College Games to Watch: October 24 to 30

With just two weeks left in the regular season, it’s a four-way tie for first in the America East (AE), including UAlbany and New Hampshire, who will clash this Friday.

UAlbany (9-5, 2-1 AE) looks to get back in winning ways after dropping their two most recent contests in one-goal decisions, including a  1-0 loss in double overtime to Vermont. Despite this, the Greyhounds still have a 2-1 conference record, taking down Bryant and Maine earlier this season.

New Hampshire (7-6, 2-1 AE) is in a similar boat, with their lone loss to Vermont and wins over Maine and Providence. Wildcats senior captain Nicole Poulakis earned her second consecutive America East Offensive Player of the Week and third overall this season after boasting a 12-point weekend. The Ontario native tallied four goals in a 7-0 shutout over UMass Lowell and the lone two goals in an 8-2 loss to Boston College.

In their matchup last season, UAlbany claimed a 3-2 victory over New Hampshire.

In a rematch of the 2024 Big Ten (B1G) Conference Championship, reigning winner Michigan will travel to Evanston, Ill. to take on Northwestern.

Despite dropping to No. 2 in this week’s National Field Hockey Association (NFHCA) Coaches Poll for the first time this season, Northwestern (13-1, 5-0 B1G) finished out last week with two B1G victories, including a crucial 2-1 win over Maryland. The clean sheet weekend earned Juliana Boon her first B1G Freshmen of the Week accolades, while Ashley Sessa notched her fifth B1G Offensive Player of the Week honor. Boon has contributed nine shutouts and leads the division in goals against average (0.50) and save percentage (.873). Sessa leads the ‘Cats’ offensive efforts, securing four goals and an assist to total for nine points over the past two games.

Michigan hits the road this week, traveling to Iowa on Sunday after their title-defending matchup against Northwestern. The Wolverines share the second spot in the B1G standings with Ohio State, both holding a 3-2 conference record. Michigan dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Buckeyes last Sunday.

Currently the top-seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Wake Forest (13-2, 6-0 ACC) extended their unblemished conference record with a home sweep last weekend. The Demon Deacons topped West Coast foes Stanford and then-No. 19 California to remain unbeaten at Kentner Stadium. Reabetswe Phume, who has been a staple on the backline, was recently selected to South Africa’s FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup squad, joining teammates Mia Schoenbeck and Ava Moore, who were selected for the U.S. side.

Duke (10-4, 4-2 ACC) will host this match-up, with ACC Defensive Player of the Week Kaiya Chepow defending her home cage. The sophomore goalkeeper secured nine saves last weekend to earn her ninth and 10th victories of the season. The Blue Devils secured a 3-1 victory at Boston College and a thrilling 1-0 victory at Uconn.

Bates (11-2, 6-2 NESCAC) is enjoying a dominant season, recently shutting out Connecticut College, 4-0, for the team’s senior night, and reinforcing the Bobcats’ New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) second spot standing. Middlebury (9-4, 5-3) also celebrated their senior class last Saturday, but could not find success against No. 5 Tufts, falling 2-1. Emma McCann netted the lone goal for the Panthers.

Middlebury holds a decisive 44-5-1 record in all-time series over the Bobcats.

With their single loss of the season coming back in August 29, Endicott (16-1, 6-0 CNE) holds the longest active win streak in Division III with 16. The Gulls also lead the division in goals per game (5.53), while goalkeeper Faith Minickene leads in save percentage (0.895).

After winning four-straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) titles, Johnson & Wales (8-7, 3-3 CNE) has faced some challenges in the Conference of New England (CNE). The Wildcats most recently dropped a 4-0 match to Western New England, a game that Endicott won 5-0. This duo has only matched up once before, in 2023, when the Gulls had a 1-0 victory.

Nazareth faces a tough task this Saturday, as they attempt to take down No. 21 SUNY Geneseo.

It's been a far cry from their one-win 2023 season so far for Nazareth (11-4, 7-1 E8), who is riding a five-game win streak after defeating St. John Fisher this past Wednesday. Sophomore Michaela Cushman tallied twice in the 3-0 shutout, and leads the Golden Flyers in goals (15).

With one of the best records in Division III, SUNY Geneseo (16-1, 8-0) looks on track to have another undefeated season in the Empire 8 (E8). The Knights will face Nazareth on Saturday, followed by Houghton next Wednesday for their regular season closer.

Christopher Newport (15-0) maintained their top spot in NFHCA DIII polls unanimously for the fourth consecutive week. The Captains boast victories over six teams currently among national ranks, including No. 2 Johns Hopkins and No. 4 Salisbury. Still unbeaten, Christopher Newport came back from a weekend hiatus to defeat St. Mary's, 7-1, this past Wednesday.

Rowan (12-3, 4-0 NJAC) remains unbeaten in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play, recently leading past No. 22 TCNJ, 2-1, in shootouts, and Kean by a score of 5-2. Senior goalkeeper Mariah Juiliano earned her second NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honor as she spanned 11 saves in the two wins, including a key stop in overtime against the Lions. Sophia Weisler secured her second consecutive Rookie of the Week award with a goal in each game.

In their last matchup, Rowan shutout Christopher Newport, 4-0, in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Shippensburg (13-2, 5-2, PSAC) looks to bounce back this week after Bloomsburg handed them their second loss of the season in shootouts. The Raiders outshot the Huskies, 17-9, but could not find the back of the cage. Sophomore Elania Fragassi notched Shippensburg’s lone shootout goal, while goalkeeper Emma Albee—who leads the division in goals against average (0.34)—did not allow a single goal in the 80 minutes of game play.

Mansfield (5-10, 1-6 PSAC) looks to secure their second Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) win this week, their first coming against Frostburg State earlier this season. Despite their 1-6 record, all of the Mounties' dropped PSAC games were within a one-goal margin.

Southern New Hampshire (SNHU) will be going for their tenth consecutive win over Southern Connecticut State (SCSU) this weekend at home.

Tied for fourth in the Northeast-Ten (NE10) alongside Adelphi, SNHU (11-4, 7-2) picked up a crucial victory against Pace this past week. After going down a goal in the first minute, the Penmen rallied to score three consecutive goals in the 3-2 victory.

SCSU (8-7, 5-4 NE10) also finds themselves tied in the NE10 standings, neck-and-neck with Pace in the sixth place spot. The Owls most recently took down Molloy, 7-1, after previously falling to Saint Anselm, 3-0.

This past weekend was a big one for Indiana and Michigan State, who both upset ranked B1G teams. Now, the two will clash in a battle of the underdogs on Sunday.

For Indiana (7-7, 2-3 B1G), it was a shootout win over No. 11 Maryland on Friday, the first time the Hoosiers have defeated Maryland in program history. Freshman Molly Stutte netted the tying goal in the fourth quarter, sending the match to overtime and eventually shootouts.

Michigan State (5-9, 1-4 B1G) found their success against No. 18 Ohio State in a 4-3 barn burner. Four different Spartans tallied goals in the win.

The two goalkeepers were honored as B1G Co-Defensive Player of the Week for their heroics this past weekend. Sadie Canelli of Indiana turned away four shootout attempts from the Terrapins, and recorded a career-high seven saves. Michigan State's Lyra Gavino made ten saves in the win over Ohio State.

A Philly clash will cap the weekend, with Penn traveling to Saint Joseph's Hawk Hill.

Most recently, Saint Joseph's (7-8, 2-2 A10) dropped a close contest in a nationally ranked test against No. 7 Liberty last Sunday. Ava Smith tallied the Hawks' lone goal in the 2-1 defeat. Meanwhile, Penn trumped another city foe—Temple—for their third straight win. Three unique goal scorers tallied for the Quakers in the 3-2 victory on the road. This win streak is their longest of the season thus far for Penn.

The Hawks have won the past five match-ups against the Quakers.

Tied atop the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom standings, Misericordia and Stevens will face off on Wednesday.

Misericordia (13-2, 4-0 MAC) has made their way back up in the conference standings after finishing 2-5 in MAC play last season. Within their four most recent victories, the Cougars took down Arcadia and DeSales—two teams that had lost to in 2024. The team has also notched an impressive three consecutive 5-0 shutouts.

After falling to Stevenson on October 8, Stevens (13-2, 4-0 MAC) has turned it around with four straight MAC victories, and a combined scoreline of 18-3. The Ducks squeezed out a 2-1 overtime victory against DeSales on Wednesday, seeing the golden goal from Molly DiCampli. It was just the third conference double overtime match in program history for Stevens, with the other two coming against Misericorida, in 2019 and 2024.

The West Coast crew of the ACC will face off in their last match of the regular season.

Cal (6-7, 2-5 ACC) will host this historic match-up, which dates back to 1976. The Bears fell flat in ACC play this weekend after a stellar performance the previous weekend. After taking down Boston College in shootouts on October 10, the team went on to defeat then-No. 5 Syracuse, tying the program record for highest ranked victory. Liz Klompmaker's second quarter goal was the deciding factor in the 1-0 win, while Delphine Ayitey-Hammond made seven saves in goal.

Although Stanford (6-8, 2-5 ACC) could not defeat Syracuse, falling 2-1 that same weekend, the Cardinal picked up two ACC wins of their own—over Boston College and Louisville. Most recently, it was a 4-1 victory over Davidson, and first road win of the season for Stanford.