The opening weekend of NCAA women's hockey saw only four teams involved in regular season non-conference action with Mercyhurst and Lindenwood taking sweeps.
Mercyhurst and Lindenwood both kicked off the 2026-27 NCAA women's hockey regular season with a pair of wins on the weekend.
Several other teams were in action for exhibition games, but the series' between Merychurst and RPI, and Lindenwood and Post were the only real contests on the schedule.
Mercyhurst's Stars Come To Play
Mercyhurst is relying on some prominent returning players to lead their attack this season, and if weekend one is any indication, those players are ready. That includes 2025-26 leading scorer Julia Perjus who had a goal and two assists in Saturday's 3-0 win and also scored in Friday's 3-1 win. Magdalena Luggin made 11 saves for the shutout in Saturday's 3-0 win, while Reese Keating allowed two goals on 45 shots in the game.
International Flare Evident For Lindenwood
At a time when there's significant debate occurring about the future for international athletes in the NCAA, Lindenwood's international cohort put on a show. In their series opener against Post University, a 5-0 win, Norway's Tilde Simensen, Thea Rustbakken, and Silje Gundersen scored, as did France's Elina Zilliox. In their second win, a 7-0 decision, Hong Kong's Renee Ng, Slovakia's Tatiana Blichova, Norway's Rustbakken, Italy's Maddalena Bedont, and Canada's Tatem Starlight-Yellowfly all scored. And Hungary's Krisztina Weiler had five assists. In game two, Sweden's Ebba Ridderstolpe picked up her first NCAA win and shutout making 15 stops.
