WCHA teams easily handled a weekend facing nationally ranked programs from the East, asserting their conference's position as tops in NCAA women's hockey.
WCHA teams easily handled a weekend facing nationally ranked programs from the East, asserting their conference's position as tops in NCAA women's hockey.
Photo by UMD Athletics - WCHA Stakes Claim At Top Conference In NCAA Women's HockeyIf there was any debate surrounding the WCHA's claim as the top conference in NCAA women's hockey, this weekend clarified that position.
Among the top ranked NCAA programs, the WCHA and ECAC both had several programs in the top 15, but this weekend, matchups between teams from the two conferences turned into an all-WCHA event.
Ohio State put together a dominant sweep of 6th ranked St. Lawrence outscoring them 16-1 and outshooting St. Lawrence 82-24.
Minnesota-Duluth, who were ranked 9th on the most recent THN National Rankings, beat 3rd ranked Colgate 3-0 to open their weekend series, and then tied their second game 1-1. Hailey Macleod made 29 saves in Friday's shutout win and followed it with a 37 save performance in Saturday's 1-1 overtime tie to lead the way.
"I feel like everybody showed up, you know, there weren't any holes in the lineup in my opinion," said Minnesota-Duluth head coach Maura Crowell in a school news release.
"I thought our defensive group took a big step this weekend, a lot of them logged a lot of minutes, but just like really sound hockey."
In a final matchup of ranked teams, 4th ranked Minnesota beat 8th ranked Cornell 5-1 powered by a two-goal performance from Abbey Murphy.