Here are the first women’s college hockey Power 10 rankings of the 2022-23 season after a weekend with stunning sweep in the WCHA and a team out east cruising to victory outdoors at one of America’s most historic venues.
New rankings will come out every other week until the women’s hockey championship begins in March. They are mine alone, and I base them on a combination of the PairWise (NPI), strength of schedule, recent results and trends that have emerged over the course of the season. With that in mind, here is this week’s Power 10:
1. Ohio State — The defending national champions (18-2-2, 13-2-1) were idle this weekend in the midst of a four-game winning streak. In that span, they rolled past then-No. 10 Cornell and Lindenwood, outscoring them 23-4.
SCOREBOARD: Click or tap here for the latest scores around NC women’s college hockey
The Buckeyes have dominated from the start of the season, faltering just twice in losses to two of the nation’s most formidable teams in Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth. They rank among the best in goals-for and against per game and penalty kill percentage on top of a Division I-best power play that scores 37.5 percent of the time.
They return to action this weekend against No. 8 Wisconsin, who is looking to end a skid.
2. Yale — The Bulldogs (14-1-1, 8-1-1 ECAC) have won six-straight, taking care of No. 10 Clarkson, 3-1, then St. Lawrence, 4-2, on the road.
Watch Hartje’s goal here!! pic.twitter.com/XmPXMeoL6C
— Yale Women’s Hockey (@YaleWHockey) January 7, 2023
Yale is one of the best defensive teams in the country, giving up just 1.38 goals per game and killing 93.48 percent of penalties. They’ve cemented themselves as true contenders with ranked wins over Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Cornell, Penn State, Clarkson and Princeton.
They have a busy schedule this week, visiting St. Anselm on Tuesday before a home-and-home with conference foe Brown on Thursday and Saturday.
3. Quinnipiac — The Bobcats (20-3-0, 10-1-0 ECAC) continue to dominate, beating Harvard 3-1 outdoors at Fenway Park on Friday before downing Dartmouth 3-2 Saturday.
(2:00) “Swing”- Trace Adkins ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/lqCglNgcxS
— QU Women’s Hockey (@QU_WIH) January 6, 2023
The weekend sweep comes off the heels of a valiant split with then-No. 2 Wisconsin, bouncing back from a 3-0 shutout with one of their own. They check every statistical box, and have big time wins over the Badgers, Colgate, Cornell, UConn and Providence.
FROZEN FENWAY: Quinnipiac, Holy Cross each take home wins at Fenway Park
QU faces one of the highest flying teams in Division I this week when they visit the No. 5 Raiders again before another stiff matchup at No. 9 Cornell.
4. Minnesota — The Gophers (16-3-2, 13-1-2-2 WCHA) have won six in a row, making light work of Merrimack and New Hampshire in the East/West Showcase this weekend, beating the Warriors, 9-2, before rolling the Wildcats, 8-1.
Minnesota boasts some of the top individual producers in the nation in reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner Taylor Heise as well as Grace Zumwinkle, who are in a three-way tie with Colgate’s Danielle Serdachny with 38 points. On top of that, Skylar Vetter is coming off WCHA Goaltender of the Month honors.
They have a chance to continue cruising along with upcoming series against St. Thomas and Bemidji State.
PATTY KAZ: Click or tap here for the latest Patty Kazmaier Award watchlist
5. Colgate — The Raiders (17-2-1, 8-1-0) have been one of the highest flying teams in the nation all season, and they continued the trend with a huge offensive showing in wins against RPI and Union.
Colgate won 4-0 against the Engineers before dominating the Dutchwomen, 10-0, setting a program record for goals in a game against an ECAC opponent. Eight different skaters got on the board against Union, while the RPI win featured four different goal-scorers, including Serdachny who has been a force this season.
They will visit Syracuse on Tuesday before a tough weekend against in-conference against Quinnipiac and Princeton.
6. Northeastern — The Huskies (19-2-1, 15-2-1 HEA) are once again spoiled with another season atop Hockey East and being a staple among the top of the polls. They returned to action on Saturday with a 6-0 win over crosstown rival Boston University to come out of the holiday break.
They’ve won seven in a row, and had four straight wins against ranked teams (Princeton, Cornell, Vermont) to close out the first semester. Alina Müller, Chloé Aurard, Maureen Murphy and company continue to be among the best players in the nation, while Gwyneth Phillips has stepped in seamlessly between the pipes in place of program great Aerin Frankel.
The Hockey East Player of the Week makes it look too easy!#HowlinHuskies pic.twitter.com/PmCjuT6Rlh
— Northeastern Women’s Hockey (@GoNUwhockey) January 9, 2023
Northeastern will take on two teams receiving votes in Boston College and Maine this weekend. The Black Bears upset the Huskies, 1-0, at the start of the year.
7. Minnesota Duluth — The Bulldogs (15-6-1, 9-6-1 WCHA) continue to do more than just hang around in one of the toughest conferences in all of college hockey, walking into a sold-out road series against Wisconsin and sweeping the Badgers.
How about that Anneke Linser? Two games, two goals against the Badgers! pic.twitter.com/HJyA4xjfyu
— UMD Women’s Hockey (@UMDWHockey) January 8, 2023
Goaltender Emma Soderberg was sensational for Duluth, making 44 saves in Game 1’s 3-1 comeback win before shutting the door with 28 saves in a 1-0 victory in Game 2. UMD is unbeaten in five games (4-0-1), including a win over No. 1 Ohio State on Dec. 3. Since starting the season 5-5-0, the Bulldogs are 10-1-1.
Duluth is back at it against Bemidji State this weekend before a battle with St. Thomas.
8. Wisconsin — The Badgers (16-5-1, 12-3-1 WCHA) have hit quite a speed bump in recent weeks after a sweep at the hands of UMD last weekend, a series that saw one of the nation’s most potent attacks held to just one goal at home. That followed up a split against Quinnipiac in which Wisconsin was held scoreless in Game 2.
Considering how strong the Badgers’ offense has been as a whole this year, the power play has been an area of concern, working at just 15.38 percent. They’ve gone four games without a power play goal, going 0-for-8 in that span as well as 0-for-7 over the course of the three-game skid.
RANKINGS: Click or tap here for the latest USCHO poll
It doesn’t get any easier for the Badgers as they have to deal with a road trip to Ohio State this weekend.
9. Cornell –— The Big Red (9-5-2, 7-2-1 ECAC) bounced back from a sweep at home against OSU with strong showing in-conference with wins against Union and RPI last time out, beating the Dutchwomen, 7-2, before knocking off the Engineers, 1-0.
Several Cornell skaters had big weekends in the wins, including leaders like Gillis Frechette (1g, 2a), Izzy Daniel (1g, 2a) as well as Avi Adam, who had a hat trick against Union.
The Big Red have struggled against some of their stronger opponents this season in the Buckeyes, QU, Yale and Northeastern. They have another challenging weekend on tap when they host Princeton and Quinnipiac.
10. Clarkson – The Golden Knights (17-6-1, 6-4-0 ECAC) are in the mix once again, enjoying another solid season. They responded to a tough loss against Yale on Friday by defeating Brown on Saturday.
Darcie Lappan makes goals like these look EASY 🤩
The senior forward’s goal was the game-winner as the Golden Knights took down Brown at home in Potsdam by a final score of 2-1. #ECACHockey x @ClarksonWHockey pic.twitter.com/rovg5mF7UV
— ECAC Hockey (@ecachockey) January 7, 2023
Clarkson has been solid in each facet of the game, benefitting from stellar production by Gabrielle David and Darcie Lapan, but they have struggled against their top peers in the conference, like the Bulldogs, Colgate, Quinnipiac and Cornell.
They get a big opportunity to build some momentum in the coming weeks with matchups against RPI, Union, St. Lawrence and Brown before the schedule really ramps up to end the regular season.
