Okay…so there has been a lot of discussion and wondering about how Norwich received the bye into the semifinals of the 2011 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championships.

Personally, I wasn’t even quite sure the Cadets were going to make the tournament after Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Manhattanville in the ECAC East championship game. I thought Plattsburgh’s strength of schedule advantage would be the deciding factor that would push the Cardinals ahead of Norwich in the committee’s mind given that the two teams became tied in the primary criteria after this past weekend’s results.

Plattsburgh moved ahead in record vs. NCAA ranked teams despite the fact both teams lost in their respective tournament championship games. The Cardinals winning percentage was affected less by the loss to RIT than Norwich’s loss to Manhattanville because Plattsburgh has played more games against ranked teams.

Plattsburgh’s new record was 6-4-3, while Norwich dropped to 5-4. Last week, both teams were tied with a .625 winning percentage in record vs. ranked teams.

Plattsburgh pulling ahead in the record vs. ranked teams criteria tied the comparison between the two teams at 2-2. Norwich won winning percentage and common opponents by close margins, while Plattsburgh dominated strength of schedule and narrowly won record vs. ranked teams.

I thought Plattsburgh’s strength of schedule being the toughest in the nation would be the final nail in Norwich’s coffin. However, maybe Norwich’s 9-1 record in last 10 games to Plattsburgh’s 8-2 record, as well as Norwich’s overall winning percentage (with game against D-II and D-I teams counting) as a part of the secondary criteria are what made the Cadets the final selection.

Regardless, Norwich was the selection and then came the process of determining the bracket.

Like it or not RIT fans, Adrian/RIT in a quarterfinal game was a done deal once both teams qualified for the tournament because it was the only possible matchup that didn’t exceed 500 miles in distance between the two schools to force a flight, which the NCAA has strictly forbidden in the past when it comes to D-III sports and opening-round play.

River Falls and Gustavus Adolphus was an easy selection as they were the two remaining western region teams and were within the 500 mile limit.

Now comes the rest of the East and another hot topic debate. With those two quarterfinal matchups determined, the committee was left with Manhattanville, Norwich, and Middlebury. We do not know whether or not Middlebury passed Norwich in the NCAA rankings because the committee does not release its final rankings to the public.

People assumed that Middlebury would probably be the next in line to receive the bye once RIT was unable to get it, but Norwich was still tied with Middlebury in the criteria 2-2 with a head-t0-head win and common opponents. Middlebury won strength of schedule and winning percentage.

However, whether Middebury passed Norwich or not, it doesn’t matter since the committee is advised to avoid intra-conference matchups in the first round when possible. With as close of the comparison was between Norwich and Middlebury, as well as given Norwich’s head-to-head win over the Panthers, the committee gave Norwich the bye and has Middlebury hosting Manhattanville to prevent Norwich from having a rematch with Manhattanville in the first round.

I hope this helps clear things up a little bit for those fans that are still fuming over the selection. If you have any further questions or comments. Please feel free to email me at derek.dunning@uscho.com and I’ll do my best to address them or find the answer to them.

Also, here’s a quick run through of the seven teams selected to the field.

Norwich will make its third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the short four-year history at the varsity level  after compiling a program-best 23 wins this season and winning its first ECAC East regular season title by going unbeaten during the league portion of its schedule. Last year, Norwich made it all the way to the national championship before bowing out in the finals with a 7-2 loss to Amherst.

The Cadets will face the winner of the Wis. River Falls/Gustavus Adolphus quarterfinal game on Friday, March 18 at a site to be determined. 

The host site for the 2011 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championships will be determined after the three quarterfinal games this weekend.

ECAC West champion Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will host the NCHA champion Adrian (19-7-3).

RIT (24-1-2) has been the top-ranked team in the country in the USCHO.com Poll for a majority of the season and is coming off winning its first ECAC West title with a 2-1 win over Plattsburgh. The Tigers have made one previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, but lost in the quarterfinal round to Amherst, 2-1.

Adrian will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning its first NCHA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Wis. River Falls (24-1-4) 4-3 in overtime.

The Adrian/RIT winner will play the winner of the Manhattanville/Middlebury quarterfinal  game in the semifinals.

Middlebury beat two-time defending national champion Amherst, 4-3 in the NESCAC final and returns to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year hiatus. The Panthers won three straight national championships from 2004-2006.

Out of the seven teams selected, only Middlebury has won a national championship. Manhattanville has made the finals three times in 2002, 2003, and 2008, but lost each time. River Falls has made two trips to the final four in 2003 and 2009, but lost in the semifinals each time.

Gustavus Adolphus will make its eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Gusties had made the final four three times and lost in the semifinals each time, including last season when they hosted the final four in St. Peter, Minn., but fell 4-0 to Amherst.

Although the Oswego State Lakers’ breakout season ended last Saturday in a heart-breaking 2-1 double overtime loss to Neumann, the Hockumentary video blog that senior goaltender Emi Williams has been producing all year is back!

The series is now up to eight episodes as two new installments have been added from the second semester.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the original, I highly suggest watching the trailer and then starting with the first episode and following up through to the newest episode, which was just released.

North To Alaska – Oswego State Hockumentary Part 7

The Playoff Push

Postseason hockey got underway this past weekend and as always there were a couple of upsets; including one top-10 team and perennial powerhouse going down.

After making three straight trips to the frozen four, the Elmira College Soaring Eagles had their playoff dreams abruptly halted at home in the ECAC West Play-In round with a 2-1 loss to Utica on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers’ freshman stud Megan Myers outdueled Elmira’s rookie sensation Tori Charron as Myers netted both Utica goals to lead the Pioneers to the shocking upset.

Utica advances to the ECAC West semifinals where the Pioneers will try to continue their cinderella run against top-seeded and No. 2-ranked RIT. Neumann survived in double overtime to down Oswego 2-1 and punch its ticket to Rochester and a date with second-seeded Plattsburgh in the semifinals.

In the ECAC East, Manhattanville is breathing a sigh of relief as the “Valiant Killer” Teraysa White and New England College were upset by Southern Maine 1-0 in overtime in the ECAC East Quarterfinals on Saturday. Southern Maine advances to the final four where they will face top-seeded Norwich who easily disposed of Nichols in its quarterfinal matchup. Manhattanville will face UMass-Boston, who beat Salve Regina 3-2 in overtime to punch its ticket to Kreitzberg Arena for the ECAC East final four.

All the top seeds won in the NESCAC and now Trinity, Amherst, and Bowdoin will all travel to Middlebury’s Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena for the NESCAC final four weekend. Bowdoin will face the Panthers and Trinity will take on Amherst in the other semifinal. The two-time defending national champion Lord Jeffs have their backs up against the wall entering this weekend and more than likely will need to end up winning NESCAC Tournament to have a chance to defend their national championship.

In the NCHA, top-seed and unbeaten Wis. River Falls got a scare on Friday night from St. Norbert as the two teams fought to a 2-2 tie. However, the Falcons responded in Game 2 of their first-to-3-points series with a 7-1 win over the Green Knights and advanced to the semifinal round. Fifth-seeded Concordia (Wis.) pulled off a mild upset of Wis. Eau Claire as the Falcons rallied to win Game 2  on Saturday, 5-4 after they lost to the Blugolds 5-3 in Game 1. Sam Meuwissen played the hero scoring in sudden death overtime in the minigame to lift Concordia (Wis.) to its first appearance in the NCHA final four. Adrian and Wis. Superior will meet in the other semifinal.

The MIAC wrapped its regular season over the weekend and once again, Gustavus Adolphus finished as the regular season champions and earned the top seed for the MIAC final five tournament. St. Thomas beat out Bethel and St. Olaf in a three-way tie for second place with 24 points each. The Tommies earned the No. 2 seed, followed by Bethel and St. Olaf.

St. Olaf will have to play the fifth-seed Concordia-Moorhead on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the MIAC play-in game. The winner will move on to St. Peter, Minn. on Thursday and take on Gustavus Adolphus, while St. Thomas hosts Bethel. The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Saturday at the highest-remaining seed to duke it out for the MIAC Championship and the auto bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Nineteen new teams join the nine from last week that have played their final games in the 2010-11 season.

Thank you seniors: Plymouth State, Chatham, Cortland, Buffalo State, Potsdam, Marian, Finlandia, St. Scholastica, Wesleyan, Nichols, Castleton, Salve Regina, New England College, Elmira, Oswego, St. Catherine, St. Mary’s, St. Benedict, Hamline, Augsburg, Wis. Stevens Point, St. Norbert, Lake Forest, Wis. Eau Claire, Conn. College, Hamilton, Colby, Williams.

Player of the Week – Sarah Luberda, Concordia (Wis.)

Sarah, a senior forward from De Pere, Wis. scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in Concordia (Wis.)’s 5-4 comeback win over Wis. Eau Claire in Game 2 of the NCHA Quarterfinals. Luberda also added an assist in Saturday’s game and then scored a goal in Friday’s game as well. Luberda has 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points on the season.

Rookie of the Week – Megan Myers, Utica

Megan, a freshman forward from Las Vegas, Nev. scored both Utica goals in the Pioneers’ 2-1 upset win over Elmira in the ECAC West play-in round. Myers has 21 goals and 13 assists on the season for 34 points, which ranks third in the nation for freshmen.

Co-Goalies of the Week – Emily Michelin, Adrian and Marissa Hotaling, Utica

Emily, a freshman goalie from Highland, Mich. backstopped Adrian to a pair of 3-1 wins over Wis. Stevens Point to advance to the NCHA final four for the second straight season. Michelin made 22 saves on Friday and then responded with 33 saves on Saturday to lead the Bulldogs to the next round. Michelin is 14-5-2 on the year with a 1.76 goals against average and a .931 save percentage along with seven shutouts.

Marissa, a sophomore goalie from Whitesboro, N.Y., stopped 52 shots, including 20 in the third period to backstop Utica to a 2-1 upset win over nationally-ranked Elmira in the ECAC West Play-In round. Hotaling is 7-10-0 on the year with a 2.53 goals against average and a .932 save percentage.

Four out of the five conferences have wrapped up their regular season schedules and every single one of those leagues had a different regular season champion than they did last year.

Wis. River Falls completed its undefeated regular season with a 22-0-3 mark to claim the NCHA crown. The Falcons are just the second team in NCAA D-III history to make it through the regular season unbeaten. Plattsburgh was the only other team to accomplish the feat when they went 27-0-2 on its way to winning the 2007 National Championship.

RIT (22-1-2) won its first ECAC West regular season title with a 15-1-2 record. Even though the Tigers were tied with Plattsburgh in the standings, RIT held the tie-breaker and thus gained the conference tournament hosting rights.

Norwich (22-3-1) claimed its first ECAC East regular season title with a undefeated mark of 17-0-1. The Cadets were the first time to finish undefeated in the ECAC East regular season since Manhattanville accomplished the feat in 2001-2002.

Middlebury (18-4-1) regained the top spot in the NESCAC after a two-year absence. The Panthers finished with a 14-1-1 mark to beat out Amherst, Trinity and Bowdoin.

The only league that still has to wrap-up its regular season is the MIAC as per usual, the Minnesota schools end their regular season a week later than the rest of the leagues.

After being a jumbled mess for much of the season, Gustavus Adolphus has once again emerged from the pack as the leader of the league with 26 points, which is four points clear of second-place St. Thomas. Bethel and St. Olaf are tied with 20 points each for third place, while St. Mary’s is clinging to the fifth and final playoff spot with 19 points. Concordia-Moorhead sits just one point behind in sixth and St. Catherine lurks three points behind in seventh.

The two matchups this week pit St. Thomas and Concordia-Moorhead, as well as St. Mary’s and St. Olaf against each other in home and home series.  The Tommies and Gusties have already clinched playoff spots, but the other three are still plenty up for grabs and those two series will have a major impact on how it all shakes out.

As I have done over the past few years, I will continue to do a list of all the teams that have played their final game of the 2010-2011 season as it happens week-by-week. I got the idea originally from the former Division III men’s national writer, Chris Lerch.

There are nine teams that have played their final game so far this season.

After this weekend’s games, the list will double and come close to tripling.

The NCAA released its second set of regional rankings this afternoon and you can find them at the following link: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/icehockey-women/d3/regional_rankings_

East:

Right now it looks the seven teams that would get in, assuming all the teams that lead their conference, win their conference tournament would be; RIT, Norwich, Plattsburgh, Middlebury, Trinity, River Falls and Gustavus Adolphus. However, rarely does it actually work out that way so we’ve got plenty of hockey left to be played in the next two weeks.

Player of the Week – Julie Fortier, Norwich

Julie, a junior forward from Saint-Malachie, Que. had four goals to help lead the Cadets to a 3-0 week; including two huge wins over Middlebury and Manhattanville. Fortier tallied the game-tying goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 win against Middlebury to stop the Panthers’ momentum after they had scored two straight goals in the second period. She also tallied a goal in a 4-2 win over Manhattanville, which was Norwich’s first win on home ice against the Valiants and only second ever. Fortier capped her impressive week with two goals against Nichols to lead the Cadets to a 7-0 win. Fortier has 20 goals and 14 assists for 34 points this season.

Goalie of the Week – Cindy Fortin, Norwich

Cindy, a senior goalie from Quebec City, Que. backstopped the Cadets to two important wins over Middlebury and Manhattanville. She made 11 saves in a 3-2 win over Middlebury and then 22 more in a 4-2 win over Manhattanville. She has won 14 straight games in goal for the Cadets since dropping the season opener to RIT. Fortin is 14-1-0 on the year with a 1.73 goals against average and a .910 save percentage with two shutouts.

Rookie of the Week – Megan Myers, Utica

Megan, a freshman forward from Las Vegas, Nevada scored five goals and added an assist over the weekend in two games against nationally-ranked Amherst and Plattsburgh. Myers netted a hat trick and also dished out an assist in a 6-5 loss to the Lord Jeffs on Thursday night. She then added both Utica goals in a 3-2 loss to Plattsburgh on Saturday night. Myers has 19 goals and 12 assists on the season for 31 points, which leads the team.

The Oswego State hockey team’s goal heading into the 2010-2011 season was a breakout season.

On Saturday, the Lakers got their crowning acheivement victory in the five-year history of the program when they stunned top-ranked and undefeated RIT 2-1 to not only hand the Tigers their first loss of the season, but also stop them from clinching their first ECAC West regular season title.

Oswego’s stud senior goalie Emi Williams was nothing short of brilliant for the Lakers, turning aside 46 shots, including 20 in the third period alone to stymie the powerful RIT offense and backstop Oswego to its biggest win in program history.

Plattsburgh transfer Mackenzie Lee continued to make an impact for Oswego, tallying the first Laker goal for her team-leading 12th goal of the season. Olivia Boersen also chipped in with a goal for Oswego to account for the only two goals the Lakers would need to pull of the upset of the year to date.

The victory also clinched Oswego the fifth seed in the ECAC West tournament, its highest place to date and guaranteed the program’s first winning season ever. The Lakers now sit at 12-9-3 overall and 8-7-3 in league play with only a non-conference tilt with Castleton remaining on the docket.

I think its safe to say Oswego has acheived the breakout season it was looking for.

On the flip side of things, Wis. River Falls stayed unbeaten and also has taken over the top spot for the first time ever in the USCHO.com Division III women’s poll. The Falcons garnered 10 of 15 first-place votes and 144 points to dethrone the Tigers’ run from the top spot.

In other action between top 10 teams, Middlebury picked up a big non-conference win, downing Plattsburgh 1-0 at the Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena for their first win over the Cardinals since 2006.

Norwich, who is unbeaten in 12 straight will try their hands at beating the Panthers at the Kenyon Arena tonight at 7 p.m. in a crucial non-conference tilt between  the two programs who are ranked third and fourth in the NCAA East Region poll that was just released today at 3 p.m. by the NCAA.

This will be the Cadets first trip to the Kenyon Ice Arena on the women’s side. The two programs met for the first time late last season at Norwich’s Kreitzberg Arena and battled to a 2-2 draw.

Getting lost in the shuffle of Oswego upsetting RIT was Buffalo State downing Elmira 4-3 in overtime on Sunday. The Bengals’ win knocked all hope the Soaring Eagles had in Pool C consideration and now EC will have to win its eighth ECAC West title in order to keep their NCAA Tournament appearance streak alive. Elmira has only missed one NCAA Tournament out of the nine that have been contested. They haven’t missed a Frozen Four since 2007 either.

Player of the Week: Alexi Bloom, Middlebury

Bloom turned aside all 20 shots she faced to help lead Middlebury to its first win over Plattsburgh since 2006. The shutout was Bloom’s ninth of the season and 14th of her career for the blue and white. She tops the country in goals against average at 0.84 and .958 save percentage.

Goalie of the Week: Emi Williams, Oswego

Williams made 46 saves to backstop unranked Oswego to an upset 2-1 win over #1 RIT on Saturday. Williams is 11-8-2 on the season with a 1.71 goals against average and a save percentage of .941.

Rookie of the Week: Amanda Cartony, Gustavus Adolphus

Cartony scored two game-winning goals to lead the Gusties to two important league wins over Hamline and help the Gusties assert their lead at the top of the MIAC standings once again. Cartony has four goals and three assists on the season for seven total points.

RIT Keeps Roaring Along

RIT is now just three games away from undefeated regular season as the Tigers picked up their first ever win at the Murray Athletic Center on Friday with a 3-1 win over Elmira College.

Kolbee McCrea wasted little time in giving RIT the lead as the freshman forward put the Tigers up 1-0 just 27 seconds into the game. Ariane Yokoyama made it 2-0 with a little over five minutes left in the first. Elmira’s Lindsay Mitchell cut the deficit to 2-1 just 24 seconds later, but that’s as close as Elmira would get before RIT added an empty-net goal from Sarah Dagg late.

RIT earned its keep as the Tigers held Elmira 0-for-9 on the power play after taking 12 penalties for 32 minutes.

The Tigers will now host Oswego on Friday and Saturday before closing the season with another trip down to Elmira on Feb. 19 to close the regular season. RIT needs five points to clinch the regular season title and home-ice advantage in the ECAC West playoffs for the first time.

Wis. River Falls stayed unbeaten as well as the Falcons took three points from Wis. Superior on the road with a 2-1 win and a 3-3 tie against the Yellowjackets over the weekend. River Falls is now 17-0-3 and has passed all of its toughest challenges in conference. They end the season with Marian and Finlandia after a showdown tonight at St. Thomas in the Falcons’ final non-league game.

Oswego’s quest for a breakout season

With three games remaining in the 2010-2011 season, Oswego has already set a new program record for wins in a season with 11. The Lakers are 11-8-3 with two games against RIT remaining as well as a home game against Castleton to end the regular season. Oswego needs only a tie to clinch its first winning season ever in the five-year history of the program. The Lakers own an impressive 9-3-1 record at home this season, yet are just 2-5-2 on the road.

Oswego is five points ahead of Utica right now for fifth place in the conference. Utica has two games against Chatham remaining and two games at Plattsburgh. Unless Utica pulls an upset of Plattsburgh, Oswego will travel to face Neumann in the ECAC West play-in round.

NCAA Tournament Field Projection (courtesy of Matt Rennell, former D-III Women’s Editor)

As we hit the home stretch of the regular season, it’s time to start talking about who sits where and how everyone stacks up for the NCAA Tournament rankings.

As of Sunday’s games, this is the way the teams would be ranked according to Rennell’s projections. (Note this is not necessarily the way it will turn out, just Matt’s educated opinion after compiling the numbers.)

East
1- RIT
2- Plattsburgh
3- Norwich
4- Amherst
5- Elmira
6- Middlebury
7- Trinity
8- Manhattanville
9- Neumann

West
1- Wis. River Falls
2- Gustavus Adolphus
3- Wis. Superior
4- Wis. Eau Claire
5- Adrian
6- Lake Forest

Now lets take the Pool A teams.
ECAC East- Norwich
ECAC West- RIT
NESCAC- Middlebury
NCHA- UWRF
MIAC- GAC

Next we look at the Pool C field.

East- Plattsburgh and Amherst
West- UWS and UWEC

This turns out to be Plattsburgh and Amherst as they both beat out UWS in the criteria.

So, the field is set with a 5/2 split

East
1- RIT
2- Plattsburgh
3- Norwich
4- Amherst
5- Middlebury

West
1- UWRF
2- GAC

Which sets up the following

RIT- BYE
Amherst @ Norwich
GAC @ UWRF
Middlebury @ Plattsburgh

Player of the Week – Kelly Salis, Adrian

Kelly, a junior defenseman from St. Claire Shore, Mich., netted five goals to help lead Adrian to a sweep of Lake Forest over the weekend. Salis notched two goals in the first period to put Adrian well on its way to winning 6-3 the first night. She then followed up by scoring all three goals in a 3-2 win over the Forresters the next day to net the first ever hat trick by a Bulldog defenseman. Salis has nine goals and six assists on the season for 15 points.

Goalie of the Week – Tara Connolly, Bowdoin

Tara, a sophomore from Simsbury, Conn. made 68 saves over the weekend to help the Polar Bears to a split with fifth-ranked Amherst. Connolly made 38 saves the first day in a 3-2 loss, while Bowdoin was outshot 41-15. Connolly turned aside 30 shots the next day to backstop the Polar Bears to a 2-1 upset of the Lord Jeffs. Connolly is 5-1-2 on the season with a 1.76 goals against average and .936 save percentage.

Rookie of the Week – Cristina Masten, Bethel

Cristina, a freshman forward from Fergus Falls, Minn., was a part of all four goals Bethel scored over the weekend as the Royals swept St. Catherine by scores of 2-1 each night. Masten scored both goals in Friday’s game and then assisted on both goals, including the game-winner in overtime on Saturday. She has 10 goals and six assists on the season for 16 points. Masten has four power play goals and four game-winning goals, which both lead the team.

We now have one month left in the 2010-2011 regular season and the conference playoff pictures are starting to shake out.

In the ECAC East, Norwich has a five-point lead over Manhattanville and looks to have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs locked up for the first time in program history after the Valiants were swept this past weekend by UMass Boston and St. Anselm. However, maybe Manhattanville will prefer a change of scenery after the Valiants lost in the semifinals at the Playland Ice Casino the last two seasons and watch Norwich skate away withthe tournament title both times.

In the ECAC West, RIT needs seven points in its final four games to lock up the title. The Tigers have two games each with Oswego and Elmira left. If Elmira and RIT split, Plattsburgh and RIT will be tied for the regular season title assuming each team wins its remaining league games.

In the NESCAC, Amherst and Middlebury are deadlocked with identical 10-1-1 record and 21 points each. The Panthers face Hamilton, Conn. College, Colby and Bowdoin; while Amherst faces Bowdoin twice on the road and hosts Williams for two.

In the MIAC, St. Thomas and Gustavus Adolphus are deadlocked with identical 7-2-1 records and 15 points. First and sixth place are separated by only five points as St. Olaf has 10 points. The MIAC has shown the most parity top to bottom in the conference once again this season, but GAC has to continue to be considered the favorites until they are dethroned.

In the NCHA, River Falls is three points clear of second-place Superior and has two games in hand on the Yellowjackets. The Falcons, baring a collapse have locked up home-ice advantage. Concordia Wis. has come onto the scene in the NCHA and has established itself as a threat this season after going 2-1-1 the last two weekends against Lake Forest and Superior.

Apparently this past weekend should have been called record-breaking weekend or milestone weekend with the amount of achievements that happened.

Norwich junior forward Julie Fortier became just the second player in program history to record 100-career points and 50 career goals. Fortier tallied a hat trick and all three goals in Norwich’s 3-2 win over New England College on Friday.

Elmira freshman forward Tori Charron tied the all-time single-game record of six goals when she tallied two natural hat tricks in the Soaring Eagles’ game against Chatham. Charron tied Manhattanville’sKatie Little, who scored six goals in a game against Plymouth State last season. She also tied the single-game record of eight points in a game by picking up two assists as well to tie  Annie Annunziato’s (Augbsburg; 5-3-8) eight points against Hamline in 2003 and Andrea Peterson’s (Gustavus Adolphus; 2-6-8) eight points against St. Catherine in 2005.

RIT head coach Scott McDonald picked up his 100th career victory after his Tigers swept Buffalo State. He reached the milestone in just 128 games, which is the second-fastest the milestone has ever been reached next to Plattsburgh’s Kevin Houle, who did it in 122.

The last thought I’ll leave you withthis week is something I came across today while at work. How many hockey players have you ever heard of from Australia? Well, there is one playing Division III hockey at Plymouth State. Stephanie Newmark is a freshman defenseman with the Panthers and is from Sydney, Australia. In 18 games played this season, she has recorded two assists. Kudos to Stephanie!

Player of the Week – Kayte Holtz, Bowdoin

Katie, a sophomore from New Berlin, Wis., scored seven goals on the weekend to help lead the Polar Bears to a sweep of Division I Sacred Heart. Holtz scored four goals in Saturday’s 6-2 win and then followed up with three goals and an assist in Sunday’s 8-2 win over the Pioneers. Holtz has 21 goals on the season and seven assists. Her 21 goals rank second in the country to only Elmira’s Tori Charron.

Goalie of the Week – Mel Gerten, St. Catherine

Mel, a senior goalie from Inner Grove Heights, Minn., helped St. Catherine take three points for the first time ever from Gustavus Adolphus. Gerten made 38 saves to backstop St. Catherine to a 2-1 win over the Gusties. She followed up with 29 saves in a 1-1 tie against GAC the next night. Gerten is 7-5-2 on the season with a 1.98 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.

Rookie of the Week – Tori Charron, Elmira

Tori, a freshman from Goodwood, Ont., tied the single-game record with her six goals in Saturday’s win over Chatham. Charron scored two natural hat tricks and picked up two assists to tie the single-game points record too. She was named the ECAC West Player of the Week and leads the country with 24 goals. She also has seven assists on the season for 31 total points.

Manhattanville @ St. Anselm

The Valiants need a win to keep pace with Norwich in the race for the ECAC East regular season title. St. Anselm is 9-1 in its last 10 games with the lone loss coming to two-time defending national champion Amherst. Manhattanville is still trying to make up ground on Norwich after the Valiants dropped a game to New England College. I’ll take Manhattanville, but it should be a tight one. 4-3 Valiants

St. Mary’s vs. St. Thomas

The MIAC top four should starting shaking itself out a it more after this weekend with the top four teams all playing each other in home and home series. St. Mary’s was the last MIAC team to lose a conference game, but the Cardinals have falling into a bit of a rough patch with just one win their last five games. St. Thomas is coming off a pair of close wins over Hamline. I’ll take a split with St. Thomas winning the first night 3-2 and then St. Mary’s rebounding with a 2-1 win the next day.

St. Catherine vs. Gustavus Adolphus

The other MIAC showdown is a rematch of last year’s conference championship game. St. Catherine was the cinderella story of last season, winning a program-best 18 games before falling to the Gusties in the finals. With a strong returning group, I had the Wildcats pegged as GAC’s chief challenger for the MIAC crown. While St. Catherine is certainly still in the hunt, last weekend getting swept by St. Olaf didn’t help. I’ll take GAC 4-1 on Friday and then St. Catherine 2-1 on Saturday.

Lake Forest @ Eau Claire

The Foresters are coming off a surprising split with Concordia Wis.  After starting the season 5-0-0, LF is now just 4-5-2 in its last nine. Kim Herring has been back in the lineup after missing the first half of the season with mono and the dynamic junior forward has just three goals and an assist as she tries to regain her sensational sophomore season form where she led the country in scoring. Eau Claire on the other hand is coming off a sweep of Wis. Stevens Point. Kristin Faber scored four goals to lead the Blugolds who are 5-0-1 in their last six. I’ll predict another split here with Lake Forest winning 4-3 on the first night and then Eau Claire rebounding for a 5-2 win the next night.

Adrian @ Wis. River Falls

River Falls will look to stay unbeaten in another stern test against the Bulldogs. I’ve said it countless times but Adrian is a notoriously Jekyll and Hyde team and they can always steal a point or two on any given night. I think they do it again but I’m calling for a tie 2-2 in the first game and then River Falls explodes to a 6-0 win the next game.

Middlebury @ Trinity

Odds are you should bet on an overtime game when these two squads get together. Last year they met in an epic four-overtime game in the NESCAC semifinals. Both teams could use the two points as they try to keep pace with Amherst. I’ll take Middlebury 2-1 in overtime.

Gustavus Adolphus @ Wis. Superior

Here’s the game of the week IMHO. It’s always a good game when these two get together and I don’t see why Tuesday’s showdown will be any different. Superior is a quiet 11-3-4 with a lot of the attention in the conference on River Falls’ season. Superior’s last loss came on Jan. 11 to Gustavus Adolphus by a score of 2-1. Gustavus is 3-0-1 in its last four but will be facing a tough series against St. Catherine before traveling to Superior on Tuesday. I’ll go with the Yellowjackets getting revenge with a 2-1 win.

Last week I titled my blog post, “Fit to be tied.”

Fitting, the weekend after I make that post, RIT and Plattsburgh; in one of the most anticipated showdowns of the season, tied not only once, but both of their games.

The two schools played before a sold out electric-atmosphere at the Frank Ritter Memorial Arena on Friday night and Sarah Dagg kept the Tigers’ unbeaten season alive with a goal in the final minute to tie the game up at two.

The standing-room only crowd of 2,100 smashed the Division III women’s regular season attendance record, which used to be around 1,700.

The next afternoon, neither side was able to put a puck in the net as the two powerhouses skated to a scoreless tie in front of another impressive crowd of 1,383.

RIT’s “Black Out Heart Disease” promotion generated over $10,000 donated to the Geneva General Cardiology Associates. The Tigers sold 22 special-edition black jerseys for a total of $6,927; with Katie Stack, Sarah Dagg, and Danielle Read’s jerseys all going for over $500.

The final total with t-shirts was $10,219. Impressive work RIT hockey fans.

The two ties prevented RIT head coach Scott McDonald from picking up his 100th career win. However, the Tigers and McDonald will get another crack at it this weekend when they travel to Buffalo State for a pair of games. If RIT sweeps, McDonald will have recorded 100 victories in just 127 games, which would be the second fastest all-time to only Plattsburgh’s Kevin Houle, who did it in 122 games. (Thanks to RIT Director of Sports Information, Joe Venniro for that tid bit.)

RIT holds control of its own destiny as the Tigers try and wrap up their first ECAC West regular season title. They have six games left and all are league contests. They’ll likely face their stiffest test on two separate trips down to the Murray Athletic Center to face the sixth-ranked Elmira College Soaring Eagles. The two clubs meet on Feb. 4th and 19th. As long as RIT holds serve in its four other games, the Tigers will clinch the regular season title with three points in the two games against Elmira.

Norwich also hosted a benefit game and the Cadets raised $2,267 for the SD Ireland Cancer Research Fund through jar donations, a 50/50 raffle, and merchandise sales.

Trinity showed its first sign of a kink in the armor this weekend as the Bantams lost 1-0 to Colby and then tied Bowdoin 2-2. The Bantams had been unbeaten in 11 straight coming into the weekend.

Player of the Week – Kristin Faber, Wis. Eau Claire

Kristen, a senior forward from Austin, Minn., tallied a hat trick to lead Eau Claire to a 5-3 win over Stevens Point on Friday night. She scored the game-tying goal and then scored the eventual game-winning goal with under five minutes left in the game, while short handed to life the Blugolds to an important league sweep over the Pointers. Faber also chipped in a goal in Saturday’s 3-1 win as well. She has 14 goals and five assists on the season for a team-leading 19 points.

Rookie of the Week – Laura Chamberlain, RIT

Laura, a freshman goalie from Norco, Calif. combined with Plattsburgh’s Mandy Mackrell to put on an epic display of goaltending in their series over the weekend. Chamberlain stopped 49 of 51 shots over the weekend to help RIT to two ties with fourth-ranked Plattsburgh. She recorded her fifth shutout on the season and has a 0.86 goals against average with a .954 save percentage.

Goalie of the Week – Mandy Mackrell, Plattsburgh

Mandy, a senior goalie from Cleveland, Ohio kept Plattsburgh in Friday’s game for the first 30 minutes after the Cardinals were being out shot 21-3 and still tied at zero. Mackrell made 40 stops in Friday’s 2-2 tie and then followed up with 34 more on Saturday afternoon to pick up her fourth shutout of the season. Mackrell is now 8-2-3 on the season with a 1.21 goals against average a .944 save percentage.

Plattsburgh @ RIT

The matchup of the weekend and maybe the matchup of the year between two titans of the ECAC West. Even though the Tigers have been rolling along this season, I like the fact that Plattsburgh has faced some stiffer competition as of late and I think that propels the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory the first night to stun a crowd of over 1500 at the Ritter. However, RIT bounces back on Saturday with a 4-1 win over the Cardinals to salvage a split.

Wis. Stevens Point @ Wis. Eau Claire

It seems like every week the NCHA has a marquee matchup. This week the Pointers and Blugolds will take center stage with a two-game set at Eau Claire. After starting 9-1, the Pointers have hit a bit of a rough patch over their last five games with just a 1-3-1 record over that span. Eau Claire on the other hand, was on a three-game winning streak until a 2-2 tie with St. Thomas. I think Stevens Point gets things corrected this weekend takes at least three points, maybe even all four. Point 4-1 and 5-2.

Superior @ St. Norbert

Here’s another big matchup in the NCHA with St. Norbert making headlines last week by putting the first blemish on Wis. River Falls’ perfect record by battling the Falcons to a 1-1 tie. The Green Knights are in just their first year as a program and Rob Morgan has the team headed in the right direction as they have stayed right aroud .500 all season in the always competitive NCHA. I think SNC manages a split this weekend with the Yellowjackets taking the second night’s game after losing the first. Superior 5-2, SNC 2-1 (OT)