College Hockey:

This Week in D-III Women’s Hockey: March 5, 2010

Championship Weekend

After months of practice and games, weve finally reached championship weekend. All five conferences will decide their tournament champions this weekend. Each conference has four teams remaining, except for the MIAC.

The MIAC has had a busy week as they were the last conference to wrap up its regular season last weekend and now, theyll be the first conference to crown a tournament champion on Saturday when Gustavus Adolphus hosts St. Catherine.

The story line for this game is what movies are made for. St. Catherines season has been one of the best, if not the best story in D-III womens hockey this year. The Wildcats (18-4-2) have had just one winning season in the programs 12-year history, coming in 2001 when they won 15 games.

St. Catherine is just three years removed from going winless in the 2006-2007 season. The Wildcats coach Brad Marshall is in his fifth season at the helm of the program and guided the team from winning one game in his first two years, to the MIAC Championship.

Standing in St. Catherines way though, is the MIACs perennial powerhouse, Gustavus Adolphus.

The Gusties have won six straight MIAC tournament titles and have beaten St. Thomas in every championship game. St. Thomas was the last team other than Gustavus Adolphus to win the MIAC championship in 2003. Saturday will also mark the first time since 2002 that Gustavus Adolphus and St. Thomas will not meet in the title game. St. Marys topped Gustavus Adolphus that season, before the Gusties got retribution in the NCAA first round game to advance to the D-III Womens Ice Hockey Championships in Elmira.

The two teams split their season series at the end of January with each team winning a game on the others home ice.

Gustavus Adolphus hasnt lost since that 2-1 loss against St. Catherine on Jan. 29, winning 11 games in a row. What might be more impressive is the Gusties havent surrendered a goal in their last four games.

Sophomore goaltender Danielle Justice has been in goal for all four games as well after splitting the goaltending duties with Emily Klatt up until that point. She hasnt given up a goal in 205 minutes and 52 seconds. She missed 34 minutes in the Augsburg series after being pulled to get Klatt some time.

MIAC Champion Pick

The sentimental pick is certainly St. Catherine and from that aspect and the quality of the story, itd be great to see the Wildcats win. However, Gustavus Adolphus just doesnt lose in these games and Ill take the Gusties for the MIAC crown 1-0, while Justice continues her shutout streak.

The NCHA will also crown its champion on Saturday night after tonights semifinal matchups are decided.

Wis.- Superior will be looking to end the other storybook season in D-III womens hockey this season in Lake Forest. Much like St. Catherine, the Forresters (19-2-4) have been on the backburner when it comes to womens hockey. Their previous season-high win total came in 2003 when they won 14 games.

Carisa Zaban has been at the helm of the program for five years now and after four straight seasons of 11 and 12 wins, Lake Forest has finally broken through this year behind the emergence of Kim Herring.

The sophomore forward leads the country with 53 points. Her 28 goals and 25 assists, as well as nine game-winning and nine power play goals rank among the countrys elite in every category.

In the other semifinal, defending OBrien Cup champion Wis. River Falls (18-3-6) has quietly gone unbeaten since Jan. 12, when they lost 2-1 to Gustavus Adolphus. Since then, theyve reeled off a 16-game unbeaten streak (12-0-4), including two ties with Lake Forest.

The Falcons will meet Adrian, who is eligible for the NCHA postseason for the first time this year and the Bulldogs have been giving their conference foes fits.

Adrian was the only team to beat every NCHA team this season. They split with River Falls in early December with the Falcons taking Saturdays game 4-2 and the Bulldogs winning the follow-up game 3-2.

NCHA Champion Pick

In January, I picked River Falls to come back and win. Im sticking with that pick because of their playoff experience and run the NCAA semifinals last season. Itll be a tough road though trying to knock off Adrian and then either Lake Forest or Superior on short rest. I like the Falcons goaltending duo though and coach Cranston will be able to split them if he chooses.

In the East, all three tournament championships will be decided on Sunday.

Plattsburgh hosts the ECAC West tournament after a one-year absence. The Cardinals have a 17-game unbeaten streak with their last loss coming to Amherst on Jan. 3. Plattsburgh is the heavy favorites to win the ECAC West after impressively sweeping both Elmira and RIT this season.

Plattsburgh hasnt given up more than three goals this season and theyve only allowed three goals, four times.

Steph Moberg and Megan DiJulio have emerged as stars this season in the wake of the Cardinals losing their 2009 senior class that include Danielle Blanchard.

The Cardinals will face the only team that gave them a blemish in conference play this season in the Utica Pioneers. Utica has always been a thorn in the Cardinals side and Plattsburgh may not have it as easy as you would think after looking at the game on paper.

Elmira and RIT will face-off in the second semifinal with big NCAA playoff implications on the line. RIT will surely be eliminated from all NCAA at-large consideration with a loss. Elmira has a little bit more breathing room, but would definitely take a big hit if they lost in the conference semis as RIT found out last year after going into the ECAC West Tournament with one of the best resumes.

However, the Tigers got beat soundly by Plattsburgh, 7-3 in the semifinals and were left out of the NCAA Tournament in favor of Amherst and Plattsburgh garnering the at-large bids. RIT hasnt beaten Elmira since Dec. 1, 2007. Elmira is 4-0-2 against the Tigers since then.

ECAC West Champion Pick

Plattsburgh. The Cardinals dont need the automatic bid nearly as much as RIT, Elmira, and Utica. However, they have been impressive this season recovering from the loss of their senior class last season. Home ice and conference coach of the year on its bench, Plattsburgh is the pick. But, it wouldnt shock me if RIT or Elmira won either.

Manhattanville hosts the ECAC East Tournament this weekend at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y. The Valiants have re-emerged as a national power this season after falling in the conference semifinals last season.

Manhattanville has rallied around the play of its freshmen class led by Katie Littles 41 points. The Valiants will face New England College, who has played them tight in both games so far this season. The two teams tied on Jan. 15, 1-1 and then Manhattanville topped NEC 2-0 on Feb. 20 to close out the regular season.

Norwich and UMass-Boston meet in the second semifinal. The Cadets have been a bit of a disappointment so far this season, after I had and many others had made them the trendy pick to make it to the final four this year. However, the Cadets have struggled to put together any sort of streak after starting the season 7-0.

Theyve gone 9-5-5 in their 19 games since. Granted, the Cadets have faced some tough competition. But, losing 7-2 and 7-0 to Manhattanville and 7-2 to Plattsburgh have been surprises.

Norwich will have plenty to prove this weekend and they will try to avenge a 2-1 loss to UMass-Boston from earlier in the season to make to the finals.

ECAC East Champion Pick

This more than likely will raise a few eye brows but Im going with Norwich. I picked the Cadets at the beginning of the season and in January and Ive got a feeling theyll work out