What did we learn through 1 Month of Women's College Hockey?

We've made it about a full month into the NCAA season for women's hockey. There've been teams that have cancelled their seasons, massive amounts of postponements, and in between, we've had some rather shocking games. So, what've we learned throughout the first month of the season?

Hockey East is WIDE open

So, see if you can keep track here: Northeastern has played two games. They are 1-1, and lost to Boston College. Boston College was swept by Providence. Providence lost to UConn. UConn swept Boston University, who split with UNH. UNH got swept by Maine and BC, but handed BU their first loss of the year as a ranked opponent. Maine swept UNH, but split with Holy Cross, who already has two wins so far. Have a headache yet? It seems that the lack of consistency in the schedule has evened out some of the teams in the extremely deep Hockey East.

So what does this all mean? Well, Northeastern looks human - but Providence transfer Maureen Murphy did not dress in either of the BC games for the Huskies, and the game they lost was a 2-1 final - with the game winner coming off of an extremely uncharacteristic blunder by Aerin Frankel. BC LOOKED dominant against UNH on paper, but watching the games, it was significantly closer than the score would indicate. To then get swept by Providence the next week was concerning, but then they came back and swept UConn despite being heavily outgunned due to COVID protocols. Overall, their goaltending has been shaky, and their offense hasn't been consistent enough to make up for their lack of defensive depth.

Providence has looked outstanding so far, with junior Sandra Abstreiter stepping into the starter's role with relative ease. But two of their top three scorers are defenders, and they are going to need to have somebody not named Sara Hjalmarsson step up on offense to keep the momentum going.

BU has been the MOST concerning, as they have really struggled to control the pace of play, with a league-worst goals for percentage of 38.5% at even strength. But they also have one of the worst PDOs in the entire country. So do the Wildcats, who have seen a young roster perform as such at times. They will have moments where they thoroughly dominate the play, and then they will have a periodic catastrophic defensive breakdown not two minutes later. Their biggest issue apart from general lack of experience at this level is that their powerplay is absolutely putrid, having gone 0-19 to start the season, the worst mark in the entire country.

Their penalty kill has been strong, and some of their young-guns have stepped up offensively, with sophomore Tamara Thiérus sitting at 6 points in 6 games, finding quite a bit of chemistry with freshman Nicole Kelly and junior Lauren Martin. Their two games against Maine were frustrating, as they probably deserved at least 3 points out of the weekend, but were done in by some poor officiating, and more proof that Ida Kuoppala is a bonafide superstar for the Black Bears. She's clicking at a goal-per-game pace early in her sophomore campaign. As for Holy Cross, it seems I may have been correct in predicting their uptick in competition this year.

Sommer Ross has been brilliant for the Crusaders, and freshman Millie Sirum might be even more dynamic than I originally thought. In all, Hockey East is a complete and utter toss-up. Add in the league's recent announcement that all 10 teams will be in the playoffs this season, and that can only be a positive for women's hockey as a whole.

The ECAC might be down, but they aren't out

The ECAC is down to 4 teams - Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, Colgate, and Clarkson after the 6 Ivys, RPI, and Union have cancelled their seasons. Of those four, only Quinnipiac, Colgate, and Clarkson have played games. Clarkson and Colgate have played 4 games against one another, the Raiders swept a pair against Syracuse, and Quinnipiac obliterated Sacred Heart in a two game set by a combined score of 15-2. All four games between Colgate and Clarkson were barn-burners, with Colgate taking two, Clarkson one, and the two teams playing to a tie in the 4th matchup.

Czech freshman Kalty Kaltounkova came out of the blocks on fire, with 7 points in the Raiders' first 6 games, including a ludicrous tally for her first collegiate goal. Quinnipiac hanging 15 goals on Sacred Heart pushed them into a Top 10 spot in this past week's polls, meaning all three ECAC teams who have played games thus far are in the Top 10.

Add it to the highlight reel 👇

Demers capitalizes on a turnover before Kaltounkova makes the play out of the air 😳 pic.twitter.com/vNpwZsAbFF

— Colgate Women’s Hockey (@ColgateWIH) November 28, 2020

The CHA is...actually really good?

There are at least 4 teams with a legitimate shot at the CHA title this year (RIT and Lindenwood are rebuilding), and it is getting to the point where both Syracuse and Penn State have legitimate arguments for making appearances in the Top 10. Penn State's Kiara Zanon looks like a legitimate superstar, with 9 points in her first 6 career games for the Nittany Lions.

Syracuse has been getting outstanding play from senior Victoria Klimek, who is clicking at around a goal-per-game. For their trouble, the Orange took Colgate to overtime, and led for a large portion of their series. Robert Morris has seen superb goaltending from both of its netminders, and seem to have a legitimate 1/2 punch in Raygan Kirk and Arielle DeSmet. Although they have both only played two games apiece, they are 1 and 2 in the country in save percentage. Mercyhurst has only played two games thus far, but have looked solid in both.

Who's Out?

Currently, there are 12 teams who have officially cancelled their seasons:
RPI (ECAC)
Harvard (ECAC)
Yale (ECAC)
Dartmouth (ECAC)
Princeton (ECAC)
Cornell (ECAC)
Brown (ECAC)
Union (ECAC)
Post (NEWHA)
St. Anselm (NEWHA)
St. Michael's (NEWHA)
Franklin Pierce (NEWHA)

St. Lawrence and Vermont have yet to play games, but have not given any indications that they intend to cancel.

Trending Up - Europeans in North America

Ida Kuoppala (Finland, Maine), Sara Hjalmarsson (Sweden, Providence), Jenniina Nylund (Finland, St. Cloud State), and Kalty Kaltounkova (Czech Republic, Colgate) all lead their teams in scoring after the first month of the season. Noemi Neubauerová (Czech Republic, Colgate), Līga Miljone (Latvia, Maine), Rahel Enzler (Switzerland, Maine), Klára Hymlárová (Czech Republic, St. Cloud State), and Millie Sirum (Norway, Holy Cross) are all 2nd or 3rd on their teams. In net, Sandra Abstreiter (Germany, Providence), Andrea Braendli (Switzerland, Ohio State), Sanni Ahola (Finland, St. Cloud State), Emma Söderberg (Sweden, Minnesota - Duluth), and Jenna Silvonen (Finland, Mercyhurst) are all the workhorse for their respective programs. There's quite a bit of European talent in the NCAA this season, and they are really taking charge.

Trending Down - Wisconsin's Testing Protocols

The Badgers are a Top 3 team in the country, but have had already had 4 games postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests on their roster. They only were able to split their season opening series with Ohio State, who ALSO was forced to postpone its subsequent matchups after coming in close contact with the Badgers. The whole state of Wisconsin is a raging dumpster fire in general when it comes to positive cases, which begs the question - is it safe for the team to even be playing right now?

Keep An Eye On - Fabulous Freshmen

Penn State's Kiara Zanon is the highest scoring freshman so far, with 9 points in 6 games for the Nittany Lions, good enough for the 3rd highest total in the country thus far. Minnesota State has a pair of freshmen nipping at her heels, with Jamie Nelson and Sydney Langseth both sitting on 8 points in 6 matchups thus far. BC freshman Gaby Roy had 4 goals in her collegiate debut, but has struggled to score since - she still has 7 points in 6 games for the Eagles. Kalty Kaltounkova has been stellar for Colgate, with 7 points in 6 games herself. Minnesota-Duluth's Clara Van Wieren is tied for second in the country in goals with 5.

Providence's Brooke Becker leads all freshmen rearguards with 5 points in 6 games for the Friars. Between the pipes, Penn State's Josie Bothun has been outstanding, starting all 6 games for the Nittany Lions and recording a .944 save percentage and a shutout. Tia Chan has also been tremendous for UConn, seemingly stealing the crease from junior Samantha Carpentier-Yelle with a sparkling .940 save percentage in 3 starts. St. Cloud State's Sanni Ahola has taken over the crease for the Huskies and has been solid, if not unspectacular to the tune of a .920 save percentage in 3 starts, and Kayle Osborne has been good enough for Colgate to take 2.5/4 from a dominant Clarkson squad. The sheer amount of young talent is incredible, and one would have to think that they are just scratching the surface of their potential.

All data courtesy of USCHO.com and College Hockey News.