It’s just about that time again. The 2026-27 NCAA season is finally only a few short weeks away. That means we’ve got a lot to go over before it starts. While our individual preseason previews are coming soon, here at The Ice Garden we thought it would be fun to put our minds together before then. What follows is insight into what all five of us are feeling on a variety of topics. And if you think we’ve missed some questions, don’t worry — part 2 has got you covered.
Something you’re excited for this season
Amelia (NEWHA): I’m looking forward to the NCAA’s new physicality rules for women’s hockey! I had been wondering when they would make this change, as it will more closely mirror the PWHL’s style. I’m glad that it came about so soon. I’m excited to see how the rule change will impact style of play for individuals, teams, and conferences — plus who will really lean into it.
Kacey (AHA): The wave of talent from places we haven’t seen or have rarely seen represented in Division I before. Claudia Castellanos of Lindenwood University is set to make her debut as the first Spanish-born player. Renee Ng will be the first player from Hong Kong. She also joins Lindenwood after spending two years playing with Wilkes University in Division III. A record number of players born outside of the United States and Canada are playing in the NCAA this year, and the AHA represents a significant portion of them.
Giselle (WCHA): For me, it’s really who ends up on the HCA’s radar for Women’s National Goalie of the Year. I have very strong feelings about this award, and I will compare my notes to its watchlist come January.
LJ (ECAC): All the new players coming into the NCAA. Last season felt a bit like a changing of the guard since the last of the players with pandemic-era eligibility extensions, and many top players with international experience, graduated. Now, there’s a stacked rookie class entering their first year across college conferences. I’m especially excited to see proven performers in Europe like Nela Lopušanová, Edit Danielsson, Ivana Wey and Barbora Juříčková make their college hockey debuts.
Emma (HEA): I’m interested to see how the new high-stick rule impacts play, if at all. While we saw it in the WCHA last year — where players could play the puck with their stick at any height — I’m curious if other conferences will also opt in. There’s a lot of new rules that are being implemented, as Amelia mentioned. It’s always fun to see just how these new regulations impact the game overall as the sport continues to develop and advance!
Matchup you’re most excited to see in your conference
Amelia: Franklin Pierce vs. Assumption (Nov. 13 and 14). They are two of the strongest teams from last season, and both look to be strong again. They finished just 2 points apart in last year’s standings, with Franklin Pierce winning the conference. Then, they never met during the NEWHA tournament, which had the Ravens winning again. The four games these teams did play last season actually favored Assumption, 2-1-1. However, it was close in every game, coming down to 2 goals or fewer in each contest, including two overtime competitions.
Kacey: Lindenwood vs. Mercyhurst (Oct. 8 and 9), an early rematch of the AHA semifinals. Mercyhurst won the series 2-0, but both games were decided by 1 goal, including a double OT marathon. The most impactful players from that series (Berlin Lolacher, Madison Bowtell, Silje Gundersen and Julia Perjus) remain on their teams, so it feels like a proper continuation of last year’s matchup.
Giselle: Wisconsin and Ohio State will be playing outdoors at Lambeau Field in February as part of the Frozen Tundra Faceoff. The day will feature a double header with Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s hockey teams taking part. On the surface, it’s going to be wonderful to see these teams play right before the end of the regular season. And I anticipate it will be a game that matters a lot to both teams, points-wise. But it’s also going to be another huge moment in the world of women’s sports. The fact that this day includes women’s hockey is already pretty great. I am so excited to see how this game goes.
LJ: Colgate vs. Cornell (Nov. 20 and 21). This is one of the ECAC’s best rivalries in terms of both skill and animosity. Colgate are a strong team on paper with scoring and a physical edge, but they underperformed last season. Cornell are trying to reassert their identity after a challenging year with a strategy of “defense is the best offense.” The Big Red were the better of the two last season, winning three of four games against the Raiders in the regular season and conference semifinals. But with season-high penalty minutes for both teams when they faced off, you can count on a heavy, entertaining game when these two rivals meet this year.
Emma: Honestly, I’m really interested to see what UNH vs. Maine looks like on Dec. 4 and 5. Both teams are coming off strong seasons from their freshmen classes, and I believe that the youth movement will continue. Add in the anticipated goaltending matchup and the “border battle” aspect of it and you have a really interesting set of games. Not to mention, both teams are set to close the first semester with this matchup. There’s no doubt it will take us a while to get to the games themselves, but I truly think it’s going to be a fantastic pair of games to watch.
Matchup you’re most excited to see outside of your conference
Amelia: Northeastern vs. UConn. I have personal ties to these two programs. Not to mention, they’ve consistently been at the top of Hockey East for a handful of years now. Both teams made it to the national tournament last year after staying solidly in the top-10 nationally all season long, and Northeastern made it all the way to the Frozen Four. The rivalry is constantly flipping back and forth, and it’s hard to predict who is going to win. UConn lost a lot of strong players in the offseason, including top scorer Kyla Josifovic and starting goaltender Tia Chan. But Northeastern also lost a top scorer in Lily Shannon — and they don’t have a home rink, to boot.
Kacey: Penn State vs. Ohio State (Sept. 24 and 25). Penn State made history last season, going to their first ever Frozen Four and taking Wisconsin to overtime. The series against Ohio State provides an opportunity to prove last March wasn’t a fluke — to measure themselves against a title favorite, and to show what a post–Tessa Janecke Penn State team looks like.
Giselle: This is difficult to answer. There are three rematches to start the season: Mercyhurst vs. Minnesota Duluth, Ohio State vs. Penn State, and St. Cloud State vs. UConn. I significantly remember these three series from last season. The Buckeyes swept Penn State with no problems whatsoever. The Bulldogs suffered a huge scare against the Lakers to start last season and got away unscathed, somehow. The two Huskies teams split their series, which was surprising.
St. Cloud lost a lot of players to the transfer portal and received only one transfer player. Duluth lost players to graduation and the portal as well. The bright side is that UMD still have the likes of Caitlin Kraemer and Ève Gascon. Emilia Kyrkkö will hold down the fort for the new-look St. Cloud team. While the Buckeyes will probably continue to play well, I am curious to see how these series shape up compared to last year.
LJ: Princeton vs. UConn (Oct. 16 and 17). The Tigers open their season against the Huskies, the team that knocked them out of the NCAA tournament last year. Their last meeting was especially rough for Princeton, who got goalie’d by Tia Chan and crumbled when it came to their own defense. But the Tigers have had all offseason to think about what went wrong and how to fix it. UConn, in turn, will be without key contributors from last season. However, they’ll have already played five games before they head to Princeton, giving them time to shake off the cobwebs and start to dial things in with this year’s roster. I think this weekend series can give us a good idea of where both teams are at the start of the new season.
Emma: I’ll do another St. Cloud matchup and say their weekend series against Colgate on Oct. 9 and 10. Both teams were nationally ranked at certain points last season. With new rosters of players, they’ll take on one another again after the D1 in DC tournament last fall. The Raiders are looking to avenge that 3-2 overtime loss they suffered in November. Offensively, last season the teams were evenly matched. Defensively, Colgate were slightly better. I’m curious to see if that continues this year, especially when the teams face one another.
Team from your conference that takes the biggest step forward
Amelia: Assumption will be bringing back largely the same strong team as last year. Last season, the Greyhounds had just two seniors. During the offseason, they lost only one player to the transfer portal. They’re retaining 95% of last season’s point production and adding a talented transfer goaltender in Syracuse’s Bella Gould. With a veteran team that’s already built plenty of chemistry and made huge advancements both individually and for the program last season, Assumption will, I think, improve by leaps and bounds from an already-high vantage point.
Kacey: Delaware was a brand-new program last year that won only two games and had little collective NCAA experience. A year of playing together should naturally lead to an improved record and more cohesive team — even if they still end up last in the conference.
Giselle: I’ll give it to Bemidji State. They have a lot of returning players, including the five players with the most points last season. They also received two transfers in Sophia Villanueva out of Duluth and Ruby Rauk out of Quinnipiac. Rauk played 32 games with the Bobcats in her first year. Both were on teams that made it to the NCAA tournament. Having players with experience in that environment should be a help for a Beavers team that finished last in the conference in 2025-26. A good mix of returning players, transfers and new players should be good for BSU.
LJ: I’ll say Harvard. They’re a young team that seems to have finally settled in under coach Laura Bellamy. After a rough start to last year, they surged into the end of the season, winning the Beanpot and bringing the fight to St. Lawrence and Princeton in the conference playoffs. Luckily, a lot of that team is returning with another year of experience under their belts. The Crimson are solid in net between Ainsley Tuffy and Izzy Whynot — not to mention the strong D-corps in front of them, including Kaley MacDonald and Emi Biotti. I think Harvard will be a team to keep an eye on to crack the top of the conference.
Emma: I’m going to go with Merrimack. I think the Warriors showed signs of improvement toward the end of last year. With a new head coach and new systems of play, I think the team for sure takes a step forward. Frankly, not having three-quarters of the roster turn over from one season to the next will be incredibly impactful. It remains to be seen how big of a step they take, but at the very least I think it will be a step.
Team from your conference that takes a step back
Amelia: Saint Anselm feels like a given with them turning Division III after this season. They finished second in the conference last season after a strong year. Following the athletic restructuring announcement, however, they had a lot of talent hit the transfer portal. It’ll be interesting to see who they bring in to field a whole new team.
Kacey: Lindenwood finished fourth in the conference last year but underwent a lot of changes in the offseason. The Lions lost top scorers Molly Henderson and Zsófia Pázmándi, captain and top defender Josey Dunne-Weeks, and starting goaltender Lexington Secreto. In addition to the major roster turnover, they hired a new head coach, former Boston College assistant coach Max Gavin. While they have interesting names coming into the program and some key players returning, it’s a lot of new things at once, and it could be a while before they’re firing on all cylinders.
Giselle: I’ve been preaching the good word of St. Thomas for the last two seasons. This offseason, however, they lost two huge names on the roster to Ohio State. Ellah Hause was third in the conference in blocked shots, with 68 in 36 games. That type of defense was crucial for a team like the Tommies, and losing that kind of grit isn’t great.
Along with Hause, St. Thomas also lost Rylee Bartz, who finished last season with 30 points, the most by any Tommie in the Division I era. She also had the second-most assists on the team, with 13. Additionally, she finished in the top-10 in the conference in face-off victories, winning 428 out of 720 draws. These players are big losses for St. Thomas, which is why I see them taking a step back. Nothing too huge, but they will need to find a way to fill in these gaps.
LJ: Yale tied for the regular-season title last year, but they’ve been absolutely gutted. They lost their top two goalscorers in forwards Jordan Ray and Carina DiAntonio and a defensively responsible blueliner in Gracie Gilkyson. Most devastatingly, goaltender Samson Frey, last season’s rookie revelation in net, has opted not to return this season. You can still find promise on this team, especially with ECAC Defender of the Year Molly Boyle returning for her sophomore year, but Yale’s success from last season just isn’t repeatable at this stage.
Emma: My answer here is UConn. The Huskies will be good, don’t get me wrong. However, it takes time to adjust after graduating the best goaltender in program history who has been the main starter for the last half-decade. Not to mention, they’ve lost some of the top scorers from a year ago and multiple role players on the back end. Overall, I think they’re primed to take a step back.
Read part 2 for our second set of insights and predictions. Be sure to check out more NCAA content on The Ice Garden website now, and all season long.
