The Lady Icers are presently ranked 11th and need to crack the top eight to make it to nationals, which will be held March 8th-12th in Wooster, OH. In order to evaluate their chances of doing so, here are the teams ranked 5th through 11th - the tournament bubble - with their schedules between the January 27th poll (the last one before nationals bids are handed out) and d-day on February 17th.
5. Liberty (14-9-1-0 ACHA, 152 poll points)
January 28th/29th at Penn State, L 1-5/W 3-2
February 2nd/3rd vs. Robert Morris (IL), W 2-1/L 1-2
February 4th/5th vs. Rhode Island, L 1-2/L 0-1
February 11th/12th vs. Raleigh Women's Team
The Flames had a tough-luck weekend after an opening victory against Robert Morris, losing three games in the third period. The good news for LU is that they have more margin for error than anyone in this post. The bad news is that the teams below are tightly-packed enough to make them pay, even with the 1-3-0 weekend coming against the no. 2 and no. 3 teams.
6. Massachusetts (8-9-1-1 ACHA, 143 poll points)
January 27th/28th vs. Minnesota, L 1-3/L 0-5
January 30th at Northeastern, W 2-0
Feburary 10th/11th vs. Penn State
UMass, idle last week, is one team that might be helped by the Flames' stumble - although they'll need a strong performance against the Lady Icers to seal their bid.
7. Minnesota (13-5-0-0 ACHA, 127 poll points)
January 27th/28th at Massachusetts, W 3-1/W 5-0
January 28th at Northeastern, W 5-2
January 29th at Rhode Island, L 3-4
February 4th/5th vs. Colorado, W 12-1/W 6-4
February 11th/12th vs. Wisconsin
The Gophers took care of business against lowly Colorado and probably only need to avoid a major upset against Wisconsin to punch their ticket to Wooster.
8. Michigan (12-7-2-1 ACHA, 104 poll points)
January 27th/28th vs. Michigan State, L 0-3/W 1-0
February 10th/11th/12th at CCWHA playoffs
The Wolverines joined UMass in not playing last weekend. As the last team in right now, UM will look to strengthen their position in the upcoming league playoffs.
9. Grand Valley State (13-11-3-0 ACHA, 97 poll points)
January 27th/28th vs. Colorado State, W 5-0/W 8-0
February 4th/5th at Michigan State, L 1-3/L 1-2
February 10th/11th/12th at CCWHA playoffs
In some positive news from a Penn State perspective, the Lakers were unable to upset top-ranked MSU. GVSU will now head to CCWHAs needing to impress in order to cross that line above them.
10. Ohio State (13-9-2-1 ACHA, 93 poll points)
January 28th/29th at Northern Michigan, W 7-1/W 4-0
February 4th/5th vs. Western Michigan, W 3-0/W 5-2
February 10th/11th/12th at CCWHA playoffs
While the Buckeyes are winning, they may end up being hurt by the caliber of their schedule down the stretch. Quite simply, there's nothing in their recent schedule that makes a compelling case for upward mobility.
11. Penn State (8-6-0-0 ACHA, 83 poll points)
January 28th/29th vs. Liberty, W 5-1/L 2-3
February 3rd/4th at Northeastern, W 4-2/L 1-2
February 10th/11th at Massachusetts
As well as the Lady Icers have played this semester, realistically they will have to take it up a click and pull off a weekend sweep to stay in contention. Additionally, poor showings by Michigan, Grand Valley State and Ohio State at the CCWHA playoffs will help. Those are the three teams that, along with UMass, are most likely to drop and create room for PSU.
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