NCAA hockey storylines — News from around women’s hockey

WCHA — Who can give Wisconsin a run for their money?

Out in the Midwest, there’s a clear number one, but that just puts a target on the Badgers’ back. Wisconsin, the unanimous USCHO poll number one, clinched the conference regular season championship two weeks ago with only two losses all season. Both came to in-conference archenemy Ohio State, with one even stretching to a shootout. But beyond the Buckeyes, St. Cloud State also pushed the Badgers to a shootout, and Minnesota-Duluth held Wisconsin to 2-1 in both games of an end-of-January weekend series. And while the season series is tilted harshly in the Badgers’ favor, it’s hard to count out Border Battle rival Minnesota. The WCHA is finishing its regular season this weekend, with Wisconsin facing potential conference playoff opponent Bemidji State. The first round of the conference tournament begins next weekend, and Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and UMD have all locked in home-ice advantage. Will the Badgers continue steamrolling through their conference opponents, or will someone figure out how to slow them down?

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Hockey East — Big time for BU

At the beginning of the season, the Hockey East coaches’ poll picked Boston University to finish sixth in the conference, but now they’re sitting at the top of the standings. BU leads UConn by five points and, wouldn’t you know it, these two teams are playing each other this weekend! As long as the Terriers earn at least a point out of the home-and-home series vs. the Huskies, they seal the conference title, which would be their first in ten years. Right now, the odds are looking pretty good for BU. UConn lost three of their last five games, while the Terriers won three of their last five. In the Hockey East conference, it’s a dog-eat-dog world.  

ECAC — Can Cornell hold on?

The Big Red clinched the conference title last week against Brown, marking their seventh ECAC regular season championship and their first since the 2019-20 season. The ECAC was tight to the very end, with only two points separating Cornell from second-place Colgate, who won more games overall. Cornell is currently number three in the USCHO poll, but there are four other ranked ECAC teams (No. 5 Colgate, No. 7 St. Lawrence, No. 10 Quinnipiac and No. 13 Princeton). The Big Red could come up against Quinnipiac or Princeton as soon as next week’s semifinals, depending on who wins the first-round match-ups this weekend. Regardless, it likely won’t be an easy path for Cornell as it looks for its first ECAC tournament championship since 2014 and a chance to book a ticket to the NCAA tournament.

NEWHA — Conference standings chaos

Things are tight in the top four, meaning this weekend’s slate of regular season games can make or break the NEWHA conference standings. LIU is currently in first with 52 points, but Sacred Heart is only four behind. LIU needs at least three points from its series against Saint Anselm to clinch the conference title, while Sacred Heart must sweep Post to steal it from the Sharks. Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce and Stonehill are tied for third at 45 points. Keep an eye on Stonehill’s games against another tied team in Assumption, who is neck and neck with Post. With so much potential movement in the conference rankings, this weekend could be a good one. I, for one, am here for the chaos. 

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AHA — Allie Kelley’s record-breaking goaltending

The graduate student goaltender for Syracuse, Allie Kelley, set a new NCAA national collegiate career saves record with 4,430 over six years, besting the previous record of 4,167 and becoming only the second goaltender in NCAA history with over 4,000 career saves. At the end of the regular season, Kelley led all goalies in season saves with 1,078 and minutes played (1,093). She earned 12 wins for the Orange, who are third in the AHA. Syracuse faces Robert Morris in the conference quarterfinals tomorrow, Feb. 22. In this season’s matchups between the Orange and the Colonials, Kelley allowed only one goal each. TBD how many more saves Kelley will add to her tally.

What to read

Staying in the realm of college hockey, here’s Nicole Haase’s weekly NCAA notebook and NCAA-focused Stick Taps and Snark at The Victory Press.

Off the ice, Hailey Salvian from The Athletic reported on the results of a feasibility study for developing a women’s hockey program at the University of Michigan. The short version? It’s doable (and for some proponents, necessary) but it’s going to be expensive.

In pro hockey news, Laura Rollins detailed the opening games of the SDHL playoffs for The Hockey News. And if you missed this week’s Boston Fleet games, my TIG colleague Lydia Murray has you covered with game recaps.  

Lastly, Valentine’s Day was last week, but if you need a laugh, Lydia also made some very punny PWHL valentines.