2011-12 Women’s Composite Schedule Announced

ALBANY, N.Y. -- ECAC Hockey today announced its 2011-12 women’s composite schedule, which includes 132 conference contests, 22 by each team, and a total of 243 games.  

Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, and Union officially open the 2011-12 campaign Friday, September 30 as the Golden Knights open their 34-game regular-season schedule traveling to Vermont, the Bobcats season-opening tilt has them at Mercyhurst, the Engineers play their first of six straight road contests, beginning with a visit at the University of Connecticut, while Union makes its first-ever trip to Minneapolis to take on perennial power and two-time National Champion, Minnesota.

Two-time defending ECAC Hockey regular-season and tournament champion Cornell will play six games against teams which qualified for the 2011 NCAA tournament. The 2011 Frozen Four participant will be tested on November 25-26 when it welcomes national runner-up Boston University in a re-match of last season’s Frozen Four.

Saturday, October 8 showcases two additional ECAC Hockey teams in action for the first time during the 2011-12 season, as Colgate travels to 2011 Hockey East tournament runner-up Northeastern, while St. Lawrence welcomes Hockey East foe Connecticut to the friendly confines Appleton Arena.

Brown will begin a new era in women’s ice hockey this season with the recent retirement of head coach Digit Murphy who was at the helm for 22 years. The Bears welcome Sacred Heart to Meehan Auditorium for a matinee affair Saturday, October 22.

2011 ECAC Hockey tournament runner-up Dartmouth will tested early in the season Sunday, October 23 as it faces last season’s Hockey East tournament champion and 2011 Frozen Four participant Boston College in a clash of top ten programs.

League plays gets into full swing Friday, October 28 as all 12 teams compete in two-game sets versus league opponents. Travel-partner parings include Brown-Yale at Colgate-Cornell, Dartmouth-Harvard at Clarkson-St. Lawrence, and Princeton-Quinnipiac at Union-Rensselaer.

There will be a total of seven weekends during the regular-season that will feature all 12 ECAC Hockey-member teams engaged in league play, with those being October 28-29, November 11-12, January 13-14, January 27-28, February 3-4, February 10-11, and February 17-18.

The ECAC Hockey Championship format once again is made up of a total of eight teams that qualify for the championship and are seeded based on the final regular-season standings. The format for the quarterfinals features best-of-three games series and are played on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams Friday-Sunday, February 24-26. The championship semifinals and title games will take place the following weekend March 2-3 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Ice Hockey Championship will be held Friday, March 16 and  and Sunday, March 18 at the Amsoil Arena, Duluth, MN. Minnesota-Duluth will host the 2012 championship, which will be held in the new 6,600-seat venue, which opened on December, 30 of last season.

Other schedule highlights include:

Rensselaer, which is entering its sixth season in ECAC Hockey, plays six games against 2011 NCAA tournament teams, including a pair of home contests against last year’s National Champions, Wisconsin University, which ended last season on a 27-game unbeaten streak (25-0-2).

The Engineers will play their first six games of the season on the road and then their next six games at Houston Field House.

Clarkson, guided by Shannon and Matt Desrosiers, will compete against a formidable schedule, featuring six games against teams that made the 2011 NCAA tournament, including four match-ups against 2011 Frozen Four participants, and a total of eight contests against national powerhouse squads that ended last season ranked or received votes in the final USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

Two highlights of Brown’s 2011-12 schedule occur on Thanksgiving weekend when the Bears play in the 17th annual Mayor’s Cup traveling across town to face rival Providence on November 25 and when they host 2011 Frozen Four participant Boston College on November 27.

Quinnipiac, coming off its most successful season in the program’s history last season, posting an overall record of 22-12-3, plays six of its first eight games on the road. Two of the road games will match the Bobcats solid defense led by junior netminder Victoria Vigilanti, who led the nation in shutouts with nine, battling the prolific offense of Mercyhurst, which score five-plus goals in 21 games last season.

St. Lawrence boasts an ambitious 2011-12 schedule playing 15 games against teams that were ranked at one time in last season’s Division I women’s polls. The Saints return nine of their top ten scorers from last year’s squad.

Dartmouth, which plays five of its first six games on the road to begin the season, has posted a road record of 41-26-8 (.600) during the last five seasons and claimed victory in four of its last six season openers during that span.

The Dutchwomen face 10 different non-league opponents during the 2011-12 season with three of them making visits to Messa Rink: Sacred Heart (10/8), Providence (11/27), and Maine (12/9-10).

Princeton will close the 2011 calendar year and round out non-conference road action by travelling to Ohio State for a two-game set on December 30-31 against the WHCA foe.

Quinnipiac and Yale will take part in the seventh annual Nutmeg Classic on November 25-26 hosted by Connecticut in Storrs, CT. The tournament features four women’s ice hockey teams from the state of Connecticut (“The Nutmeg State”). The Bobcats play Connecticut in the opener, while Yale is matched-up against Robert Morris in first-round action.

Two of Yale’s six non-league regular-season games this season will be played at Mercyhurst of the CHA. The Lakers only suffered one set-back at home in Erie, PA, which was at the hands of fellow ECAC Hockey member Cornell on January 18 (3-0).

Harvard will look to capture its 12th Beanpot Tournament this year. The Crimson will meet Boston University in the first round of the tournament, Tuesday, February 7, in Walter Brown Arena. The second round of the Beanpot will be played Tuesday, February 14.

The Crimson will host WHCA power Minnesota in a two-game set on November 26-27. The Golden Gophers last visited Bright Hockey Center in 2009, when the Crimson recorded a 1-0 victory and the two teams playing to a scoreless overtime tie the following day.

Cornell, coming off its second trip in the last two seasons to the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four will play five of its first six home games in the friendly confines of Lynah Rink, where it posted a 20-1-0 mark during the 2010-11 season.

The Big Red will play a pair of games against Boston University on Thanksgiving weekend, facing the Terriers in a Friday-Saturday set on Nov. 25-26. The Terriers defeated the Big Red, 4-1, in last season's national semifinals in Erie, PA. The contests against Boston University are part of a four-game stretch against teams that made the NCAA tournament last season, as Cornell follows the home series against the Terriers with a two-game trip to Mercyhurst on Dec. 2 and 3 in Erie, PA.

On October 14-15 Colgate welcomes Lindenwood, who is currently in the process of transitioning to the NCAA D-1 level after just completing its second year of candidacy, for two games at Starr Rink.

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