2022-2023 ECAC Women’s Preseason Poll

The women’s ECAC released their preseason coaches poll last week, with defending league champion Colgate picked as the favorite again this year. But befitting a league that frequently has multiple very good teams in close competition in the standings, there was very little consensus about the top of the standings. Five different schools received at least one first place vote, including Harvard, who was picked seventh in the league.

Rank

Team (first place votes)

Points

1 Colgate (6) 115

2 Yale (3) 98

3 Princeton (1) 97

4 Quinnipiac 92

5 Clarkson (1) 86

6 Cornell 73

7 Harvard (1) 67

8 St. Lawrence 60

9 Brown 33

10 RPI 30

11 Dartmouth 27

12 Union 14

While it’s probably a stretch to call any of the teams in the league great—certainly none approach the WCHA’s three Big Ten juggernauts this season—there are a lot of what I would consider very good teams, with just about everyone in the top half of the league in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid.

The big story heading into the season is the return of Sarah Fillier. When the world of college hockey last saw Fillier, she had just led the Tigers to a victory in the ECAC playoffs, earning Princeton a second consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament(Fillier had almost single-handedly led the Tigers to an upset victory over Minnesota at Ridder Arena in the 2019 tournament). The Tigers were all set to take on Northeastern in the NCAA Tournament the following Saturday until the universe collapsed that Thursday. The tournament was wiped out. Fillier didn’t play at all during the 2020-2021 season after the Ivy League chose not to participate in sports that year. And last year, Fillier was otherwise occupied absolutely handing the US women’s Olympic their ass in Beijing.

So after first stepping foot on campus back in 2018, Fillier is finally back with the Tigers, with two years of eligibility still remaining, and her return immediately puts the Tigers in contention among the top teams in the ECAC. Is it enough to put them in national contention? Likely not over the long run, as the Tigers still lack some depth. But in a one game shot, a player as dangerous as Fillier that can create a couple goals in a game, gives Princeton a puncher’s chance against any team in the country.