Weekend Preview: ECAC Hockey Teams Open Season

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Four ECAC Hockey women’s programs officially begin their 2010-11 campaigns this weekend.  No. 7/7 Clarkson welcomes national power No. 4/6 Minnesota to Potsdam for a two-game set Cheel Arena.  Quinnipiac opens the season on the road with a pair of non-conference games against Niagara at Dwyer Arena in Niagara, N.Y. Friday and Saturday.  Rensselaer kicks off the season this weekend, travelling to Madison, WI to battle perennial power and three-time National Champion, Wisconsin.  Union plays the first of six straight non-league contests at Messa Rink before conference play begins, as it hosts Northeastern Saturday afternoon. 

At No. 7/7 Clarkson, No. 4/6 Minnesota:  Coming off their most successful season in the seven-year history of the program, the Golden Knights will look to continue the momentum generated from the 2009-10 campaign when the Green and Gold established themselves among the elite in Division I.  Expectations have been set high by the head coaching duo of Matt and Shannon Desrosiers, now in their third-year at the Clarkson helm.  This weekend’s series marks the fourth and fifth time the Golden Knights and the Golden Gophers will have tangled in the past two years.  Minnesota had the upper hand in all three games last season winning by a combined score of 9-2.  Clarkson returns 14 letterwinners from last year’s team after posting a 23-12-5 record.  Tabbed to finish second in the League this year, the Golden Knights return starting goaltender Lauren Dahm, who was on the U.S. Under-22 Team.  Clarkson lost two of its three leading scorers from last year in Dominique Thibault and Britney Selina, but return Juana Baribeau and Melissa Waldie and add six new forwards to the roster this year.  The Clarkson series marks the first time in school history that the Gophers have opened the season against a ranked opponent.

Quinnipiac at Niagara:  Picked to finish fourth in the 2010-11 ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Bobcats finished last season 11-4-7 in League action, clinching the program's first home playoff series and earning its first playoff victory.  Quinnipiac goaltender Victoria Vigilanti  emerged as one of the most dominant goaltenders in Division I women's ice hockey during the 2009-10 season.  Vigilanti was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender and Rookie of the Year, as she compiled the best goals-against average (1.24) and save percentage (.950) in both the League and country.  The Bobcats welcome 11 freshman skaters to the squad this season.  The Purple Eagles are coming off of one of their most successful seasons in years.  Head coach Chris MacKenzie led NU to a 12-14-5 record in his first season at the helm, the most wins for a first-year head coach at Niagara.

Rensselaer at No. 5/5 Wisconsin:  Friday's game marks the first-ever meeting between RPI and Wisconsin in women's hockey.   Under the direction of head coach John Burke, RPI returns 15 letterwinners from a 2009-10 team that went 16-15-6 overall and tied for fifth in ECAC Hockey with an 11-7-4 league record.  The Engineers return two goaltenders from a year ago, including senior Sonja van der Bliek, who posted a 15-15-5 record with a 1.85 goals-against average - which ranked 12th among Division I goaltenders last season.  Wisconsin graduated just four seniors from its 2009-10 squad, which went 18-15-3 overall and finished fourth in the WCHA at 15-12-1.  The UW returns five players who each amassed more than 20 points last season, including their top four scorers from 2009-10, along with Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight, two of the team's top scorers from the 2008-09 season.

At Union, Northeastern:  Dutchwomen head coach Claudia Asano begins her fourth season behind the bench in Schenectady, as Union opens the season against Hockey East foe Northeastern in a non-conference showdown.  Northeastern was picked to finish fifth in Hockey East this season by its league’s coaches this season.  Friday’s contest marks the first of 34 games as part of Union’s ambitious schedule for the 2010-11 season.  The Dutchwomen return 18 letterwinners, including their top five scorers from last season. 

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