The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

On this episode of the PodKaz, USCHO.com’s weekly look at NCAA women’s hockey, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski wrap up the first half of the 2025-26 season with a look at some of the teams that surprised, both positively and negatively.

Northeastern and Princeton are both in the top 10 of the USCHO.com rankings after being lower in the preseason poll. Colgate, however, started at No. 5 and is heading to Christmas at No. 14.

Then we check out the conference leaders compared to preseason predictions, and the biggest change is in NEWHA.

We finish the first segment with a look at players to watch in the second half of the season for the Patty Kazmaier Award chase.

The mailbag comes out for the second segment. Nicole and Todd respond to four listener questions.
And we wrap things up with a look back at the final two games of the Rivalry Series, where the U.S. wrapped up a four-game sweep of Canada.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the Dec. 9, 2025, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com look back No. 1 Wisconsin's road sweep of No. 2 Ohio State. The Badgers held the Buckeyes to two goals in the series, with goalie Ava McNaughton stopping 60 shots.

No. 11 Princeton had a big weekend, too, earning road wins at No. 14 Colgate and No. 8 Cornell to improve its winning streak to seven games. Cornell, on the other hand, has lost three of four.

Northeastern rebounded from its first Hockey East loss of the season to sweep Boston College and open an 11-point lead.

Lindenwood bounced back from a 10-1 loss at Mercyhurst for a 5-2 win in the second game of an Atlantic Hockey series.

And Franklin Pierce narrowed Saint Anselm's lead in NEWHA to six points with a win and a shootout win in a series between the teams.

Our second segment includes a look ahead at this week's brief schedule in college hockey, the Under-18 World Championship scheduled for January and the Rivalry Series games between the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday and Saturday.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In this week's edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on another week with unexpected results and wonder whether that's just the norm now in NCAA women's hockey.

No. 7 Northeastern handed No. 4 Penn State its first loss of the season before the Nittany Lions earned a split of the nonconference series.

No. 2 Ohio State ran all over No. 10 Clarkson and No. 12 Colgate at the D1 in DC event, while No. 8 UConn beat No. 9 Quinnipiac and Yale with late goals to win the Nutmeg Classic. No. 1 Wisconsin tied an NCAA record for goals in a 17-2 victory over Stonehill at the Smashville Showcase.

That leads into the first meeting this season between the nation's top two teams. The Badgers play at the Buckeyes on Friday and Saturday, and they're the only regular-season meetings between the teams when they have their full rosters available; the return series is during the Olympics.

And we conclude with a recap of Nicole's appearance on the Thanksgiving episode of "Jeopardy!"

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In the PodKaz for Nov. 26, 2025, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski talk about Minnesota State's sweep of then-No. 2 Minnesota in a home-and-home series, fueled by four goals by Mercury Bischoff over the two games.

The other WCHA series last week also produced some interesting results, with Ohio State sweeping Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin needing a late rally to overcome St. Thomas in overtime and Bemidji State emerging on top of a wild game against St. Cloud State.

Princeton swept Quinnipiac in ECAC Hockey, while Clarkson earned wins over Brown and Yale. Cornell hit another bump with a 4-3 overtime loss to Union, then had a 2-2 tie at Syracuse on Tuesday.

Saint Anselm and Penn State took care of business to extend their leads in the NEWHA and Atlantic Hockey, respectively. And Northeastern and UConn gained series sweeps in Hockey East.

Looking ahead to the coming weekend, the D1 in DC tournament features Colgate, St. Cloud State, Clarkson and Ohio State. And there's a big nonconference series between Penn State and Northeastern in Boston.

Nicole's appearance on "Jeopardy!" is scheduled to air Thursday but football could force TV schedule changes. See updates for your area here.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In the PodKaz for Nov. 19, 2025, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski discuss the first loss of the season for Cornell and a needed victory for Colgate. A 3-0 shutout for the Raiders last Friday left only Penn State undefeated in NCAA women's hockey.

We also look back at an upset victory for Harvard over Yale and a bounce-back victory for Clarkson after a pair of shutouts.

In the WCHA, St. Cloud State overcame third-period deficits to tie No. 1 Wisconsin in the second game of a series and Minnesota Duluth took care of St. Thomas on the road.

Delaware gained its first Atlantic Hockey America victory by beating Lindenwood last Friday. And Saint Anselm moved eight points ahead of Assumption atop the NEWHA standings with a sweep of Long Island.

Our second segment is about the start of the PWHL season, with new players fresh out of college ready to shine and new rules being put into play.

And we wrap up with a look at this week's games, including a series between No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the Nov. 12, 2025, edition of the PodKaz, USCHO.com's weekly look at women's hockey, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski start with a look back at a 0-0 tie between No. 7 Quinnipiac and No. 11 Clarkson. It was the Golden Knights' second shutout of the weekend; they lost in overtime to Princeton on Friday.

There were a few upsets to note: RIT beat No. 13 Colgate on the road and Bemidji State exited last place in the WCHA with a 2-1 win over No. 14 St. Thomas.

A series between No. 8 UConn and Boston College left each team with a win on the other's home ice, while No. 9 Northeastern stayed at 100% in Hockey East points with two wins over Vermont.

We also reflect on the first two games of the Rivalry Series, 4-1 and 6-1 wins for the U.S. against Canada. Minnesota's Abbey Murphy took her NCAA scoring pace to the international game with a hat trick in the opener.

Then we had some thoughts on Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Jennifer Botterill of Harvard and Brianna Decker of Wisconsin.

A look ahead to this week's games included a home-and-home series between No. 4 Cornell and No. 14 Colgate and two games between rivals Boston College and Boston University.

At the end, we look forward to Nicole's upcoming appearance on "Jeopardy!" Check TV schedules for the Thanksgiving episode.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In this week's edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on the first loss by No. 1 Wisconsin in nearly a year. Minnesota moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 after scoring four times in the third period for a 5-1 win in Madison last Friday, but the Badgers gained a series split a day later.

We also look back on Ohio State needing to rally for an overtime win at St. Thomas before Joy Dunne's four-goal, six-point game led a rout in the second game. Minnesota Duluth also got a road sweep against St. Cloud State in another series between WCHA teams in the top 15.

Cornell and Penn State kept their undefeated starts to the season, with the Big Red beating Yale and Brown.

After the break, we preview the Rivalry Series games between the U.S. and Canada in Cleveland on Thursday and Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday.

A Saturday game between No. 11 Clarkson and No. 7 Quinnipiac is a highlight of the upcoming week's NCAA schedule.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In this week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski reflect on the opening weekend of conference play in ECAC Hockey, where Clarkson, Cornell and St. Lawrence all opened with 2-0 records.

Quinnipiac fell to Brown on Saturday after starting the season 9-0, and part of the discussion goes to how the ECAC title might come down to limiting the loss of points to teams who aren't expected to be in the upper third of the league.

Then we look back on sweeps by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Minnesota in the WCHA and the grand opening of Lee and Penny Anderson Arena at St. Thomas, which suffered an overtime loss to Providence thanks to the fourth goal of the game by Reichen Kirchmair.

Looking ahead to this week, there are five games matching teams ranked in the USCHO top 15 on both Friday and Saturday. No. 3 Minnesota plays a series at No. 1 Wisconsin to lead that group.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

This week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts with an unusual occurrence: The end of a series split between Minnesota and Ohio State in Minneapolis on Sunday brought game disqualifications and additional suspensions because of a post-buzzer tussle.

Minnesota will be without defenders Gracie Graham and Chloe Primerano for the opener of its series at Minnesota Duluth, while Ohio State's Kassidy Carmichael and Jordyn Petrie will sit out the first game of the Buckeyes' home series against St. Cloud State.

In the East, Quinnipiac improved to 8-0 with a sweep of Northeastern fueled by seven goals by Kahlen Lamarche -- four in a 5-3 win on Friday, three in a 4-2 win Saturday.

Then we discuss a volatile bottom few spots in the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll, where Boston University held onto a top-15 spot with an 0-5 record. St. Thomas joined the rankings just in time to christen its new arena this week with a series against Providence.

A look at the week ahead includes the WCHA series in which Minnesota and Ohio State will be missing players as well as the start of ECAC play.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

The second weekend of October in NCAA women's hockey provided a first look at how players who are spending one week a month at national team camps in preparation for the Olympics are returning to their teams. That's where this week's episode of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts, with hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski discussing the results.

No. 1 Wisconsin had to score twice in the final 21 seconds to escape with a victory in the opening game of a series against No. 4 Minnesota Duluth last Saturday, and the Badgers completed the sweep with a shutout Sunday.

We also look at results of the Colgate-Boston University, St. Lawrence-Vermont, Penn State-Delaware and Franklin Pierce-Sacred Heart series.

Of the teams that have played so far (the Ivies get started this week), six are undefeated and untied. Four of them match up this weekend, with No. 2 Minnesota hosting No. 3 Ohio State and No. 7 Quinnipiac welcoming in No. 12 Northeastern.

Also, we look ahead at the Ice Breaker Tournament hosted by Union, with Saint Anselm, Vermont and Wisconsin as guests.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].