Women’s College Hockey Week 2 Notable Performers

A look at some notable performances in the second week of the women’s college hockey season that caught my attention...

1. Hallie Theodosopoulos, St. Cloud State

St. Cloud State had a home weekend sweep of RIT last weekend with a 7-3 win on Friday and a 3-2 OT win on Saturday. Theodosopoulos led the way with two goals in each of the two games, and now leads the nation in goal-scoring with five over the first four games of the season.

The two wins are a nice rebound after a pair of tough one-goal losses at Connecticut the weekend prior. But perhaps more significant is the offensive outburst of 10 goals on the weekend. The Huskies only scored 52 goals in 33 games last season, so they’re already over a quarter of the way to matching that number in just four games. Caveats about opposition apply here. It’s going to be much tougher to score goals next weekend when they play Minnesota home-and-home. But the Huskies are very strong in goal, and if they can get some more offense to back that up, could be a team that steals some games in the WCHA.

2. Tereza Vanisova, Maine

Maine began their season last weekend with an impressive road sweep of Quinnipiac, and Vanisova, the team’s top line center led the way with 3-1-4 on the weekend.

Behind Boston College who remains the pretty clear favorite, there’s likely to be a group of teams fighting for second place in Hockey East—Providence, Northeastern, Maine, and possibly a surprise like UConn. Vanisova, a star for Czechs in international play, has been stellar in her first two seasons, and if she continues that play this year, Maine could find themselves at the top of that group and in position for a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

3. Gabbie Hughes, Minnesota Duluth

Hughes didn’t receive any votes in the WCHA preseason rookie of the year balloting, nor do I recall her making the preseason all-rookie team from any other independent outlet. It was a tough group to crack with Amy Potomak, Sophie Shirley, and Taylor Heise also entering the league this year. But in the early going this season, Hughes looks like she could make a strong run for the league’s all-rookie team.

With Minnesota Duluth forced to break up their top line last weekend by moving Ashton Bell back to defense, Hughes and Minnesota Duluth’s second line stepped up and were excellent in Saturday’s 2-2 tie against Minnesota. Hughes scored the game’s first goal, her second of the weekend, and had a slick goal in the shootout to help give UMD an extra league point.