NEWHA Roundup: Nov. 1-2, 2024

Last weekend I made a decent prediction that ended up coming true—and that’s where we’re starting in this week's NEWHA roundup. Elsewhere, we’ve got some incredible individual performances across the conference, before we look ahead to what’s to come—and trust me, you don’t want to miss it. Away we go, on another weekly roundup. 

Series of the Week: LIU and Sacred Heart deliver as promised with weekend split 

The Sharks and the Pioneers may have had the lowest scoring series of the weekend, however the matchup was as tight and close as I was expecting before the squads took the ice. 

On Friday, LIU started hot, dominating the pace of play through the first 10 minutes. Solid work from Carly Greene (who earned the Hockey Commissioners Association goaltender of the month honors for October) kept the Pioneers from giving up the lead, before SHU managed to find their footing before the period ended. 

The visitors wound up outshooting the Sharks 12-9 through the first 20 minutes, however it was the home team that broke the ice five minutes into the second thanks to a Bri Eid tally. The Pioneers responded fairly quickly, off a power play goal from Peyton Bennetts, her second of the season. Then, an Isabella Chaput wrister wound up in the back of the net to give SHU the lead. 

From there, Abbie Thompson was rock-solid in net, and prevented the Pioneers from extending the lead further. Following second intermission, the Sharks once again started fast and hot, with two goals in the first four minutes. 

First up was Milana Butera, who scored her first of the season and just the second of her career 1:36 into the frame. Exactly two minutes later, Carrigan Umpherville—who did not play last season—scored her first goal since March 4, 2023 for the game-winner. 

The Sharks stifled the Pioneers in the final period, not allowing a single shot on goal until under 90 seconds left to play in regulation. Overall they outshot their opponent 11-2 in the final period, and 32-22 over the course of the game. Jillian Petruno took over in net for SHU just after the mid-way mark in the second, and was tagged with the loss after giving up two goals on 13 shots faced. 

On Saturday however, Petruno was a rock-star in net. The junior made 30 saves en route to her first shutout of the season, and the sixth of her career. Similarly to Friday, the Sharks were jumping at the start, outshooting the Pioneers 10-4 over the first 20 minutes and not allowing any SOG until nearly seven minutes in. 

SHU rebounded slightly in the second, with 10 shots of their own while limiting LIU to five. Thompson however turned all of the Pioneers’ looks away, and maintained a clean sheet through 40 minutes. 

The difference here was the special teams, as for a second-straight game the Pioneers converted on the power play, this time thanks to Chaput. During the advantage, great work from Anastasia Sloan and Ella Holm allowed the latter to fire a shot on net that was deflected in front. While Ally Cohen couldn’t beat Thompson on said deflection, the rebound was in perfect position for Chaput to put it home for the 1-0 lead. 

LIU challenged the play for goaltender interference, however the goal stood and Chaput added her team-leading fourth of the season at 6:34 to play. With an assist on the play, Holm also extended her point-scoring streak to six games, and the freshman now has six points in eight games to start her career. 

A weekend split is exactly what I predicted, and exactly what we got. These are two deep, talented teams, although their seasons so far have looked fairly different. LIU is now at just 3-4-1, and their PK after giving up two goals on seven attempts for SHU this weekend is now third-worst in NEWHA in front of just Assumption and Saint Michael’s. SHU on the other hand is at 5-3-0, with the second-best power play in the conference at a 23.1% success rate.

For SHU, they’ll have a bit of an interesting matchup against Assumption in a home-and-home set this upcoming weekend. The Sharks on the other hand will look to have a bounce-back series with two home games on deck against Saint Michael’s. After that, though, is a mid-week matchup against Quinnipiac, one of the toughest teams on the national level. 

Weekly Awards: 

Player of the Week: Mikayla Kelly, F, Franklin Pierce 

Last season in 27 games, Kelly led the Ravens in scoring with 23 points. In just eight games this season, the forward is already at 11 points, helped by a six point weekend against Saint Anselm. The majority of those points were goals – with two in the 4-3 win on Friday, and three in the 7-3 victory on Saturday. Her sixth point was an assist on Saturday, and she leads the conference overall in points and goals (6). 

Defensive Player of the Week: Maggie Korneta, D, Franklin Pierce

Another integral part in the Ravens’ sweep was Korneta, who had her second multi-assist game on Saturday. Overall the defender had one goal and three assists, including a helper on the opening goal just 46 seconds into the game on Friday. She’s now first in the conference in total assists (7). 

Goaltender of the Week: Alexsa Caron, G, Stonehill

After last weekend’s heroics, Caron once again was outstanding for Stonehill. In the sweep against Saint Michael’s, the freshman made 50 saves and limited the Purple Knights to just two goals. She rounded out the weekend by improving her season save percentage to an .896, with 406 total saves across 11 starts. 

Rookie of the Week: Rowyn Ringor, F, Post

Coming into the weekend, Ringor had three assists on the season and no goals. By the end of the weekend, she had three goals—the Eagles in total had just four. The freshman scored her first NCAA goal on Friday, before adding two on the power play on Saturday. She is one of just two players who have scored on the PP for Post this season, and is now tied for the lead among NEWHA rookies in total goals scored. 

Weekly Scoreboard: 

Friday: 

LIU 3 vs. Sacred Heart 2 

Stonehill 5 at Saint Michael’s 1 

Franklin Pierce 4 at Saint Anselm 3 

Assumption 2 at Post 1

Saturday: 

Sacred Heart 1 vs. LIU 0 

Stonehill 3 at Saint Michael’s 1 

Assumption 7 vs. Post 3

Franklin Pierce 7 vs. Saint Anselm 3 

What to Watch: Franklin Pierce/Stonehill 

Friday at FPI – 7 PM & Saturday at Stonehill – 1 PM 

I’m a believer that a rematch of last season’s tournament championship game is always a solid bet for an interesting matchup, and this one is no different. 

The two teams are having completely different seasons, with the Ravens at 5-3 and first in the conference standings with 15 points, while the Skyhawks trail behind with just nine points and a 3-8 record.

Additionally, in those fewer games played FPI has 24 goals to Stonehill’s 16, not the biggest discrepancy but still a decent margin apart from one another. Goals against is another story, however that’s mainly because Stonehill has played more games out of conference against tougher opponents than Franklin Pierce. In conference, both teams have given up 12 goals to their opponents in six games played. 

What will be interesting to see is how the momentum from weekend sweeps last time out will help either side in the upcoming matchup. Stonehill, after struggling mightily to start the season, won both their games 5-1 and 3-1—however they were expected to win both when facing off against Saint Michael’s. Franklin Pierce had arguably the tougher opponent in Saint Anselm, and they also dispatched them in fairly easy fashion 4-3 on the road and then 7-3 at home. 

Going back to last season, the Skyhawks had the Ravens’ number the majority of the time. Before their faceoff in the NEWHA title game, Stonehill had won three of four matchups, and outscored FPI 12-10 in the regular season. I don’t think that will be the case this weekend, however. 

The thing I’m most interested to see is how the special teams match up against one another. 

Stonehill has the best power play in the conference (26.1% success rate) and the third best penalty kill (84.4%). However, they’ve also had the second lowest PP opportunities (23) and have taken the most penalties (45) in NEWHA. Franklin Pierce has the third best power play (17.9% on 28 chances) and the second best PK (85.7% success on 35 penalties against). 

It’ll be interesting to see if the Skyhawks can keep up the productivity on the advantage against a team that has taken 4.4 penalties per game on average. If they get the chance, they have the ability to be deadly, and I think that could be crucial in this series. 

Prediction: I’m going with my gut and it’s the same prediction as last weekend – a split. The numbers for both these teams are fairly even in most statistical categories, and I think that bodes well for both to snag a win this weekend. I’m most interested to see how Stonehill performs in the game in their home barn, as they’re just 1-4 at Bridgewater Ice Arena—a place where a season ago they lost just five games across the whole season.

Full Upcoming Schedule: 

All times in EST, streaming details available here

Friday: 

Saint Michael’s at LIU – 3 PM 

Post at Saint Anselm – 6 PM 

Stonehill at Franklin Pierce – 7 PM 

Sacred Heart at Assumption – 8 PM 

Saturday: 

Franklin Pierce at Stonehill – 1 PM 

Saint Michael’s at LIU – 2 PM 

Post at Saint Anselm – 3 PM 

Assumption at Sacred Heart – 7 PM 

Tuesday: 

Non-Conference: 

Quinnipiac (ECAC) at LIU – 2 PM 

Monthly Standings Update: 

1. Franklin Pierce – 15 points (5-1-0 in conference, 5-3-0 overall) 

2. Sacred Heart – 12 points (4-2-0 in conference, 5-3-0 overall)

3. LIU – 10 points (3-2-1 in conference 3-4-1 overall)

T-4. Stonehill – 9 points (3-3-0 in conference, 3-8-0 overall)

T-4. Assumption – 9 points (2-3-1 in conference, 2-6-2 overall)

6. Saint Anselm – 8 points (3-3-0 in conference, 3-8-0 overall)

7. Post – 5 points (2-4-0 in conference, 2-8 overall)

8. Saint Michael’s – 4 points (1-5-0 in conference, 1-9-0 overall)