The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

There's a new No. 1 team in NCAA women's hockey but it's not a new face. Ohio State is atop the USCHO.com poll after sweeping Wisconsin last weekend.

This edition of The PodKaz has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski looking back at the series in Columbus and the Buckeyes' third-period surges that provided 2-1 and 5-3 victories.

Around the country, Colgate swept St. Cloud State to move to 4-0, Syracuse earned an overtime upset over No. 4 Penn State before Penn State rebounded with a 4-0 win, and St. Thomas beat No. 10 Minnesota Duluth 2-1 before...

The teams that have won the last seven NCAA women's hockey championships are playing each other this weekend, with No. 1 Wisconsin traveling to No. 2 Ohio State. But the games will be impacted by absences.

PodKaz hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski cover the Canadian national team camp that's removing 14 current college players from their teams. Five of them would have been playing in the Wisconsin-Ohio State series.

This episode also looks forward to St. Cloud State playing at Colgate, Clarkson and St. Lawrence playing a home-and-home series and newly ranked Vermont traveling to Franklin Pierce.
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PodKaz hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on a chaotic Week 3 of the NCAA women's hockey season.

Rensselaer delivered probably the biggest surprise with a 2-1 overtime upset of No. 5 Northeastern despite being outshot 42-14.

Vermont surprised Minnesota Duluth before the Bulldogs responded with an overtime victory in the second game of their nonconference series.

UConn rebounded from a pair of losses to sweep then-No. 9 Clarkson, including a 4-0 victory in the second game. And St. Cloud State swept Minnesota State behind Maria Mikaelyan's five goals in the series.

Ten...

PodKaz hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski go through some of the rules changes in NCAA women's hockey, specifically the attempt to clarify what's legal contact and what should be penalized as body checking.

They recap a media webinar with NCAA secretary/rules editor Steve Piotrowski outlining guiding principles (including shoulder-to-shoulder pursuit, end-wall pursuit, forward angle/cutback, and 50/50 battles) and emphasizing judging the action that creates contact rather than the outcome, plus a definition of body checking as a distinct moment of impact using overt hip/shoulder/arm/torso action to separate the puck carrier. 

Check o...

We're trying a new format this season on The PodKaz, with hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski delivering two episodes a week. This is one of our looks back at what stood out in the previous weekend's games. An episode later in the week will get into bigger topics and look ahead to upcoming games.

No. 2 Ohio State swept the first meeting of teams in the top five of the USCHO.com poll, getting a pair of 2-1 road wins against No. 4 Penn State.

We also reflect on sweeps by St. Cloud State, Quinnipiac, Minnesota Duluth...

The PodKaz continues its series of episodes talking with NCAA women's hockey head coaches in new locations with a conversation with Syracuse's Brian Idalski.

Idalski is back in college after a season coaching the PWHL expansion team in Vancouver, and he talks about how this change has been different than others in his career, which also includes college head coaching jobs at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, North Dakota and St. Cloud State.

He also is coaching Czechia, and he discusses how the scheduling change for the Women's World Championship will impact college teams.

The PodKaz is...

Max Gavin has been a women's hockey assistant coach at Dartmouth and Boston College, and now he's stepping into the top role at Lindenwood. He joins hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski on a preseason episode of The PodKaz to talk about the move.

Gavin discusses the learning that he is doing with Lindenwood and the influences on his coaching career. He also talks about the opportunity to grow the Lions program.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media...

A change came out of the blue for Providence's Nicole Norton this offseason, and she moved up from assistant coach to interim head coach. She's our guest on this edition of The PodKaz as we continue preseason conversations with new head coaches in NCAA women's hockey to launch Season 4.

Norton discusses the departure of previous Friars head coach Matt Kelly, which was announced Aug. 16, and touches on the support she has received from Providence administrators and Katie Burt, who moved up from an assistant coach to become interim associate head coach.

Norton also touched on the...

Our preseason conversations with new head coaches in NCAA hockey to launch Season 4 of The PodKaz continue with Maine's Alex Gettens.

Gettens took over the top job in Orono after spending the last two years as an assistant at Colgate. He discusses how the end of his playing career prepared him to get into coaching and how he wants the Black Bears to play with a high tempo and with an aggressive mindset.

He also touches on the landscape in Hockey East and how Maine can get itself closer to the top of the conference.
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Season 4 of The PodKaz continues with our preseason conversations with new head coaches in NCAA women's hockey.

Hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski find out about Minnesota coach Boom May, who has worked in multiple roles at the school before moving up to the top job after the Gophers parted ways with longtime coach Brad Frost. May discusses the structure and discipline that he thinks people will notice with the team.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or...

We're starting season four of the PodKaz, the USCHO.com podcast dedicated to NCAA women's hockey, early with a series of episodes featuring interviews with new head coaches.

Hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski find out about Merrimack coach Courtney Kennedy's introduction to the school, why this was the time for the longtime assistant coach to move into a head coaching position, her time coaching the U.S. Under-18 Team and more.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media...

The final weekly edition of the PodKaz for the 2025-26 season has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com reflecting on the Frozen Four.

Wisconsin took home its second straight NCAA championship by beating Ohio State 3-2 in Sunday's championship game. Is having the Badgers and the Buckeyes play for the title four years in a row a good sign, though?

Friday's semifinal attendance of 5,176 set a Frozen Four record, with Penn State fans making it a wonderful atmosphere for the Nittany Lions' first Frozen Four appearance.

Then we look back on...

The March 17, 2026, edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com features hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski getting ready for the Frozen Four, which starts Friday in State College, Pa.

Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Northeastern won regional finals on Saturday, and the host NIttany Lions are in the Frozen Four for the first time after beating UConn 3-0. How much will home ice help?

Wisconsin will set a record with its 17th Frozen Four appearance and its fourth in a row. The Badgers got there by beating Quinnipiac 6-0.

Northeastern was the only...

On the PodKaz from USCHO.com for March 10, 2026, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski are wrapped up in the NCAA National Collegiate women's hockey tournament that starts Thursday and how we got there.

First, a look back at the five conference championship games. Penn State, Quinnipiac, UConn, Franklin Pierce and Ohio State came away with titles, but only Franklin Pierce of the NEWHA wasn't already going to make the NCAA field. The lack of upsets opened the door for Minnesota Duluth, which lost in the WCHA quarterfinals, to earn the last at-large bid.

Our second segment...

On the March 3, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dig into the five days of play ahead leading to conference playoff championships.

First, however, we take a look back at how we got here. There were only two teams advancing via upsets last week: Minnesota State over Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA and Vermont over Boston College in Hockey East.

Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Assumption also needed to win Game 3 on Sunday to make it to the final week.

Four leagues have their semifinals on a day...

On the Feb. 24, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com talk about the first weekend of the NCAA women’s hockey playoffs in two conferences and the final week of the regular season in three others.

Union generated the first upset, and it was a big one: The Garnet Chargers are the 12th seed in ECAC Hockey but they knocked off fifth seed Clarkson on the road last Friday.

In Atlantic Hockey, Syracuse went on the road to eliminate RIT in the first double-overtime game of the 2026 postseason.

Mi...

In the PodKaz for Feb. 17, 2026, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com open with a look back on a wild finish to the ECAC Hockey regular season. Yale and Princeton tied for the championship after Saturday games that both involved extra-attacker goals.

No. 2 Ohio State solidified a top-two spot in the WCHA with a home sweep of No. 3 Minnesota, and the Buckeyes still have hope of passing No. 1 Wisconsin on the final weekend.

The race for the NEWHA championship is going down to the final weekend, with Franklin Pierce, Assumption and Saint Anselm having...

The PodKaz for Feb. 20, 2026, has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski looking back on a series split between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State last weekend in Madison. The Buckeyes looked great at the start but the Badgers rebounded like they have so well over the last few seasons.

The race for the ECAC Hockey championship is coming down to the final weekend of the regular season. The top six teams are separated by 6½ points, with first-place Princeton leading Yale by two points. The Tigers missed a chance to stretch their lead by losing to Harvard on Saturday.

The Olympics women's hockey tournament starts Thursday, and this edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts to break down what to expect from the U.S., Canada and other countries.

In NCAA hockey, No. 3 Minnesota overcame the absence of top scorers to beat No. 1 Wisconsin in overtime last Friday but the Badgers did the same a day later for a 6-1 victory in Minneapolis.

No. 2 Ohio State started its Olympic absence period by dropping four goals on No. 9 Minnesota Duluth in the first 20 minutes of its series en route to a sweep.

ECAC...

On the Jan. 28, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dig into what it'll mean for some teams to lose players to the Olympics starting this week and reflect on last week's results.

It was a big weekend for Northeastern, which moved up three spots to fifth in the NCAA Power Index by sweeping UConn on the road. The Huskies have opened up a 12-point lead in the race for the Hockey East title.

Harvard won the Beanpot last Tuesday with a Carla McSweeney penalty shot goal in overtime against...

On the Jan. 20, 2026, edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski reflect upon this year’s IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Nova Scotia, where Nicole saw the U.S. defeat Canada for the gold medal.

Nicole shares what it was like in the building for the 2-0 victory Sunday and takes us behind the scenes. We also talked about Finland, which will miss out on next year’s event after being relegated.

Our look back at last week in NCAA hockey includes a mention of Yale goalie Samson Frey, who, e...

The Jan. 15, 2026, episode of the PodKaz from USCHO.com has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski talking about Princeton's 11-game winning streak. The Tigers are one win away from tying a program record, and they've shot to the top of ECAC Hockey.

We also look back at the first night of the Beanpot, where Harvard and Boston University won to set up their second game with a trophy on the line in January. They also played for the title of the Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The viral sensation of last weekend was Minnesota's Abbey...

In the Jan. 8, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look ahead to the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, which starts Jan. 10 in Nova Scotia. The rosters are packed with players committed to play NCAA hockey in the coming seasons, making it an important look at what's to come on campus.

We also take a quick look at how many NCAA teams will be sending players to the Olympics and discuss the impact on the college game.

Our look back to last week's games includes a home sweep by No. 2 Ohio State against...

On this episode of the PodKaz, USCHO.com’s weekly look at NCAA women’s hockey, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski wrap up the first half of the 2025-26 season with a look at some of the teams that surprised, both positively and negatively.

Northeastern and Princeton are both in the top 10 of the USCHO.com rankings after being lower in the preseason poll. Colgate, however, started at No. 5 and is heading to Christmas at No. 14.

Then we check out the conference leaders compared to preseason predictions, and the biggest change is in NEWHA.

On the Dec. 9, 2025, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com look back No. 1 Wisconsin's road sweep of No. 2 Ohio State. The Badgers held the Buckeyes to two goals in the series, with goalie Ava McNaughton stopping 60 shots.

No. 11 Princeton had a big weekend, too, earning road wins at No. 14 Colgate and No. 8 Cornell to improve its winning streak to seven games. Cornell, on the other hand, has lost three of four.

Northeastern rebounded from its first Hockey East loss of the season to sweep Boston College and open an 11-point...

In this week's edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on another week with unexpected results and wonder whether that's just the norm now in NCAA women's hockey.

No. 7 Northeastern handed No. 4 Penn State its first loss of the season before the Nittany Lions earned a split of the nonconference series.

No. 2 Ohio State ran all over No. 10 Clarkson and No. 12 Colgate at the D1 in DC event, while No. 8 UConn beat No. 9 Quinnipiac and Yale with late goals to win the Nutmeg Classic. No. 1 Wisconsin tied an NCAA record for...

In the PodKaz for Nov. 26, 2025, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski talk about Minnesota State's sweep of then-No. 2 Minnesota in a home-and-home series, fueled by four goals by Mercury Bischoff over the two games.

The other WCHA series last week also produced some interesting results, with Ohio State sweeping Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin needing a late rally to overcome St. Thomas in overtime and Bemidji State emerging on top of a wild game against St. Cloud State.

Princeton swept Quinnipiac in ECAC Hockey, while Clarkson earned wins over Brown and Yale. Cornell hit another bump with a 4...

In the PodKaz for Nov. 19, 2025, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski discuss the first loss of the season for Cornell and a needed victory for Colgate. A 3-0 shutout for the Raiders last Friday left only Penn State undefeated in NCAA women's hockey.

We also look back at an upset victory for Harvard over Yale and a bounce-back victory for Clarkson after a pair of shutouts.

In the WCHA, St. Cloud State overcame third-period deficits to tie No. 1 Wisconsin in the second game of a series and Minnesota Duluth took care of St. Thomas on the...

On the Nov. 12, 2025, edition of the PodKaz, USCHO.com's weekly look at women's hockey, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski start with a look back at a 0-0 tie between No. 7 Quinnipiac and No. 11 Clarkson. It was the Golden Knights' second shutout of the weekend; they lost in overtime to Princeton on Friday.

There were a few upsets to note: RIT beat No. 13 Colgate on the road and Bemidji State exited last place in the WCHA with a 2-1 win over No. 14 St. Thomas.

A series between No. 8 UConn and Boston College left each team with...

In this week's edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on the first loss by No. 1 Wisconsin in nearly a year. Minnesota moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 after scoring four times in the third period for a 5-1 win in Madison last Friday, but the Badgers gained a series split a day later.

We also look back on Ohio State needing to rally for an overtime win at St. Thomas before Joy Dunne's four-goal, six-point game led a rout in the second game. Minnesota Duluth also got a road sweep against St...

In this week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski reflect on the opening weekend of conference play in ECAC Hockey, where Clarkson, Cornell and St. Lawrence all opened with 2-0 records.

Quinnipiac fell to Brown on Saturday after starting the season 9-0, and part of the discussion goes to how the ECAC title might come down to limiting the loss of points to teams who aren't expected to be in the upper third of the league.

Then we look back on sweeps by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Minnesota...

This week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts with an unusual occurrence: The end of a series split between Minnesota and Ohio State in Minneapolis on Sunday brought game disqualifications and additional suspensions because of a post-buzzer tussle.

Minnesota will be without defenders Gracie Graham and Chloe Primerano for the opener of its series at Minnesota Duluth, while Ohio State's Kassidy Carmichael and Jordyn Petrie will sit out the first game of the Buckeyes' home series against St. Cloud State.

In the East, Quinnipiac improved to 8-0 with a sweep of Northeastern fueled by...

The second weekend of October in NCAA women's hockey provided a first look at how players who are spending one week a month at national team camps in preparation for the Olympics are returning to their teams. That's where this week's episode of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts, with hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski discussing the results.

No. 1 Wisconsin had to score twice in the final 21 seconds to escape with a victory in the opening game of a series against No. 4 Minnesota Duluth last Saturday, and the Badgers completed the sweep with a shutout Sunday.
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In this week's edition of the PodKaz, a weekly look at NCAA women's hockey from USCHO.com, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski discuss a change to the IIHF calendar. The Women's World Championship is moving from April to November during the 2026-27 season, so players could be pulled away from their college teams for national team duty.

Nicole and Todd discuss whether enough consideration was given for the developmental path in making an accommodation for the PWHL to not have to disrupt its schedule.

Then it's a look back at last week's play, which saw...

This edition of the PodKaz, the weekly look at NCAA women's hockey from USCHO.com, has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski looking back at an upset by Merrimack against Clarkson and weighing the ramifications.

Then we reflect on Penn State's sweep of St. Lawrence and a split between UConn and St. Cloud State in matchups between ranked teams. The result of a series between Minnesota and Boston College opened some eyes.

The weekend ahead brings a featured series between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Colgate, both getting their first real action of the season. Plus...

This week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com features the last two segments as hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look around at each of the five NCAA women's hockey conference at the start of the 2025-26 season.

Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin is the coaches' favorite in the WCHA, but how much with absences for the Olympics mean to the Badgers' chase of a repeat?

In NEWHA, Sacred Heart was picked to finish first after it won the playoff championship against Long Island and made its first NCAA tournament appearance.

Then Nicole and...

Conference season previews continue on this episode of the PodKaz. Hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski take a glance at the stories ahead in the 2025-26 season for Hockey East and Atlantic Hockey.

UConn is looking to return to the top of the Hockey East standings a year after beating Boston University by one point.

Penn State ran away with the Atlantic Hockey title in 2024-25 and the Nittany Lions are in position to repeat behind forward Tessa Janecke.

For a look at all of the offseason player and coach movement, click here.
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On the first episode of the PodKaz for the 2025-26 season, Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com discuss how preparations for the Olympics could impact the NCAA hockey landscape. It's a season unlike any others before because of the lack of centralization for the U.S. and Canadian national teams.

Changes to the NCAA tournament selection process and an experimental rule also are new this season, and we touch on those.

Then we start our previews of the five NCAA conferences with ECAC Hockey. Cornell won both the regular-season and playoff championships last season...

What does it take to start a new NCAA Division I women's hockey program from scratch? Coach Allison Coomey is getting that experience at Delaware, which will field a varsity team for the first time in 2025-26.

Coomey joined an offseason episode of the PodKaz with Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski of USCHO.com to discuss how she has built a staff, assembled a roster and crafted a schedule for the inaugural season.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social...

Natálie Mlýnková, who recently wrapped up her NCAA hockey career, joins Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski for an offseason edition of the PodKaz.

Mlýnková played four seasons at Vermont and one at Minnesota, finishing at the Frozen Four in Minneapolis in March. She looks back on moving to North America from Czechia at 16 to play hockey and how the women's game is evolving in her home country.

That was evident in April when Czechia set an attendance record in hosting the World Championship. Mlýnková talks about playing in that event.

The Pod...