Wild weekend: Ten things to take away

by Matthew Webb

Well that was certainly an interesting and somewhat telling weekend.  Men's and women's ranked teams dropped games, others rebounded from a poor start to the second semester, others yet managed to stay above the fray and continued to pile up wins, and some conference races just became a whole lot more interesting.

Miss out on any of the action?  As always, get caught up on all of it right here with the D3hockey.com scoreboard:

• Friday Scoreboard:  Men's  |  Women's
• Saturday Scoreboard:  Men's  |  Women's
• Sunday Scoreboard:  Men's  |  Women's

Ten items might not be enough to do everything justice but, in no particular order, here are ten things I find notable thanks to this weekend's results:

1. No. 1's go down

Fresh off a 4-1 win over Babson at Fenway Park on Friday, the Norwich men remained the lone undefeated men's team in the nation and stood at 11-0-1.  That all changed Saturday afternoon, however, as the Cadets were upended 2-1 by Mass.-Boston.  The Beacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the opening period on goals by Mike DeGrazia and Travis Daniel, and the Cadets were unable to crack Beacons' netminder Kevin Bendel until Pier-Oliver Cotnoir notched an extra-attacker-goal with just :55 remaining in the game.  Norwich outshot the Beacons 40-16, but Bendel's 39 saves were enough to hand the Cadets their first loss of the season.

RIT, the top-ranked women's team, suffered a similar fate as it was also knocked from the realm of the unbeatens thanks to eighth-ranked Plattsburgh State.  The two skated to a 1-1 draw on Friday, but the Cardinals scored a 3-1 win on Saturday after jumping out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Morgan MacInnis and Shannon Stewart.  The Tigers' Kristina Moss cut the lead to 2-1 with 7:32 to play, but Stewart netted her second of the night in the final minute to put the game away.  Plattsburgh goaltender Sydney Aveson stopped 34 saves to get the win, while the Tigers' Laura Chamberlain turned back 37 in the losing effort. The win not only is RIT's first loss of the season, but also moves the Cardinals into first in the ECAC West, one point ahead of the Tigers.

2. Other ranked teams suffer similar fates

The number ones were far from the only ranked teams to have a chink taken out of their armor this weekend.  On the men's side, No. 4 UW-River Falls, No. 5 Neumann, No. 7 Utica and No. 13 Gustavus Adolphus all picked up a loss while UW-Superior, tied for No. 13 with the Gusties, dropped a pair at No. 8 St. Norbert.

The women saw a moderate shakeup after holding steady for much of the season as, aside from RIT, No. 4 Amherst and No. 6 Middlebury both tallied a loss (courtesy of each other), while No. 7 UW-River Falls split a league series at unranked Lake Forest. Tenth-ranked UW-Superior also split a NCHA series, that one coming against St. Norbert.

3. Monday Poll Shakeup?

Monday could easily feature the most volatile poll shakeup to-date this season -- as it's the first time the firm previous No. 1's have been handed defeats.  We'll have to wait about 14 hours to see what the poll voters reactions actually are, but my personal guess is that Norwich will hold onto the men's top spot (though it will no longer be unanimous), while there is a much higher probablity that the RIT women lose theirs -- possibly to Norwich.

Continuing the speculation, the big winners this week might not only be the obvious teams that managed to win all their games, but also those that were idle and may benefit from those around them picking up losses.  To the latter point, for the men the ones I look at are No. 6 Castleton and now 11-3-2 St. Thomas.  In last week's poll the Tommies landed just one vote out of the Top 15 and I'd wager they aren't left out this time around after scoring a league sweep over Hamline.

For the women I look at a pair of MIAC teams that were both idle:  No. 6 Gustavus Adolphus and No. 9 Concordia-Moorhead.  Though neither played, one or both could benefit from losses by others and kick up a spot or two.

4. St. Norbert strikes back, NCHA race tightens

Mere days after I cited St. Norbert's lack of inspiring play this season and suggested it may be overrated, the Green Knights shoved it down my throat and scored an impressive 3-0, 5-2 home sweep over UW-Superior.  When coupled with a UW-River Falls loss to UW-Stout, St. Norbert is now a mere one point back of the Falcons in the NCHA conference race.

Earlier in the season it looked like it could be a UW-River Falls runaway as the Falcons jumped out to a 4-0-2 start while the rest of the league beat itself up, but after going 2-2 in their last four league games the gap they had built is all but eliminated.  St. Norbert, nearly indestructible at home, still has a favorable schedule as it has six home games remaining to just four on the road and two of its road games come this weekend against seventh-place UW-Stout.  Is it conceivable that the Green Knights end up atop the league again after an opening half of the year that had its collective fan base wearing the red paint off its panic button?  It's far from a certainty, but it is indeed quite possible.

St. Scholastica is also lurking as the Saints sit just three points back and are coming off a three-point weekend over a UW-Stevens Point team that entered having won six of seven.  The Saints and league leading goal-scorer Brett Corcoran conveniently host UW-River Falls next weekend in what could be a make-or-break series for them in terms of a regular season title.

5. Plattsburgh men stay (almost) white hot

The Cardinals have been one of the hottest teams in the nation for over a month, which is exactly why they have vaulted all the way up to No. 2 in the D3hockey.com Top 15.  Since dropping a 3-0 decision to Norwich in its opening game of the Primelink Shootout, they are an undefeated 6-0-4 against competetion that has included Middlebury (twice), Castleton (twice), Oswego, Norwich and Williams.

This past weekend, the Cardinals tallied twice in the opening period and three times in the second as they rolled to a 7-0 win at Middlebury.  Seven different players lit the lamp in the win, while Alex Jensen, Kyle Kudroch and Kyle Taylor all had a goal and an assist.  

On Saturday, the Cardinals traveled to No. 11 Williams and settled for a 3-3 tie after outshooting the Ephs 31-12 and holding a 2-0 lead after two periods.  The Ephs struck back in the third, however, outshooting the Cardinals 20-12 in the frame and notching and extra-attacker-goal with just 35 seconds to play to forge the draw.

Despite the tie, Plattsburgh is now 11-2-4 on the year and undefeated in its last ten outings -- signs that might not bode well for future opponents.  Especially when you consider that, despite the success, head coach Bob Emery's comments to the local paper make it clear he's still not pleased they haven't put a full weekend together...

6. Wentworth heating up

Though Wentworth's 6-3 win over Becker this weekend isn't anything overly earth-shattering, it's play as of late has been rather notable.  After opening the season at a pedestrian 3-3-1, the 10-4-1 Leopards are 7-1 in their last eight and 4-0 in the new year.  Along with the win over Becker, the Leopards' 2012 wins have come by way of a 3-2 win over Bowdoin and a 5-2, 3-1 non-conference road sweep over MASCAC-leading Plymouth State.  This Tuesday, the Leopards travel to Williams in what should be a very good test of how well they are playing right now.

Wentworth stands tied for second in the ECAC Northeast with Johnson and Wales, three points behind league-leading Curry.  The Colonels have shown vulnerability as of late, however, as evidenced by a rough 0-5-1 non-conference stretch, albeit against very good competition.

With no team in the league having played more than five conference games to this point, things are far from being settled in the Northeast but the Leopards have to be pleased with their play as of late, which is good news as following the Williams game a Saturday meeting with Curry awaits.

Note: There are other teams who have been streaking as of late, but...perhaps...a few of those are being saved for a bit later this week...

7. What is up with the women?

I'm not sure anyone knows, and I'm loving it.  Whether one wants to look simply at box scores, interpret the minds of the poll voters, or come up with some other method, there's a pretty strong consensus as to which teams make up the top eight.  Within that top eight, however, there seems to be a lot of variation of opinion relative to who is better than who.  What this obviously means is that the difference in quality between those eight teams is perceived to be very little.  Naturally this has been making me curious, so in attempt to verify I took a look at all the scores of games played this season between two women's teams currently ranked in our top eight.  They are:

3-1, 3-1, 1-0, 3-2, 3-2, 1-1, 4-1, 3-2, 1-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 0-0.

Tell me that doesn't scream parity among these eight.  In case anyone was wondering, the 4-1 games were RIT over Norwich on opening weekend and Middlebury over Plattsburgh on November 27.  And yes, that's the same Plattsburgh who just took three points from, as we know, No. 1 RIT.

As is always the case, an ongoing discussion has been occuring this season as to where the Western teams (namely Gustavus Adolphus and UW-River Falls) fit into this mix.  Though it won't give us a definitive answer, perhaps a little light will be shed on things this week as an extremely good Amherst team heads West to take on UW-River Falls and St. Thomas.  D3hockey.com will be on hand for both.

8. Marian makes statement, MCHA stratifying

With Adrian having to reload this year, many looked to Marian as a team that had the potential to knock the Bulldogs off their MCHA throne.  After a pair of ties against Lawrence and a subsequent tie at Northland, the Sabres sort of got lost in the shuffle as most of the talk became centered on MSOE.

However, with the league now halfway through its 20-game league schedule, there sits Marian one point back of Adrian and undefeated in league play at 7-0-3 -- thanks in large part to a sweep over MSOE this weekend.

After falling behind 2-1 after two periods at MSOE on Friday, the Sabres' Tommy Fitzpatrick and Dakota Dubetz both tallied in the opening four minutes of the third to put Marian ahead for good.  Brian Berger added an empty-netter to round out the scoring in the 4-2 win.  On Saturday, the host Sabres again fell behind as they trailed 3-2 after two.  A Brendan Roberts power play goal with 7:31 remaining knotted the game 3-3, while Tom Glomski netted a shorthanded goal with just 1:32 left to propel the Sabres to the 4-3 win and lock up the key four-point weekend.

The wins set up a crucial MCHA series this weekend as Marian hosts Adrian.  Should one sweep the other, the regular season conference title will be theirs to lose.

A bit farther down the standings there is another interesting situation brewing.  Lawrence is just two points clear of Northland for the fourth spot and must face MSOE next weekend, while Northland has a series with Concordia (Wis.).  MSOE will be favored in those, as will Northland, while in two weeks Lawrence must travel to Northland for a series, and it's not an easy place to play.  Is it conceivable the Lumberjacks find a way to score a top-half finish and host (likely against Lawrence) an opening round playoff series?  Looking at the remaining schedules of each, yes it is.

9. Big games looming

This weekend's results have tightened up numerous league races which means there are some key league games coming up.  For those looking to mark their calendars, here are a few of them:

Men

1/20 & 1/21: UW-River Falls @ St. Scholastica

1/22 & 1/23: Adrian @ Marian

1/26: Plymouth State @ Mass.-Dartmouth

1/27: UW-River Falls @ St. Norbert

1/27 & 1/28: Manhattaville @ Elmira

1/28: Curry @ Johnson and Wales

2/3: Bowdoin @ Amherst

2/11: Norwich @ Castleton

Women

1/20: Manhattanville @ Norwich

1/27 & 1/28: Gustavus Adolphus @ Concordia (Minn.)

1/28 & 1/29: Plattsburgh @ Elmira

2/3: Bowdoin @ Amherst

10. Too early for tournament talk?

If you ask some people it's never too early while others will claim it's always too early.  Though I had a few thoughts brewing my opinion on this question has changed since earlier today.  So, for now, it's too early and I only have nine thoughts.  Have a great week, everyone.

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