Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Women’s Notes: RPI, Union Split Cross-Town Rivalry

Stage is Set for January’s Capital District Mayor’s Cup

Only 15 miles separate conference foes Rensselaer and Union College, who split their home-and-home series last weekend. The cross-town rivals have faced each other 59 times since the 1995-96 season, with RPI holding the advantage 41-13-5.

On Friday afternoon in Troy, the Engineers added another win to their record, defeating the Garnet Chargers 2-1 in overtime. After falling behind in the second period, RPI battled back to tie the game midway through the third on sophomore forward Charlotte Wensley’s (Dover, N.H.) sixth goal of the season. Wensley struck again with less than a minute remaining in overtime to seal the victory.

Junior goaltender Reese Keating (Thunder Bay, Ontario) stopped 31 shots for the Engineers, including six in the extra frame.

Across Route 7 on Saturday, Union hosted game two and secured the split with a 7-4 win. The Garnet Chargers erupted for five goals in the first period, from five different goal scorers. Sophomore forward Karianne Engelbert (Whitby, Ontario) recorded three points in the opening frame with a goal and two assists.

RPI cut the deficit to one in the second period, but Union junior forward Maddie Leaney (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) scored less than a minute into the third to restore the two-goal lead. Jill Willis (South Glens Falls, New York) sealed the win with an empty-net goal as Union earned the weekend split.

The teams will meet again Saturday, Jan. 24, for the Capital District Mayor’s Cup at MVP Arena in Albany. Union captured the trophy last year with a 3-2 victory, its first in five years.

Opportunities to attend the January women’s and men’s Mayor’s Cup can be found here.

Daily Scoreboard | National Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

The Hockey News: Team Canada Unfazed By Opening Loss

The Hockey News: Eve Gascon Following In The Footsteps Of Ann-Renee Desbiens

The Ice Garden: Four Standout Players from the November Rivalry Series

The Ice Garden: AHA Monthly Recap: October 2025

The Ice Garden: ECAC Monthly Recap: October 2025

The Ice Garden: Hockey East Monthly Recap: October 2025

The Ice Garden: WCHA Monthly Recap: October 2025

The Ice Garden: St. Thomas’ Brausen on Coaching, Mental Wellbeing, and the Rise of the Tommies.

The NE Hockey Journal: Dexter Southfield: What to expect in girls prep hockey in 2025-26

USCHO: Women’s Hockey Weekend Wrap – November 10, 2025

USCHO: Nominations open for 2026 Hockey Humanitarian Award

USCHO: First HCA women’s hockey players of the month for September-October include WCHA quartet

Must Hear & Watch:

The PodKaz: Clarkson and Quinnipiac go scoreless, plus a look back at the Rivalry Series

Legendary Laker:

The Mercyhurst Lakers swept Robert Morris at home last weekend, with 10 different goal scorers across the two games. The Lakers now have 15 players who have found the back of the net this season.

Saturday’s victory marked the 597th career win for head coach Michael Sisti (Canisius ’90), who is in his 27th season at the helm. Sisti is just three wins shy of joining Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson (’79) in the 600-win club.

Depth Finders:

Three teams lead the nation in number of goal scorers this season. Merrimack, St. Anselm, and St. Cloud State all have 16 different players with at least one goal on the season.

Six teams are close behind with 15 different goal scorers: Mercyhurst, Minnesota, Quinnipiac, RIT, Sacred Heart and St. Thomas.

Beavers Bounce Back:

After a Friday night 5-0 loss to No. 14 Thomas, Bemidji State bounced back to take Saturday’s game 2-1. Sophomore goalie Kaitlin Groess (Ham Lake, Minn.) anchored the win making 27 saves including 14 in the final frame as the Tommie’s pressed.

It’s the first victory over a ranked opponent since Feb. 11, 2022, a 3-2 upsetting of No. 2 Ohio State.

Top Matchups:

USA hockey weekly rankings are in – check out the top matchups this weekend.

Friday, Nov. 14 – No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at No. 15 St. Thomas, No. 4 Cornell at No. 14 Colgate, No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 12 St. Cloud State

Saturday, Nov. 15 – No. 14 Colgate at No. 4 Cornell, No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at No. 15 St. Thomas, No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 12 St. Cloud State

Notebook Quotebook:

“Yeah, our penalty kill was fantastic today. I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job with that and the group, you know, everything we talk about, they adjust really well, seeing it in video and putting it right into play. Not afraid to block shots, all those little things that you have to have on your PK”.

— Holy Cross head coach Katie Lachapelle (Providence ’99)on her team’s PK effort in its sweep over Merrimack (source: Holy Cross Athletics).

PWHL Note of the Week:

Tons of news out of the PWHL this week as the league officially unveiled its newest expansion team identities – the Seattle Torrent and the Vancouver Goldeneyes – along with the announcement of 16 Takeover Tour games for the 2025–26 season.

The neutral-site games will be played across 11 cities in the United States and Canada, with new stops in Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Halifax, Hamilton, Washington, D.C., and Winnipeg.

Repeat cities include Denver, Detroit, Edmonton and Quebec City, with Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton and Halifax each hosting two games.

For the full Takeover Tour schedule, visit here.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Freshman forward Ava Thomas (Downington, Pa.) netted her first-career game winner with just three seconds left in regulation to help Boston College upset No. 8 UConn … Northeastern senior forward Lily Shannon (Andover, Mass.) posted six points (2g, 4a) in the Huskies’ sweep of Providence … Senior netminder Emily Davidson (Ottawa, Ontario) recorded 27 games in Harvard’s win over Dartmouth on Saturday which marks her second shutout of the season … St. Lawrence senior goalie Emma–Sofie Nordstrom (Herning, Denmark) made 45 saves to shut out Princeton for her second shutout of the season and 15^th of her career … Boston University and Boston College face off this weekend; last year they set an attendance record of 2,866 at Agganis Arean.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

12 games, Penn State (began Sep. 25, 2025)
7 games, Cornell (began Oct. 17, 2025)
4 games, Northeastern (began Oct. 31, 2025)
4 games, Ohio State (began Oct. 24, 2025)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

11 games, F Josefin Bouveng, Minnesota
- 6G, 10A (began Sep. 26, 2025)
9 games, Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin
- 6G, 10A (began Oct. 4, 2025)
6 games, Lindzi Avar, Cornell
- 4G, 5A (began Oct. 18, 2025)
6 games, Nora Curtis, Cornell
- 5G, 4A (began Oct. 18, 2025)
6 games, Cassie Hall, Wisconsin
- 6G, 4A (began Oct. 17, 2025)
6 games, Naemi Herzig, Holy Cross
- 4G, 2A (began Oct. 17, 2025)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

3 games, F Abbey Murphy, Minnesota (began Oct. 25, 2025)
3 games, F Emma Pais, Colgate (began Nov. 1, 2025)
3 games, F Nayeon Kim, Mercyhurst (began, Nov. 1, 2025)

Conference Websites

Atlantic Hockey America | ECAC Hockey | Hockey East | NEWHA | WCHA

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree!