NEWHA Playoffs 2025: Semifinals Preview

Ooooooooh boy NEWHA you’ve done it again! There was no shortage of entertainment this weekend, with high scoring contests, goaltending duels for the ages, a massive upset, and more. There’s still a lot left before the tournament comes to an end however, and we’ve got the semifinals to preview! Here we go, everyone. 

Playoff Format: 

Following the best-of-three quarterfinals, the four programs left standing now turn to single elimination for the semis and championship. The two higher seeds host the two lower seeds on Wednesday the 5th, before the winners of the two games will face each other on Saturday the 8th for a chance at the tournament trophy. 

How We Got Here: 

It was two easy games for LIU to advance them to the semifinals for another year as they swept Saint Michael’s in 4-0 and 2-0 wins. The Sharks outshot the Purple Knights 36-13 and 31-25 in the contests, and their game winners came on opposite special teams — a power play goal Friday from Ashley Morrow, and a shorthanded tally from Drew Dyczkowski Saturday. LIU produced two solid performances, and while STM’s put up a fight, they just couldn’t find a way past the regular season champs. 

The second of three sweeps went in favor of Sacred Heart, who after a 1-0 win on Friday stormed out of the gates with an offensive onslaught Saturday, securing the series in a 6-2 win. Brianna Morden scored the game winner 1:08 into regulation on Friday, while Carly Greene made 37 saves in the shutout victory. She followed that up with another 27 saves Saturday, while an additional two power play goals secured the game and series win in the contest. 

Our last sweep is the most shocking — back-to-back 1-0 wins for the Post Eagles as they advance to the second round of the NEWHA tournament for the first time ever. Tristan Currie’s goal halfway through the third period off a poor Franklin Pierce turnover lifted the Eagles soaring on Friday. Then none other than NEWHA player of the year Julia Wysocki notched her 18th of the season with 3:53 to play on Saturday, which was all the difference. Not only was it the first series win for the Eagles, they also greatly upset the second-best team in the conference in the process. Special shoutout to netminder Hannah Saunders, who made 50 saves across two games with no goals against. 

To wrap up the quarters, we had our lone three-game set, which saw St. Anselm upset the reigning tournament champions on home ice Sunday night. The Hawks dropped the first game of the series 2-1 in overtime courtesy of a game winner from Stonehill’s Maeve Connolly 46 seconds into double OT. In the second game, after jumping out to a 4-1 lead, the Hawks held on against two third period goals from the Skyhawks to claim the victory 4-3. Goaltender Ava Hills made 48 saves in Saturday’s contest, following up Friday’s 67 stop effort. On Sunday she was the difference maker again, stopping 44 of 46 shots on goal, while third period goals from Gracee Donovan and Heather McAvoy helped lead St. Anselm to the 4-2 game win, and 2-1 series win. 

Games are listed in order of start time. Rankings are still based on regular season finishes. 

Game One: No. 7 Post at No. 1 LIU – 2 PM 

Well well well, if this isn’t my most anticipated matchup of the entire NCAA playoffs so far? 

It’s a perfect pairing — the No. 1 team in the conference looking to get back to their tournament glory, against one of the hottest teams in the country, who also happen to be a damn good story when it comes down to it. 

If we’re being realistic, the Sharks have to be the favorite here. Yes, Saint Michael’s wasn’t the strongest opponent, so you can’t say too much about back-t0-back shutout wins. However! If you look at the overall product LIU has put together this season, it’s pretty impressive. 

In 35 games to this point, the Sharks average 2.1 goals per game, and are giving up in return 1.6 to their opponents. They’ve had just one outright loss in the last 11 games, and have scored 29 times in that stretch. 

The one loss however, is to Post: a 3-2 decision five games ago to close out the season series. 

In the other three meetings between the two squads, LIU won two and tied the Eagles in the other. In their most recent win, the Sharks scored five goals. In the other three contests, however, they’ve found the back of the cage six times altogether. The Sharks will be at their most dangerous on the power play, where they’ve converted on four advantages against Post over the four games, including both goals in regulation during the comeback 3-2 overtime victory in November. 

What I’ll be looking for from Post is to just keep things rolling. The Eagles had two solid games against Franklin Pierce, and they’ve won four of their last five contests. Offensively, things have tapered off a bit — they’ve scored just one goal in four-straight, and after generating high shot totals for a large portion of the year, they had just 17 and 24 in the two games against Franklin Pierce. The defensive structure the Ravens have is also fairly similar to the Sharks, which could spell trouble for Post as well. 

The Eagles had some success against the Sharks PK of their own this season, with two PPGs in the last two contests. Which is an impressive feat, considering their 12.9% conversion rate is 11th-worst in the NCAA and LIU’s 87% on the PK is seventh-best in the NCAA. Post’s killers are also 11th-best in Division I, with a 86.4% success rate. These are two strong teams when it comes to eliminating power play chances, however LIU is far more disciplined than Post with 114 times shorthanded compared to 132. 

Funnily enough, the Eagles still aren’t the most penalized team in the NCAA. That would be Stonehill, though Post is right behind them in second. 

Goaltending wise, it will be the reigning NEWHA goaltender of the year Hannah Saunders taking on Abbie Thompson in the win-or-go-home matchup. Both netminders are coming off those shutout wins in the quarters, though Thompson’s combined 38 saves are a few behind the 50 Saunders had to make. 

Altogether, this goaltending matchup is nearly even. Thompson currently has a .939 SV% in her 30 starts on the year, while in 28 appearances Saunders has a .944. The latter has the lead in the shutout category, with eight, though Thompson isn’t far behind with six. Additionally, the 827 total saves Saunders has made is 85 more than Thompson’s 742 combined. The one place Saunders can’t catch Thompson is in wins, as the Shark has 20 to the Eagle’s 11. 

It’ll definitely be fun to see these two go head-t0-head, especially with so much on the line. 

Offensively, I’m keeping an eye out for Carrigan Umpherville (LIU) and Rowyn Ringor (Post). 

Umpherville had a very productive year against the Eagles, with four assists in the season series. The graduate student finished fourth in scoring on the Sharks, with 14 total points. While she was held pointless over the last two games, considering how strong she was against Post during the year, I don’t think the drought will continue into the semis. 

Ringor is a name I mentioned before the quarterfinals, mainly in passing because of how strong she’s been. Hence why I’m bringing her up here and now. The freshman had the assist on Wysocki’s game-winner on Saturday, but where I’m really looking is her statlines against LIU already this year. In four games, Ringor had seven points, including contributing to all three goals Post scored in the 3-2 Valentine’s Day win. In order for Post to continue upsetting their opponents, Ringor’s contributions are going to have to continue. But based on the small sample size we have already, I’d be shocked if she’s brought to a halt. 

Game Two: No. 5 Saint Anselm at No. 3 Sacred Heart – 7 PM 

Another matchup between one team that upset their opponent and one that had a strong section of the season. 

We’ve talked a lot about how SHU had an overall solid year. From their rockstar first half, to their goaltending woes, to missing out on a top-two spot in the standings, the Pioneers have been the subject of a lot of interesting storylines in 2024-25. Now, they head into a matchup against a team that I don’t think anyone really expected to be here. 

St. Anselm’s season was a major step back from their record from last season, with eight fewer wins on their resume. The Hawks had a stretch where they lost five-straight, another where they went six-straight without a win, and neither of those include the month of February, where they went 1-4-2 to close out the regular season. 

And yet, they knocked off Stonehill with back-to-back wins over the weekend, scoring a combined eight goals in those two victories, a mark higher than their 2.3 G/GM usually. 

The player that had the best series for St. Anselm was their netminder, Ava Hills. I mentioned it earlier, but the sheer number of saves the junior made this weekend is staggering. All told this season, Hills has 837 saves in 19 starts. 19% of those saves — 159 — came in the three games this weekend, including the 67 save performance in Friday’s 2-1, double OT loss. 

Overall in 2024-25, Hills has a .937 SV%, though she had just one start against SHU over the course of the regular season: a 44 save effort that resulted in a tie back in January. All of the three other goalies on STA split time against SHU the rest of the season, with senior Annabella Lalande making two starts, one being a win and the other being a loss. 

That win for St. Anselm against Sacred Heart was back in October, in the Hawks' third game of the season. The SHU goalie to get the start in that contest was Jillian Petruno, who allowed four goals on 28 shots. The junior has not seen game action since November however, and the expectation is that Carly Greene will be in net instead for the Pioneers. 

The senior’s record against the Hawks this season is impeccable — literally. In 68 minutes of action, Greene has made 52 saves with no goals against. This fits with her overall season SV% of .956, which has only gotten better after the weekend's success against Assumption. 

I like a lot about SHU’s game, especially how solid their goaltending and defense has been throughout all the complications this season. The team allows on average just 1.8 G/GM, but their low scoring (2.1 G/GM, and a 12.7% PP) is highly concerning. These numbers were helped by Saturday’s performance, where they scored six goals altogether and two on the advantage to boot. That productivity will have to continue into Wednesday, especially against a St. Anselm defense that is sporting a 3.2 GAA. 

When it comes to offense, I’m switching my predictions up from the quarters. For St. Anselm, I’m going with their second-highest scorer, Brooklyn Schneiderhan. In the three games against Stonehill, the junior had three goals and two assists, with a combined 23 shots on goal. Considering how important the goals against the Skyhawks were, I’d like to see her continue to perform in Wednesday’s semifinal contest. 

On the other side, while SHU has some strong scorers up front, it was a defender that contributed the most in the sweep. Olivia LaRoche had three points in two games, including her lone goal of the year to this point in Saturday’s series clincher. I’d like to see her continue that success, especially considering how few assists SHU had as a whole on the weekend. Sure, a defender isn’t the most consistent scorer usually, but when you’re hot you’re hot. 

And I’ll be saying this until the playoffs are over — sometimes momentum can be everything. 

Programming Notes: 

Both games will be streamed on ESPN+. 

LIU vs. Post can be found here at 2 PM Wednesday. 

SHU vs. St. Anselm’s link is not yet available, but the link to NCAA Women’s Hockey on ESPN+ is available here.