The 2023-24 NCHL regular season concludes this weekend. Black Division members #12 DePaul University and Aurora University battle it out in a home and home series. Both teams have earned a spot in the conference tournament but will be vying for the chance to grab 2nd place in the Black Division standings. Aurora has had the edge in this series, especially on home ice where they are undefeated.

 

Also, a first-time meeting, as conference members, takes place in the Orange Division when Milwaukee School of Engineering finishes their inaugural NCHL season against Lewis University, one of the NCHL’s original members. This is a home and home series as well, with MSOE getting hosting honors for game one before heading to Lewis for the finale.

 

In non-conference action, #3 CUW has home and home with #10 University of Wisconsin – Madison, Marian University travels to #1 Lindenwood University, UW Milwaukee has a home and home with Illinois State University, UW Oshkosh hosts UW La Crosse, and Roosevelt University visits University of Illinois.

 

#12 DePaul University and Aurora University close out their regular seasons with a home and home series. The venue for the series opener will be All Seasons Ice Rinks, home of Aurora, while the finale will be played at Johnny’s IceHouse West, home of DePaul. Second place in the Black Division is still up for grabs as DePaul sits in third place (11 pts), one point behind second place #16 Marquette University, and Aurora is in a tie for fourth with Marian University (8 pts), four points behind Marquette.

 

This will be the sixth conference series between these two teams. So far Aurora has held the upper hand, having won eight of the previous 10 meetings. Aurora has had the greatest success at home as they have yet to be defeated on their home ice (5-0) but are 3-2 at DePaul. Over the course of those 10 games Aurora is also averaging 7 goals per game to DePaul’s 2.7. When broken down as home and away the averages are the same for Aurora, seven goals per game, while DePaul improves from 1.6 on the road to 3.8 at home.

 

Though their eight prior divisional games this season DePaul is averaging 4.25 goals for and 3.9 against for a +3 differential and Aurora is averaging 4 goals for and 4.6 against for a -5 differential. So, it will be interesting to see if the historical averages play out or if the results hold to this season’s offensive outputs.

 

DePaul will be coming into this series on a short week, having played a weather delayed makeup game with UW Oshkosh on Tuesday. However, they did come out victorious, which may have helped with the sting of missing out on a sweep of Marian last weekend due to an overtime loss in the series finale. Aurora also was on the ice this past weekend and took both games of their series with Orange Division member Milwaukee School of Engineering. Both teams will be in the conference tournament next weekend so this series will be important to make sure they have momentum on their side and finish off the season on a strong note. It will also give each team a glimpse of what to expect should they meet in the tournament.

 

Milwaukee School of Engineering and Lewis University conclude their conference seasons this weekend with a home and home series. This matchup marks the first time these two teams have met as conference members as well. MSOE gets to host the series opener at The Kern before closing out the series at Lewis and Canlan Sports.

 

It has been a tough conference season for both teams. MSOE has had better luck out of the two, sitting in 3rd place having and secured three divisional points while Lewis is still looking to earn their first of the season and sit in 4th place. Over the course of MSOE’s four divisional games they are averaging 2.7 goals for and five goals against for a -9 goal differential. Lewis has played one fewer game and is averaging 2.3 goals for and 6.7 goals against for a -13 goal differential.

 

Coming into this series MSOE and Lewis are on opposite ends of the spectrum after last weekend’s results. MSOE played Black Division member Aurora University and came out on the losing end of both games. Lewis, on the other hand, swept Loyola University Chicago. Everyone wants to end their season on a high note so both teams will be going for the “W’s.”

 

#3 CUW v./at #10 University of Wisconsin - Madison

Marian University at #1 Lindenwood University

UW Milwaukee at/v. Illinois State University

UW Oshkosh v. UW La Crosse

Roosevelt University at University of Illinois

 

#16 Marquette University