College Games to Watch: October 24 - 30

It’s another Big Ten (B1G) matchup slated for Friday afternoon between Rutgers and No. 17 Penn State.

After a tough three straight conference losses, Rutgers (6-7, 3-4 B1G) had a successful two win weekend that included a huge 1-0 victory over No. 3 ranked Ohio State. The game-winning goal came from freshman Sophie Kuiper, who was named this week’s B1G Freshman of the Week. In addition to her goal to lift the Scarlet Knights over the Buckeyes, Kuiper also scored the game winning goal the game prior. Rutgers’ offense has been powerful of late, but their defense has been lights out, in large part to B1G and NFHCA Division I Defensive Player of the Week, Sophia Howard. Howard made critical saves in back-to-back games to record consecutive shutouts and help extend the Scarlet Knights’ winning streak. 

The Penn State Nittany Lions (8-7, 2-4 B1G) are coming off of a much-needed overtime win against Michigan State. After the Spartans scored early, Julienne van Bekkum tallied the tying goal late in the fourth quarter. It was junior Ella Jennes who sent in a backhand shot in overtime to seal the 2-1 victory. Phia Gladieux has been an offensive machine this season, leading the conference in goals with 19 on the season so far. 

Last season’s meeting ended in a 1-0 double overtime victory for the Scarlet Knights.

A top ten B1G matchup is set this weekend between the two teams who sit atop the B1G standings: No. 7 Michigan and No. 1 Northwestern. 

Michigan (11-2, 4-1 B1G) comes into Friday’s game looking to find themselves back in the win column after Maryland snapped their 11 game win streak this past weekend. While the Wolverines outshot the Terps nine to five, they were ultimately unable to finish – a surprising outcome for a team that had scored 18 goals in the previous five matches. With impressive depth, those 18 goals were tallied by 11 unique goal scorers.

Meanwhile, Northwestern (15-0, 5-0 B1G) has been on a roll this season, with their program best start of 15-0. Sophomore Ashley Sessa has been key in generating offense for the Wildcats, as she accumulated 11 points last weekend, off of four goals and three assists in Northwestern’s two dominant wins. Sessa was named this week’s B1G and NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week, her second time receiving both accolades this year. Goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz retains the best save percentage in the division (0.891).

Maryland (10-4, 5-2 B1G) picked up a crucial win over Michigan this past weekend, taking the Wolverines down 2-0 off of goals from Hope Rose and Josie Hollamon. Freshman Ella Gaitan has played a huge role in the Terps offense this season, being third on the team in points and second in goals. Meanwhile, sophomore Alyssa Klebasko has been strong in net, only conceding 11 goals. Maryland’s only B1G losses were 1-0 to No. 1 Northwestern and 2-1 to No. 3 Ohio State. 

The Princeton Tigers (9-4, 5-0 Ivy) remain perfect in conference play after a huge overtime win against Ivy League foe Harvard. Both goals in the 2-1 victory came from sophomore Ella Cashman, with Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week Beth Yeager assisting both. Cashman and Yeager, along with Grace Schulze have been predominant offensive choices this season for the Tigers, combining for 16 of their 25 goals scored.

It’s two big conference matches for North Carolina this weekend, as the No. 2 Tar Heels host No. 4 Virginia on Friday and No. 9 Boston College on Sunday.

The reigning national champion Tar Heels have been breezing by opponents, now 12-0 overall and 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. Sophomore Charly Bruder has solidified herself as a offensive machine, leading the ACC in goals (17), shots on goal (42), points (42), and multi-goal games (5). The three-time ACC Offensive Player of the Week also leads the division in goals per game (1.42), while her counterpart Ryleigh Heck leads in assists per game (1.08).

Virginia (12-2, 5-1 ACC) picked up a crucial ACC win last weekend in a narrow 3-2 shootout victory over No. 12 Syracuse. Senior Emily Field was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week after making a defensive save to deny the Orange a goal in the second overtime period.

It’s a rematch of the 2023 Landmark championship this Saturday when Scranton hosts No. 23 Susquehanna.

After just their second loss of the season – a 2-1 conference heartbreaker against Catholic – Scranton (15-2, 6-1 Landmark) has heated back up with five straight wins. The past three have all been shutouts, as the Royals outscored their opponents 14-0. Graduate student Bridget Abraldes has accumulated 15 assists, putting her third in assists per game (0.94) in the division.

Susquehanna’s (11-5, 7-0 Landmark) past three games have all been wins, and they remain perfect in conference play. Landmark Offensive Player of the Week Sophia Prata notched points in all three – tallying two goals and an assist against Goucher, two goals against Moravian, and one against Juniata.

Last season, Susquehanna defeated Scranton in shootouts to claim the Landmark crown.

No. 15 MIT seeks revenge from No. 7 Babson in a Beaver showdown this Saturday. The past three seasons, Babson has defeated MIT in the New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) final.

Babson (13-3, 7-0 NEWMAC) is looking renewed after a few early season losses to NESCAC teams, now having gone a perfect 7-0 in NEWMAC play and picking up a 3-1 win over Bowdoin in between. After 9-0 and 6-0 wins last week, the Beavers swept the NEWMAC awards with Katie Guden taking home Offensive Athlete of the Week for tallying 12 points and Berit Sharrow claiming Defensive Athlete of the Week.

Similarly, MIT (12-3, 7-0 NEWMAC) has bounced back after early losses to Tufts and Amherst with eight straight wins. In their three wins from the past week, the Beavers accumulated 22 goals and conceded just one. Ingrid Tomovski and Eva Oppenheim each have 13 goals on the season.

Currently sitting atop the MAC Commonwealth, No. 24 Stevenson and No. 16 Messiah will face off on Saturday.

Both Stevenson and Messiah are 4-0 in conference play, upsetting mutual MAC opponent No. 9 York by scorelines of 1-0 and 3-2, respectively. For the Stevenson Mustangs (13-2-1), it took shootouts to claim victory, while the Messiah Falcons (10-4) saw an overtime gamewinner from Leah Bryner. Other conference wins to compare include Widener, who the Mustangs defeated 3-2 last weekend and the Falcons downed 4-1 this past week.

Both teams lost to DIII powerhouses Johns Hopkins and Salisbury earlier this season, with Messiah’s additional two losses coming from Christopher Newport and Ursinus.

Last season, the Falcons took down the Mustangs, 6-1, in the MAC Commonwealth semifinal, before going on to win the conference title. Stevenson has never won in their 16 meetings.

No. 1 Shippensburg (14-0, 7-0 PSAC) remains undefeated this week, even after facing No. 3 East Stroudsburg in a midweek Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) match-up. After trailing 2-0 to the Warriors at halftime, a late push ultimately propelled the Raiders to a 3-2 victory. Agus Garibaldi, who sits second in Division II in goals per game (1.14), tallied two goals and an assist in the win. Emma Albee made six saves in goal, showing off her goalkeeping prowess and why she leads the division in save percentage (0.873).

IUP (5-8, 3-4 PSAC) meanwhile is fighting for a spot in the PSAC postseason, with two more conference games to go against tough opponents. The Hawks suffered a few narrow losses, including 2-1 to No. 9 Mansfield, 1-0 to No. 4 Bloomsburg, and a 1-0 shootout loss to No. 2 Kutztown. Goalkeeper Anita Planella made an impressive 10 saves in the loss to the Golden Bears.

Saint Joseph’s (13-2, 4-1 A10) continues to find success, notching two shutouts this past weekend after defeating No. 4 Virginia the weekend prior. The Hawks dominated the 5-2 win over the Cavaliers, with Julia Duffhuis tallying the second and third goals. After the most recent victories, Saint Joseph’s picked up the Atlantic 10 (A10) Offensive and Defensive Player of the Weeks awards – for Manu Ghigliotti and Kate Cist, respectively. Ghigliotti tallied two assists in the 7-0 win over Richmond and a hat trick in the 4-0 win over Drexel. Cist led a defensive line that did not allow a single shot on goal.

Last weekend Harvard (10-3, 4-1 Ivy) faced No. 2 Northwestern and No. 15 Princeton and came up short in both matches. It was a close 3-2 loss against the Wildcats, and a 2-1 OT defeat to the Tigers. Goalkeeper Tess Shahbo made five saves, bringing her career save total past the century mark at 102.

Last October, the Crimson had a 1-0 victory over the Hawks.

Riding on a high of toppling No. 1 Middlebury last weekend, Tufts will host Roger Williams at Ounjian Field this Sunday.

Last Saturday, Tufts (11-2, 7-2 NESCAC) did something no team has been able to do in 43 games - defeat No. 1 Middlebury. It was a battle until the final buzzer sounded, but ultimately two goals from senior Kayleigh McDonald, the NESCAC Player of the Week, proved to be all the Jumbos needed to lift themselves to victory over the Panthers. McDoanld’s pair of goals, both scored off penalty corners, were the first two of the defender’s collegiate career. The win put Tufts 11-2 on the season, and is a huge boost of confidence going into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Roger Williams (13-5, 3-1 CNE) has been an offensive force presence this season, racking up 76 goals so far. The Hawks are currently on a six game winning streak after their recent 2-0 shutout over Connecticut College this past Tuesday. The lone conference loss for Roger Williams was to Endicott – the team that defeated them in the conference title game last fall. Chelsea King and Maddy Monahan have been very strong offensively, while Jill Haudenshield has been solid in the goal this season for the Hawks. This match will wrap up the regular season for Roger Williams.

No. 9 Mansfield and No. 4 Bloomsburg will rematch with conference implications. In their meeting back on September 15, Bloomsburg won 1-0.

An upset over No. 2 Kutztown last weekend has given Mansfield (10-5, 4-2 PSAC) an edge as they finish out conference play. Jenna Duke and Ashtyn Price scored in the 2-1 victory, while Sophia Vadnais tallied the lone goal the match before – a crucial 1-0 conference win over Slippery Rock. Graduate student goalkeeper August Lewis made six saves in each game, including on a penalty stroke taken by the Rock. With that win, Lewis broke the program record for most career wins for a goalkeeper (33) and was tabbed the recent PSAC and NFHCA Division II Defensive Player of the Week.

Bloomsburg (12-4, 4-3) meanwhile has fallen just behind Mansfield in the PSAC rankings, splitting their last two matches with a win over Millersville and OT loss to No. 3 East Stroudsburg. Kara Koch, who tallied the gamewinner over the Mauraders, leads her team in assists (8) while Aydan McFarland leads in goals (18).

In the heart of conference play, Arcadia (10-6, 4-0 MAC) finds themselves at the top of the MAC Freedom. After falling to Stevens last year in regular season play and the MAC Freedom semifinal, the Knights made a statement this past Wednesday by defeating the Ducks, 4-2. Arcadia found themselves trailing 2-0 in the midweek match but scored four unanswered goals in the second half from four different Knights.

Trailing second in the conference is Lebanon Valley (13-2, 3-1 MAC), who has accumulated an impressive 13 wins so far this season. The Dutchmen most recently dropped a 3-2 match to DeSales – a team Arcadia defeated 2-1 last week. Before that, Lebanon Valley’s only loss of the season was a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of then-No. 13 Bryn Mawr. Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Weidenhammer has been strong in cage, sitting fourth in Division III in save percentage (0.882). Her sister, Claire Weidenhammer, leads the Dutchmen offensively with 13 goals.

DIII: No. 1 Middlebury vs No. 3 Williams | 6:30 PM ET | NSN

Before last weekend, No. 1 Middlebury and No. 3 Williams were two of the three teams left undefeated in Division III. On October 19, Middlebury's 43-game win streak was broken when No. 6 Tufts upset them, 2-1. On a neutral site in Princeton, N.J., Williams was unable to fell No. 2 Salisbury, as the Ephs fell 1-0. Next Tuesday these two NESCAC teams will battle it out in their final match of the regular season.

Despite the loss, Middlebury (12-1, 7-1 NESCAC) continues to dominate, holding highest stats in the division for goals per game, points per game, and scoring margin. The Panthers also lead nearly every offensive category in the NESCAC, inclduing taking the top two spots in points -- Caroline Segal with 36 and Georgianne Defeo with 31.

Williams (12-1, 8-0 NESCAC) is undefeated in NESCAC play, having defeated Tufts early in Septemeber, 1-0. Kiki Higgins scored the lone goal, and currently leads Division III in assists per game (1.08). First-year goalkeeper Ellie Smith ranks fifth overall in save percentage (0.864).