NEWHA Roundup: Nov. 15-16, 2024

Another week in the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance season has been completed, and things are still being shaken up throughout conference play. This time, we take a peek at a split that maybe should have been a sweep, and stick with that team that maybe should have swept to see what’s next for them. Let’s get into it. 

Series of the Week: Assumption and Saint Anselm split in close-fought games 

Sorry to Saint Anselm, but it’s another week featuring a game against a team that they maybe should have won against and didn’t. 

This time it’s Assumption who was on the other side of the ice, and who took four of a possible six points against the Hawks this weekend – and won their first game ever over the Hawks.

The first point came in an overtime loss on Friday, where Saint Anselm freshman forward Lucy DeCoteau played hero, in a game where the Greyhounds had a 1-0 and 2-1 lead but coughed up both. 

Jadyn Weiser was outstanding once again, making 36 saves on 39 shots in the contest, but it wasn’t enough for Assumption to snag the win. The Greyhounds did block more shots on Friday than their opponents 18-4. Teagan Vaughan had a team-leading five blocks, and the sophomore also had one of the two Assumption goals in the game. 

On Saturday, Saint Anselm again came out of the gate strong, with 17 first period shots on goal. Weiser, however, turned away all of them in the first, and turned another 17 away in the second. By the end of the weekend the netminder had made 78 saves, and allowed just four goals. 

Assumption was outshot by the Hawks in both games, with the glaring discrepancy being on Saturday where Saint Anselm had 43 to the Greyhounds 27.

The biggest story here is the special teams, and while Assumption didn’t have the most productive weekend, they still scored on one of their eight chances – and that goal ended up being Saturday’s game winner.

On the opposite side, Saint Anselm scored no goals on eight chances of their own, as their power play drops to just 8.6% conversion on the season. 

Now, that one power play goal? Well it was brought about because of a lineup violation that allowed Assumption to start the third period on the advantage. Add insult to injury? That goal was just the second time the Greyhounds have scored on the PP all season. 

Yikes. 

It wasn’t all negative for Saint Anselm, however. Audrey Jackson continued her productive season, with another goal and assist in the Friday game. She both tied the game in the last minute of the second, and set up the game winner in overtime. Additionally, freshman Justyce Ohlgren broke the shutout up 5:21 into the third period with her first collegiate goal on Saturday. It was her second point of the weekend, after she had an assist on Friday as well. 

Standings-wise the weekend didn’t change too much, as Saint Anselm still has a narrow lead over Assumption in points (15 to 13). These two teams will also meet again in February, so there’s plenty of space for either to take the season series. 

Up next, Assumption heads to South Burlington for a matchup against Saint Michael’s – one that honestly could go either way. Saint Anselm on the other hand gets Stonehill, whose season is really not going to plan. We’ll get into that more later, though. 

Weekly Awards: 

Player of the Week: Jeannie Wallner, F, LIU – Senior 

Her second such honor of the season, Wallner was nothing short of dominant in the Sharks’ 6-3 win over Franklin Pierce on Saturday. She scored four goals in a single game, and added a fifth point off an assist. The four goals were over double her season total coming into the game, and she’s now tied for the conference lead in the statistic with seven. Wallner also recorded her 100th career point with the performance over the weekend.

Defensive Player of the Week: Peyton Bennetts, D, Sacred Heart – Sophomore

Another familiar face in the weekly awards, Bennetts took home her second consecutive DPOTW from the conference, thanks to another productive weekend. In the Pioneers’ weekend sweep of Saint Michael’s, she had three points, to put her in the lead for defensive scoring on her team. She also had three blocks on the weekend, and is now a +7 on the season (second best on SHU). 

Goaltender of the Week: Abbie Thompson, G, LIU – Graduate Student

A key contributor in LIU’s weekend sweep outside of Wallner was Thompson, who has continued to put up impressive numbers this season. The graduate student made 52 saves on the weekend, including 28 on Friday in her third shutout of the year. She’s now up to a .935 save percentage this season, good for third best in the conference – although she’s played over 140 minutes more than the three goaltenders in front of her. 

Rookie of the Week: Alexsa Caron, G, Stonehill – Freshman 

The most recurring feature on this list is Caron, for incredibly good reason. Over the two game set against Post this weekend, the freshman allowed just one goal on 55 shots. This included a 35 save shutout on Saturday, the first of her young career. Out of any goaltender in NEWHA, Caron has played the most minutes at 893, the second most amount of play time of any goaltender in the NCAA. 

Weekly Scoreboard: 

Friday: 

Post 1 vs. Stonehill 0

Saint Anselm 3 vs. Assumption 2 – OT

Sacred Heart 6 at Saint Michael’s 0 

LIU 1 at Franklin Pierce 0 

Saturday: 

Stonehill 3 vs. Post 0 

Sacred Heart 4 at Saint Michael’s 1 

LIU 6 at Franklin Pierce 3

Assumption 3 vs. Saint Anselm 1

What to Watch: Saint Anselm/Stonehill 

Friday at Stonehill, 5 PM, Saturday at Saint Anselm, 1 PM 

I said we’d talk about this later, and later is now here. It’s another tournament semi final rematch weekend in NEWHA, and it’s a chance for both of these teams to get back on track after lackluster starts to the year. 

Both teams are coming off weekend splits, although Stonehill’s was to Post, who shut them out on Friday. The Skyhawks bounced back on Saturday with a shutout of their own, led by two goals from Gracie Sacca. The junior forward is up to five overall on the season now, tied with Gracee Donovan and Brooklyn Schneiderhan from Saint Anselm for seventh overall in NEWHA goal scoring.  

Saint Anselm’s problem has not been the offense this season, as shown by their top scorers, which also include Tyra Turner who is still tied for the conference lead in goals scored (7). The team is second in the conference in goals scored overall with 32, one off the lead. 

Stonehill, on the other hand, has scored just 23 goals this season – in the same amount of games played (15), that leaves the Skyhawks with a 1.53 goals per game compared to the Hawks’ 2.13. 

The issue for Saint Anselm has been their goaltending and defense, which has been struggling so far. Of the eight teams in the conference, the Hawks’ combined SV% of .899 is ahead of only Saint Michael’s in the statistic, and the same goes for their 3.88 GAA. Stonehill isn’t performing much better, but they also had rough outings against Ohio State and Penn State that have skewed their numbers slightly.

A glaring issue for Stonehill is the sheer amount of penalties the team has taken so far this season at 65. It’s 15 more infractions called against any other team in NEWHA, and the most of any team in the NCAA. 

The good news is that Saint Anselm’s power play has been… not good. Their 8.6 conversion rate is fifth-worst in the NCAA, and third worse in the conference. However, they’ve gotten more chances on the power play than almost anyone in Division I outside of Colgate and Penn State, and they haven’t been able to score at the same clip as those two teams. That could change this weekend, but against a penalty kill like the Skyhawks’, I don’t foresee that being the case. 

Prediction: I think this is another split for these two teams. While the Hawks will be looking to get one back after being eliminated by Stonehill last season, I’m not sure they’ll be able to close the door on them completely. I can see it being two low scoring games, especially if Alexsa Caron plays the way she did last weekend. However, I’m happy to be wrong – as I have been so often this season. 

Full Upcoming Schedule: 

All times in EST, full streaming details available here

Friday: 

Franklin Pierce at Sacred Heart – 2 PM 

Post at LIU – 3 PM 

Saint Anselm at Stonehill – 5 PM 

Assumption at Saint Michael’s – 7 PM

Saturday: 

Stonehill at Saint Anselm – 1 PM 

Franklin Pierce at Sacred Heart – 2 PM 

LIU at Post – 2:30 PM 

Assumption at Saint Michael’s – 3 PM 

Tuesday: 

Post at Franklin Pierce – 7 PM