goals. The sophomore is second on the team in total shots with 90, and considering how important firing off chances is going to be, that could be critical. She’s also one of the best faceoff takers on the Greyhounds, another aspect that will be important here. 

Programming Notes: 

LIU vs. Saint Michael’s will be streamed on ESPN+. The Game One Link is Here

Franklin Pierce vs. Post will be streamed on FloCollege. The Game One Link is Here

Stonehill vs. St. Anselm will be streamed on NEC Front Row. The Game One Link is Here

Sacred Heart vs. Assumption will be streamed on ESPN+. The Game One Link is Here