Wisconsin, Vermont, Union College, and Saint Anselm will meet in Schenectady, New York to face-off in the fifth instalment of the NCAA women's hockey Icebreaker Tournament with Wisconsin entering as the overwhelming favorites.
The University of Wisconsin Badgers will enter this week's Icebreaker Tournament in Schenectady, New York as the overwhelming favorites. The other teams involved - Vermont, Union, and Saint Anselm - will face a monumental task against the top ranked team in the nation.
Wisconsin will open their event against Vermont on Friday, October 17, with Union facing Saint Anslem later that day.
The winners will then face-off Saturday, October 18 with the losers also playing.
Vermont is coming off their first win this season over a ranked program beating #12 St. Lawrence 2-1 in overtime this weekend.
"Great win for our team today and a historic weekend for the program, getting our first point ever at St. Lawrence," said head coach Jim Plumer. "These were two very intense, closely fought games and I really feel like we got better as the weekend went on."
Wisconsin enters the event, their first time participating, boasting a perfect 6-0-0 record, one of only seven remaining undefeated programs in the nation, outside of the ECAC's Ivy League programs who have yet to play.
Wisconsin swept #4 Minnesota-Duluth this past weekend and are led by a collection of American national team members.
Union College came out of the gate strong this season with a 3-1-2 record. They're coming off a loss and a tie last weekend against New Hampshire. Saint Anselm currently sits atop the NEWHA standings with a 3-2-0 record winning their three conference games, while dropping match ups against Maine and Boston College. Fourth year forward Brooklyn Schneiderhan has put up good numbers for Saint Anselm this season scoring eight points through five games.
The NCAA women's hockey Icebreaker tournament was first launched in 2019 with Minnesota-Duluth taking the inaugural title over Colgate, Connecticut, and Mercyhurt. Following two seasons without the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Icebreaker returned in 2022 with Clarkson winning the title. After St. Cloud State won the 2023 title, Ohio State took their turn hosting and winning the event in 2024 in a field that included Penn State, Cornell, and Stonehill.