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Post by purplehaze on Nov 3, 2019 21:48:20 GMT -5
Loss today at UNH 3-0 with lopsided stats - just pulling for the ladies to break into the win column soon as this can't be easy
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Post by longsuffering on Nov 4, 2019 6:47:40 GMT -5
Makes one wish the Men can win the AHA a couple of times before being fed to the wolves in HE.
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Post by sader1970 on Nov 4, 2019 7:56:15 GMT -5
Not sure we would need to "win the AHA a couple of times before being fed to the wolves in HE" because while we seem to struggle to win AHA, somehow we seem to do OK already against HE opponents with a 1-1-1 record against 3 of them this year. If we actually became a HE member, presumably even better players could be recruited to HC and even more success.
Just a theory/opinion.
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Post by purplehaze on Nov 4, 2019 10:31:05 GMT -5
You're right - a men's transition from D.1 AHA to HE would not be such a big jump and we've proven it Much different with the women - no doubt there are major struggles moving from the top of D.3 to the best D.1 conference - I still submit the AA blew it by not scheduling some games this season where we have a talent advantage. Patience is the word with this program for another year, I am afraid.
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Post by longsuffering on Nov 4, 2019 16:30:34 GMT -5
Good points. It's a mystery why we can rise to the occasion against HE teams, many of which are traditional rivals in other sports, but turn in disappointing seasons in the AHA against some teams who would be pre-season exhibition opponents only in other sports.
Another thought is if the talent level isn't that much different between D-1 AHA and D-1 HE, is it worth the extra millions to move up to Men's HE?
Good things could certainly happen if we are able to move up to HE, but another possibility could be we strain our Athletic budget to move up, get stuck in the HE basement and watch as the AHA steadily narrows the gap between the leagues.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Nov 4, 2019 20:34:22 GMT -5
The jump in competition for the women would be the equivalent of our men's team jumping to the ECHL next year.
3 years ago, the women were playing UMass-Boston, Manhattanville and Nichols. Now they face some of the top players in the world. Honestly thought we'd see more ugly games the first couple years. Like of the 13-0 and out shot 70-5 variety. But our ladies have handled the challenge quite well.
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Post by bfoley82 on Nov 8, 2019 0:50:54 GMT -5
You're right - a men's transition from D.1 AHA to HE would not be such a big jump and we've proven it Much different with the women - no doubt there are major struggles moving from the top of D.3 to the best D.1 conference - I still submit the AA blew it by not scheduling some games this season where we have a talent advantage. Patience is the word with this program for another year, I am afraid. Hockey East has never been the top women’s conference. They have been organized for 18 years now and have placed only 11 teams in the Frozen Four. None of them have actually won it. The ECAC has three national championships since 2014 and they are the only eastern team to win a national title.
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Post by HC92 on Nov 8, 2019 6:48:23 GMT -5
Only 4 teams have won a women’s national championship since 2001. Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Wisconsin and Clarkson. I’m not sure the fact that Clarkson happens to be in the ECAC necessarily makes ECAC a better conference than HE. It may be but that wouldn’t be the best evidence of it. Both conferences currently have three teams in the top 10 per the USCHO rankings.
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Post by cruskater31 on Nov 8, 2019 10:17:33 GMT -5
A tough matchup this afternoon against Northeastern. Not very good for attendance at NU and BC to have Friday afternoon tilts. I can't imagine Northeastern's Matthews Arena can't have both a mens and womens game on a Saturday.
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Post by bfoley82 on Nov 8, 2019 13:54:28 GMT -5
Only 4 teams have won a women’s national championship since 2001. Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Wisconsin and Clarkson. I’m not sure the fact that Clarkson happens to be in the ECAC necessarily makes ECAC a better conference than HE. It may be but that wouldn’t be the best evidence of it. Both conferences currently have three teams in the top 10 per the USCHO rankings. Yea three of the national champions play in one conference...pretty sure that is the best conference in the country. Hockey East on the men’s side has been sliding down the last few years since PC’s national championship with the rise of the NCHC
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Post by bfoley82 on Nov 8, 2019 13:55:04 GMT -5
A tough matchup this afternoon against Northeastern. Not very good for attendance at NU and BC to have Friday afternoon tilts. I can't imagine Northeastern's Matthews Arena can't have both a mens and womens game on a Saturday. Northeastern has Men’s Basketball tonight at Matthews.
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Post by purplehaze on Nov 8, 2019 15:50:08 GMT -5
6-0 loss - we were outshot 55-16 As I’ve said before I don’t agree with this immediate transition to HE - we’re looking at 1 win in about 40 games now over the last season (plus)
I don’t think these kind of results build character - an independent schedule with a sprinkling of sacred heart, st anselm, LIU’s of the hockey world would be serving us better, IMO
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Post by sader1970 on Nov 8, 2019 15:54:40 GMT -5
I didn't think there was an immediate transition to HE. Thought for 1, possibly 2 seasons, we were technically an independent D-1 team before officially joining HE.
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Post by cruskater31 on Nov 8, 2019 19:58:55 GMT -5
A tough matchup this afternoon against Northeastern. Not very good for attendance at NU and BC to have Friday afternoon tilts. I can't imagine Northeastern's Matthews Arena can't have both a mens and womens game on a Saturday. Northeastern has Men’s Basketball tonight at Matthews. I was referencing Saturday though. Hard to imagine they can't fit 3 games in 3 slots (Fri. night, Sat. afternoon, and Sun. night). Tough sledding for many D1 programs
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Post by purplehaze on Nov 10, 2019 18:05:20 GMT -5
3-0 home loss to Maine last night - a game where we played on equal footing but could not find a way - our coaches have to keep our players upbeat somehow through these trials - 0-10-3 overall (and 0-7 in HE) now.
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Post by purplehaze on Jan 3, 2020 18:09:23 GMT -5
Lost at UConn today 2-1 outshot 41-12 which means we were clearly outplayed but one again our goalie Jada Brenon kept us in the game
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Post by beachbound on Jan 3, 2020 22:19:57 GMT -5
UCONN is tied with BU in points in HE, so despite the lopsided shots, progress is being made. Also, Assistant Coach Meredith Roth was an assistant Coach on the Team USA U18 team that beat Canada in the gold medal game yesterday so a nice profile boost for the program.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 6, 2020 6:32:41 GMT -5
I didn't think there was an immediate transition to HE. Thought for 1, possibly 2 seasons, we were technically an independent D-1 team before officially joining HE. Issue with Women's Hockey is there are so few DI teams that by playing as a DI Independent, you would basically be playing the DIII schedule we played in the past. There's really no "low-level" D-I Women's Hockey.
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Post by purplehaze on Jan 6, 2020 11:40:18 GMT -5
Sorry, but you are not correct - I have suggested here many times that our women's ooc scheduling should have included early season games vs. NEWHA schools such as LIU (Long Island U), Sacred Heart and St. Anselm all of which are members of that 'D.1' league approved by the NCAA in Sept 2019. I think we were sleeping on this. For example, LIU had (one-sided) weekend losses this season to UConn, Wisconsin and Yale, Sacred Heart opened their schedule with two matches vs. Maine. and St. A had a weekend series at Princeton
We were clobbered by UConn at home on Saturday 6-0 and all of these lopsided scores have to be wearing on the team - I'm not saying I have a solution for the necessary HE schedule but at least more early wins would have been encouraging to our ladies who are fighting against the tide every game.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 6, 2020 15:12:10 GMT -5
Purplehaze - SHU, LIU and St Anselm are all DI in name only. Sort of like now-defunct MAAC football. Playing these teams would help us transition to Hockey East level of play no more than continuing to face the likes Manhattanville and UMASS BOSTON.
That being said, maybe playing more of these teams in the OOC, whether DIII or "fake DI" (as opposed to the likes of Harvard) would be better overall for the squad. I agree with you on that.
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Post by purplehaze on Jan 6, 2020 15:21:47 GMT -5
Yes, with a combined record of 4-42-6 through 1 1/2 seasons in D.1 is my point - There should have been more thought given to scheduling games where we'd be a favorite - maybe next season.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 7, 2020 23:34:56 GMT -5
You can't dismiss the value of winning. During the years HC Women's Hockey was compiling great winning records and the other HC sports combined were way, way below .500, I really enjoyed reading the WH game stories on the website. It was like therapy to balance all the other losing teams.
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Post by purplehaze on Jan 10, 2020 16:24:56 GMT -5
two games this weekend at UMaine started with 4-2 loss to Black Bears - will try again tmro afternoon
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Post by beachbound on Jan 11, 2020 16:56:18 GMT -5
0-0 tie today, our goalie had 40 saves.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 11, 2020 17:03:28 GMT -5
We're getting there.
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