2023 NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament: Quarterfinal Preview

Time for another game to earn a trip to the Frozen Four this year it is in Duluth.

Northeastern v Yale

Both Teams were in the Frozen Four last year and both fell to WCHA teams. One is guaranteed a trip back and the other will end their season. Yale was looking like the odds on favorite to be the second seed before they had a few stumbles to end the season. Northeastern has been on a months long winning streak but got no help from their scheduled opponents in their rankings.

How to Watch: ESPN+

Listen: WRBB Radio

Game Time: 3PM ET

Location: Ingalls Arena (The Yale Whale), New Haven, CT

Keys to the Game

Northeastern

Score First

The Huskies are an awe inspiring 29-0-0 when scoring first. They are 4-2-1 when allowing the first goal so they have been good all year but getting that first tally early should allow the Huskies to play their own game. Northeastern was shutout in both of their losses and with the quality of goaltender Yale has that is a possibility but with the amount of binary hockey Phillips has played, only allowing two or more goals five times, an early goal could be just what the doctor ordered.

Shake it Off

This season has been a dominant run but the Huskies have gotten little respect for it nationally with nay sayers pointing to their week schedule. Northeastern has beaten every team they have played, when playing a team more than once they have at least two wins against every one of those opponents.

Been There Done That

The Huskies have made this round now six straight times, no player on the roster that isn’t a freshman hasn’t been here. While there are a lot of new faces the upperclassmen have known nothing but this level. It is time for the team to finally make that next jump and make school history.

Yale

Home Cooking

Although home ice wasn’t as helpful in the ECAC semifinals there is something to be said about keeping your routine. The Bulldogs will look to rebound like they did against Harvard in the ECAC quarterfinals en route to another Frozen Four.

Superiority Complex

Yale is the higher seed and they earned it with the second best record in the country and a marquee win over Minnesota in a holiday tournament. You don’t go to Yale and not feel better then most and the Bulldogs need to act the superior team and take Northeastern out of their game early.

Battle Tested

The Bulldogs played ten games against teams that made the tournament this year going 7-3, including Minnesota, Colgate, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, and Penn State, while Northeastern’s only foe to meet that criteria was Long Island. Yale will look to take those lessons and apply them early against a Northeastern team that in he past has come out slow in NCAA Tournament games when it is their first good opponent.

Prediction

Northeastern 3- Yale 1

Both teams want this badly. Yale wants to prove last year wasn’t a fluke performance. Northeastern is running out of time in this championship window, with so much talent ending their careers on the next loss. This meeting features the best two winning percentages and arguably the best two goalies in the country. It will not be a slug fest if the whole season is anything to be paid attention to so it will come down to who can execute when they are given their chances. The Huskies should control the flow for more of the game but Yale will be able to counter attack with a high level of skill. Northeastern has shown they can prevent those breakouts against lesser teams especially with Phillips behind them but Yale will take this to a different level. Gut says the tope line for NU will show up and they will be the deciding factor, they are too talented to be kept completely quiet.