Minnesota heads to UMD, Yale, Quinnipiac Meet in ECAC Opener: Women’s Hockey Weekly Preview

It's another loaded week of action from the WCHA, ECAC and more as teams continue to build their resumes; headlined by a top-four matchup in Duluth and a nationally-ranked meeting in Connecticut.

Minnesota celebrate a goal in a matchup against Ohio State. | Matt Krohn, gophersports.com

With the season now a month old, things have begun to shakeout across the nation; the top of WCHA is once again the class of the county, but some questions remain; notably can Boston University right the ship after five consecutive losses to open the schedule? 

The last weekend of October provides the opportunity to begin to separate contenders and pretenders as multiple teams have an opportunity to make a statement including Minnesota-Duluth again trying to prove it belongs in the same class as the perennial top-three, Brown having a chance to back up a statement win last week, and Boston College looks to get to 3-0 in conference play and build a case it can be a dark horse in a Hockey East that was picked to be a three-team race.

No. 3 Minnesota continues to run top-ranked gauntlet 

Fresh off a series split with No. 2 Ohio State in a potential Frozen Four preview, the No. 3 Golden Gophers' schedule does not lighten up, as a road trip to Duluth is on tap this weekend. It will be the second of three consecutive weekends facing a top-four ranked opponent for Minnesota, with a trip to top-ranked Wisconsin on deck.

Minnesota responded to a 4-1 defeat on Saturday with an offensive explosion on Sunday, putting six past the two Buckeye netminders. Despite the Gophers' first loss of the season on Saturday, Hannah Clark set her career mark for saves with 43 . On Sunday, Nelli Laitinen and Josefin Bouveng each chipped in three points in a victory, which would be overshadowed by a benches clearing brawl after the final whistle.

No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth comes into the series with the only blemishes on its record being a pair of losses to No. 1 Wisconsin in the WCHA opening series, including a 4-3 defeat that nearly ended the nation’s longest winning streak, 21 straight wins dating back to last January.

This past weekend against Minnesota State, sophomore standout Caitlin Kraemer extended her point streak to seven to start the season, posting a pair of goals and assists in the series. The Canadian Olympic hopeful sits at 11 points, including seven goals, to follow up her Julie Chu Rookie of the Year award winning freshman season a year ago.

The Gophers will be without sophomore blue-liner Chloe Primerano for the first game of the series, after she was suspended for her role in the postgame brawl last weekend against the Buckeyes. The former IIHF Women’s U18 Worlds MVP has posted a goal and a pair of assists in six games so far this season.

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Battle for Connecticut in ECAC Opener

As is tradition, the ECAC will be the last conference to get in-conference play started, however one of the league’s marquee matchups headlines opening weekend. Separated by just over ten miles, No. 13 Yale will host No. 7 Quinnipiac for a one-off conference matchup, with the return match scheduled for the final day of the regular season in late February. 

Quinnipiac is fresh off a sweep of a nationally-ranked and previously unbeaten Northeastern, as the Huskies had no answer for Kahlen Lamarche, who posted seven goals over the two games. Lamarche now sits at 12 goals and seven assists across the first eight games of the season, including a trio of hat tricks and four game winning goals.

MARCHY NOT MESSING AROUND🤯#BobcatNation x #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/8k1I3hPHEN

— Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey (@QU_WIH) October 18, 2025

Yale opened up its schedule last weekend, with the Bulldogs sweeping Robert Morris University in convincing fashion, outscoring the Colonials 9-2 over the two games. Naomi Boucher orchestrated the offense, assisting on four goals, including three in the season opener. Carina DiAntonio got the scoring started for Yale, scoring within the first three minutes, before chipping in an insurance goal to seal the first game, and the third goal of game two, the 40th of her career. 

First goal of the season goes to....THE CAPTAIN!

Yale 1, RMU 0 | P1, 17:14 pic.twitter.com/B7BdjRotse

— Yale Women’s Hockey (@YaleWHockey) October 17, 2025

The two sides have split the last eight matchups in the series, with each team taking three regulation wins and a shootout victory, dating back to the start of the 2022 season. Both sides enter the matchup undefeated, with Quinnipiac winning its first eight matchups and Yale off to a 2-0 start.

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No. 11 St. Cloud State at No.2 Ohio State (Friday, Saturday): The Huskies have not won in regulation since doing so in the first three games of the season, going just 1-3 over the last four with the last two being an overtime split against St. Thomas. It won’t be easy to reverse that trend as they head to Columbus to face a Buckeye team that'll be missing Jordan Petrie on Friday after she was suspended following an altercation after the team’s first defeat of the season.

HUSKIES WIN IT IN OT 🚨#NCAAHockey x 🎥 B1G+ / @SCSUHuskies_WHK pic.twitter.com/KqmFrlvqYu

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) October 17, 2025

New Hampshire at No. 15 Boston University (Friday): After four competitive games against teams ranked in the top ten, it seemed like a home matchup with Brown would give the Terriers their first win but a goals in the final minute of the middle frame and the opening minute of the third denied them once again. The start of conference play gives the reigning Hockey East champs an opportunity to wipe the slate clean as they face a UNH team that has had an unusual start with the Wildcats unbeaten on the road (3-0-1) and winless at home (0-3-0) as they head to Walter Brown Arena.

No. 7 Quinnipiac at Brown (Saturday): Brown downed a pair of Hockey East teams to open the season, including an upset on the road against a ranked Boston University team. Wins over Princeton on Friday and another ranked win over Quinnipiac could see the Bears move into the polls, the latter of those two could be a trap game for the Bobcats as they face Yale in a ranked matchup the night before.

Monique Lyons puts the Bears on top! #EverTrue pic.twitter.com/gdFFIeoaWN

— Brown Women's Hockey (@BrownU_WHockey) October 18, 2025

Boston College at Merrimack (Saturday): The Eagles will look to stay unbeaten in Hockey East with a road trip to North Andover, where they fell in an upset last February. The Warriors will try to replicate the feat, but will have to do so without the women who opened the scoring in last year’s 5-3 win, as Sage Babey will be on the opposite bench after making the in-conference transfer this offseason.