Sunday’s College Slate Is Loaded: Syracuse v Cal, Penn State at Iowa, Three Senior Days
Saturday is quiet in American college hockey. Sunday is not. Here’s what’s worth your time, all times Eastern.
No. 14 Syracuse v No. 16 California, noon, ACC Network. The ranked game of the day, and both teams arrive with momentum: Syracuse edged Stanford 3-2 on Friday, Cal won 2-1 at Boston College on Holly Pears’ last-gasp winner. Cal’s Liz Klompmaker has 13 goals this season. Syracuse’s corners, Taylor Bigbie’s Friday winner included, are humming. Something has to give at Coyne Stadium, and the ACC standings will feel it.
No. 19 Penn State at No. 6 Iowa, 1pm, B1G+. Both teams played Friday thrillers and both will be running on fumes. Penn State won their eighth straight, 1-0 at Indiana, on a corner with 2.2 seconds left in the third. Iowa lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to Rutgers despite outshooting them 30-12. It’s Iowa’s senior day, which adds an edge, and the Nittany Lions haven’t lost since September. The team that recovers better wins.
Rutgers at Northwestern, 1pm, B1G+. Speaking of fumes: Rutgers go from the Iowa epic straight to Evanston for Northwestern’s senior day. The Wildcats, fresh off beating No. 1 Maryland 4-2 on Thursday, are the hottest team in the country and probably about to be ranked No. 1 on Tuesday. Emily Nicholls just made 16 saves against Iowa. She’ll need all of them again.
Maryland at No. 13 Indiana, noon, B1G+. The Terrapins’ response game. Thursday’s 4-2 loss to Northwestern ended the unbeaten season and, in all likelihood, the No. 1 ranking. Indiana just lost a brutal one-goal game to Penn State with an equaliser wiped by review. Somebody’s frustration is getting taken out on somebody.
No. 10 Wake Forest v James Madison, noon. Wake’s reward for stunning UNC is a home game they should win, which is exactly the kind of game that trips teams up the week after a rivalry high.
No. 7 Duke at No. 12 Liberty, 1pm. Liberty just locked up their Big East Championship berth by beating Temple 4-0. Duke are the higher-ranked side and the visitors. This is the one that could quietly be the best game of the day.
Stanford at Boston College, noon. Both lost on Friday (Stanford at Syracuse, BC to Cal). Senior day in Newton for the Eagles.
Also on: No. 18 Louisville at Richmond (noon), No. 17 Lafayette hosting Brown (noon), Northeastern at Boston University (1pm), Hofstra at Lehigh (1pm), Michigan State v Bellarmine (noon), Kent State at Ohio State (1pm), Michigan at Miami (1pm), Davidson at Saint Louis, and Dartmouth hosting Bryant on senior day (1pm).
Our take
Circle Syracuse v Cal and Duke v Liberty as the two to watch, but the real drama is in the Big Ten. Penn State at Iowa and Rutgers at Northwestern, back-to-back days after Friday’s epics, is a scheduling quirk that could produce either classics or carnage. For our money, Northwestern keep rolling and Iowa bounce back hard. Maryland, though, are the fascinating one: how a team responds to its first loss tells you everything about November.
Related: Wake Forest Stun UNC, Penn State Win It With 2.2 Seconds Left: Friday’s College Chaos, Big Ten Honours: Gaitan Beats Michigan Twice Over, Tromp Scores Like a Forward From Defence, NFHCA National Players of the Week: Langendoen Does It Again, and a First-Year Keeper Steals Division II
