Going into the weekend, there were a handful of important games between teams close in the Hockey East standings that put some good intraconference rivalries on display. A question I asked myself was: Is there any chance that the Hockey East leading Uconn Huskies risk dropping either of their games to last ranked Hockey East opponent Holy Cross? And also: Would Chan and Warrener split starts again? I then turned my attention to the historic rivalry between Boston College and Boston University. Finally, I looked at the two point gap between could Providence and Merrimack, and wondered who would alter their trajectory at the end of pre-Thanksgiving Weekend. These are some highlights and reflections on the results.

Uconn and Holy Cross played a back-to-back series, where Uconn got the better of Holy Cross. On Friday, Uconn won 3-0, outshooting the Holy Cross 33-13. Ava Rinker, Catherine Stockdale, and Brooke Campbell all scored goals in the 3rd period. Brooke Loranger played well stopping 30 of 33 shots for Holy Cross, but was outdueled (in save percentage if nothing else) by Megan Warrener, who would record the shutout for Uconn. On Saturday UConn would beat Holy Cross 3-1. Jada Habisch would score a goal and an assist in the win, tallying her 10th and 11th points on the season. Warrener would have another strong outing stopping 19 of 20 shots. Alexia Moreau would score the lone goal for Holy Cross.

Boston University played Boston College Friday night and lost five to three in a close old fashioned rivalry matchup. Gaby Roy scored the game-winning goal with 3:55 left in the third period, Katie Pyne contributed with a goal and an assist in the victory.  Lacey Martin had another offensive showing for BU, tallying 2 assists despite the loss. The following day BU would play Providence and lose two to one. All three goals were scored in the second period, Grace Shirley would net the game winning goal with five seconds left in the 2nd period. Hope Walinski stopped 19 of 20 shots for Providence and they killed 5 of 6 powerplays. Lacey Martin would continue her point streak as she would score her 10th point of the season. 

Maine and Vermont played twice this weekend and Ida Kuoppola was the star. Maine won three to zero on Friday night in a game where Kuoppola scored the game-winning goal and goaltender Julie Boschetti stopped all 19 shots. On Saturday, Kuoppola would score another two goals, including her second game-winning goal in as many games. Ann-Frederique Guay would score her 4th power play goal of the season contribute the secondary assist on the game-winning goal. Boschetti would go on to stop 24 of 26 shots. Vermont defenseman Hailey Eikos played well in the second match. having scored a goal and an assist while posting a +2 rating in a three to two loss to Maine. 

Friday night, Merrimack played Providence and won 1-0. Mary Edmonds scored the game-winning goal with 10:39 left in the second period. Calli Hogarth stood on her head stopping all 37 Providence shots. Of defensive note, Providence’s Rachel Weiss would post a mind-blowing 74.4% in the faceoff dot this weekend going 32 for 43. 

My headline from the weekend is that UConn is dominating with their elite goaltending duo of Chan and Warrener (12 goals allowed in 13 games), in addition to the clutch and consistent goal scoring of Jada Habisch. Maine is also looking likely to ascend from 7th in the Hockey East. It would not be surprising if they continue to win off of Kuoppola’s all-around goal scoring, Guay’s powerplay scoring, and Bochetti’s dynamic goaltending.