Hockey / Week 11 Preview: Conference tournament berths on the line as #18 Marquette and CUW battle in home and home

Week 11 Preview: Conference tournament berths on the line as #18 Marquette and CUW battle in home and home

Date:  Source: Northern Collegiate Hockey League

Weekly Preview:
Conference tournament berths are up for grabs this weekend as #18 Marquette University and Concordia University WI battle it out in a home and home series. Heading into the back half of each of their divisional series, Marquette needs three points and CUW two points to overtake DePaul University, thus ensuring themselves a spot in the conference tournament. So, while there are still opportunities to come, waiting until the last moment is not ideal. As a result, each team will be trying to get that ticket punched as soon as possible.
 
Marquette will have the luxury of starting the series out on their home ice and then the series will transition to CUW’s for the series finale. Over the course of their previous two series, the last of which took place in November of 2019, Marquette has come out on top in three of the four games. Two of the games have been blowouts, six goal margins of victory, one each by Marquette and CUW and only one has been decided by less than three goals. It will be interesting to see if history repeats with the lopsided victories or if this trends to a close matchup.
 
In inter-division play, DePaul University heads to Purdue University Northwest.
 
Four conference teams have non-conference series this weekend, #5 Marian University goes on the road to #2 Iowa State University, #17 Aurora University hosts #14 Illinois State University, Roosevelt University travels to St. Louis University, and Northern Michigan University has a home and home with Michigan Tech University.
 
#18 Marquette University and Concordia University WI battle it out in a home and home series:
#18 Marquette University and Concordia University kick off the back half of their divisional slate of games with a home and home series. Game one of which will take place on Marquette’s home sheet, The Ponds of Brookfield, and then they will head to CUW’s home ice, Ozaukee Ice Center, for game two.
 
As of yet, neither team has secured a ticket to the conference tournament. Marquette currently sits in fifth place in the Black Division, one place out of making the conference tournament field. CUW sits in a slightly better position, a tie for third place with #17 Aurora University, but they are only one point ahead of Marquette. So, there is still a lot of room for teams to move up or down.
 
Both CUW and Marquette come into this series fresh off competition last weekend. CUW was embroiled in a divisional matchup with DePaul University, coming away with a weekend sweep, while Marquette took on non-conference opponent #7 Bradley University, battling them to a series split.
 
This series marks the third series between these two teams and the first time they have met since they split their November of 2019 meeting. So far, Marquette has gotten the better of CUW as they hold a 3-1 advantage and have outscored CUW an average of 4.5-3.5 during those four games. Also, of the four games two have been six goal victories, one each by Marquette and CUW, while one game matched up with the average goal difference and was a one goal affair.
 
To this point, CUW is averaging 4.67 goals per game and 3.67 goals against and Marquette is averaging 6.2 goals per game and 3.6 goals against. So, it looks like they are evenly matched defensively but Marquette’s offense has been able to find the back of the net at a greater clip. CUW will need to slow down Marquette’s offense while also making sure their offensive production does not slip if they hope to improve their place in the standings and even the overall record. Marquette will try and keep their good fortunes going against CUW, while also finding a way to move up and out of the fifth position. A good weekend by either team has the possibility to secure their ticket to the conference tournament.
 
Inter-Division Games:
DePaul University at Purdue University Northwest
 
Non-Conference Games:
#5 Marian University at #2 Iowa State University
#17 Aurora University v. #14 Illinois State University
Roosevelt University at St. Louis University
Northern Michigan University v./at Michigan Tech University
 
Idle:
Lewis University
UW Oshkosh
St. Norbert College