Postseason Preview: No. 2 Women’s Ice Hockey To Face No. 3 Anna Maria in ECHA Semifinals
WORCESTER, Mass. – After recording program-best 11-10-3 overall and 6-4-2 Eastern Collegiate Hockey Alliance (ECHA) records, the Rivier women's ice hockey team earned the second seed in the ECHA Playoffs and will be the home team in Friday night's semifinal round matchup against Anna Maria at the Worcester Ice Center at 8:10 p.m.
Rivier began the season with a 3-1-0 non-conference record, sweeping New England Col. in a home-and-home before splitting a weekend series against Salem St. The Raiders then tied their next two games, both in ECHA action, before falling to Worcester St. The Raiders bounced back with a shutout win over JWU-Providence on home ice.
Despite a seven-game winless streak spanning two semesters, the Raiders bounced back in a major way with three-straight victories coming by way of the shutout over Albertus Magnus and MCLA twice.
The Raiders again made a push down the stretch, finishing the year on a 4-2-0 pace under the direction of interim head coach Noelle Sass.
Rivier posted a 2-1-1 record against the AMCATs through the campaign and sits 3-4-3 in the all-time series, dating back to the 2021-22 season.
Both Briana Paxson (6-5-11) and Rebecca McKelvey (7-4-11) lead the team's scoring efforts with both Brianna Parent (3-7-10) and Molly Dukesherer (7-2-9) trailing behind. Parent leads the team in plus-minus with a +8 rating.
The defensive unit of Caeli Reed and Olivia Schultz posted a combined +6 through the regular-season.
Junior goaltender Rachel Hinkley is slated to get the start in between the pipes sitting just nine saves from 1,000 on her career. This season, the Swedesboro, N.J. native enters tonight's contests with a 4-1-1 record, a 1.15 goals-against average, and a save percentage of .968.
Anna Maria wrapped up its year 8-13-4 overall and earned the alliance's third seed after going 5-5-2 in league play.
Jordyn Bleaney (7-10-17) and Shayla MacDonald (8-8-16) led the way offensively for the AMCATs. Defender Ceili Nolan posted eight points and a +3 plus-minus rating in her first collegiate season.
The winner of Friday's contest will advance to the ECHA Championship to face either No. 1 Worcester St. or No. 4 MCLA on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 4:50 p.m. at the Worcester Ice Center.
