Women's College Hockey Game of the Week: No. 6 Colgate vs. No. 15 Brown

The ECAC is one of the deepest conferences in the entire country for women’s hockey and the matchup between Colgate and Brown will showcase just that.

The ECAC schedule functions a little differently than most schedules in the college hockey world. There are no two-game series, it’s typically just one game at a time.

Colgate will travel to Providence, Rhode Island to take on the Brown Bears on Friday, Nov. 8.

The Raiders are currently 9-3 on the season and have a big win over a highly ranked Minnesota-Duluth squad.

Brown is currently a perfect 6-0 on the campaign and its top win is over a top-10 Quinnipiac squad.

Both teams have proven themselves this season and this matchup should garner some major postseason implications.

The major component of this game is the high-powered offense from both teams. Both squads are averaging over four goals per game. This could be a high-scoring affair between the squads if the trend continues.

Brown has also been one of the best defensive teams in the ECAC in terms of goals against. The Bears are allowing 1.5 goals per game. Can the high-octane offense of Colgate break through the brick wall that has been the Brown defense? That will be a major question to keep an eye on for this matchup.

Brown’s Rory Edwards has been a shutdown goaltender so far this season and will have one of her biggest tests of the season. Edwards currently holds a 1.38 goals-against-average with a .942 save percentage through five games this season.

Can she remain shut down against two high-end forwards in the entire country? Kaia Malachino and Kristyna Kaltounková are the conference’s leaders in goals.

Malachino is just one goal ahead of her teammate with 10 goals on the season. She is scoring at almost a goal-per-game rate so far this season and could be a huge factor in getting past Edwards.

Additionally, the Raiders have four players in the top six in the conference when it comes to assists. The unselfishness of the team has been on full showcase so far this season. Two players with ten assists already prove this offense is a well-oiled machine.

It is still relatively early in the season and the squads will have a chance at a rematch at the end of the season but this early matchup is a sign as to how these teams will play and how they will fair in conference play while also in the national championship contention.

They play in one of the first conference matchups of the season for both teams and then end off the season against each other which could have NCAA Frozen Four contention.

The big storyline to watch out for is the big-time offense of Colgate against what has been a shutdown defense from Brown with its goaltender, Edwards.

The squads meet in one of the best games of the early part of the season and will showcase just how good the ECAC really is.

Andrew Deal is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu