2023 NCAA women's hockey season preview

The GIST: When it comes to pumpkin spice season, college ice queens are less Traylor Taylor and more Ned Stark. NCAA women’s hockey soft-launched with a few early games last week, but most squads’ seasons begin this weekend — check out our primer, then let’s hit the rink.

The contenders: Top-ranked Wisconsin is the team to beat with 16 vets returning from last year’s championship squad. They’ve also added six impressive freshmen and assist-aficionado Anna Wilgren, a grad transfer from Minnesota State. Badgers? More like Baddies.

• Frozen Four runners-up No. 2 Ohio State are hot on Wisconsin’s tail. Earlier this month, these two superpowers saw a whopping 17 alums drafted into the newly-formed PWHL, including OSU’s 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award winner (aka MVP) Sophie Jaques. Talent factories.

• This season’s dark horse? No. 4 Colgate. The Raiders have won three straight conference championships in the highly competitive ECAC, and they’re returning a good chunk of last year’s stellar roster to chase their first natty.

What to watch: Hungry to test their mettle, Colgate will host Ohio State in a thrilling Top-5 season opener tonight at 6 p.m. ET, then again tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET. Baptism by fire.

• Elsewhere, the Badgers kicked off their title defense with last night’s 6–0 road win over Lindenwood, and they’ll look for a repeat dub at 4:10 p.m ET today. Fun fact: Wisconsin has outscored Lindenwood 40–1 in their last five meetings. Piece of cake.