# 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season

The 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season began in September 2016 and ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament's championship game on 19 March 2017.

## Pre-season polls

The top 10 from USCHO.com, September 19, 2016, and the top 10 from USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, First place votes are in parentheses.
USCHO.com :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Wisconsin (10) |
| 2 | Minnesota (3) |
| 3 | Boston College (2) |
| 4 | Quinnipiac |
| 5 | Clarkson |
| 6 | North Dakota |
| 7 | Princeton |
| 8 | Colgate |
| 9 | Northeastern |
| 10 | Boston University |
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Wisconsin (15) |
| 2 | Minnesota (3) |
| 3 | Boston College (1) |
| 4 | Quinnipiac |
| 5 | Clarkson |
| 6 | North Dakota |
| 7 | Princeton |
| 8 | Colgate |
| 9 | Northeastern |
| 10 | Boston University |

## Regular season
### Standings

2016–17 College Hockey America standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 Robert Morris†* | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 60 | 37 | 34 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 106 | 74 |
| Syracuse | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 63 | 24 | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 85 | 59 |
| Mercyhurst | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 58 | 45 | 35 | 15 | 18 | 2 | 92 | 85 |
| Penn State | 20 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 47 | 54 | 35 | 9 | 21 | 5 | 74 | 104 |
| RIT | 20 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 31 | 59 | 36 | 7 | 27 | 2 | 49 | 116 |
| Lindenwood | 20 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 58 | 33 | 6 | 25 | 2 | 36 | 100 |
| Championship: Robert Morris † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Current rankings: USCHO.com Division I women's poll |||||||||||||||
* Rankings based on number of wins in the conference
2016–17 ECAC Hockey standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #1 Clarkson†* | 22 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 91 | 32 | 41 | 32 | 4 | 5 | 146 | 63 |
| #6 St. Lawrence | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 75 | 30 | 36 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 115 | 58 |
| #7 Cornell | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 31 | 56 | 36 | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 82 | 57 |
| #9 Princeton | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | 69 | 33 | 33 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 104 | 63 |
| Quinnipiac | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 29 | 64 | 28 | 37 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 94 | 51 |
| Colgate | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 59 | 47 | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 105 | 73 |
| Yale | 22 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 46 | 58 | 31 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 69 | 83 |
| Rensselaer | 22 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 39 | 73 | 36 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 62 | 117 |
| Harvard | 22 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 14 | 37 | 51 | 29 | 5 | 19 | 5 | 52 | 77 |
| Brown | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 33 | 98 | 29 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 56 | 126 |
| Dartmouth | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 27 | 56 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 38 | 73 |
| Union | 22 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 75 | 34 | 5 | 28 | 1 | 38 | 111 |
| Championship: Clarkson † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USCHO.com Division I women's poll |||||||||||||||
2016–17 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #2 Wisconsin*† | 28 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 73 | 110 | 24 | 40 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 157 | 35 |
| #4 Minnesota | 28 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 65 | 88 | 46 | 39 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 124 | 69 |
| #5 Minnesota Duluth | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 62 | 82 | 47 | 37 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 110 | 62 |
| North Dakota | 28 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 41 | 62 | 57 | 38 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 84 | 73 |
| Ohio State | 28 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 40 | 73 | 37 | 14 | 18 | 5 | 69 | 82 |
| St. Cloud State | 28 | 7 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 43 | 82 | 36 | 9 | 23 | 4 | 61 | 113 |
| Bemidji State | 28 | 7 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 49 | 80 | 35 | 12 | 20 | 3 | 67 | 90 |
| Minnesota State | 28 | 4 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 33 | 98 | 37 | 7 | 26 | 4 | 45 | 127 |
| Championship: Wisconsin † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Current rankings: USCHO.com Division I women's poll ||||||||||||||||
2016–17 WHEA standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #3 Boston College†* | 24 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 86 | 38 | 39 | 28 | 6 | 5 | 130 | 60 |
| #10 Northeastern | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 30 | 75 | 62 | 37 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 112 | 86 |
| Boston University | 24 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 28 | 83 | 62 | 37 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 130 | 104 |
| Providence | 24 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 25 | 76 | 72 | 37 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 117 | 113 |
| Vermont | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 25 | 54 | 58 | 38 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 96 | 90 |
| New Hampshire | 24 | 11 | 11 | 2 | 24 | 66 | 72 | 35 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 89 | 104 |
| Connecticut | 24 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 20 | 50 | 66 | 36 | 14 | 18 | 4 | 75 | 91 |
| Merrimack | 24 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 58 | 83 | 36 | 11 | 22 | 3 | 86 | 117 |
| Maine | 24 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 51 | 86 | 32 | 10 | 21 | 1 | 66 | 105 |
| Championship: Boston College † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Current rankings: USCHO.com Division I women's poll |||||||||||||||
*Rankings based on number of wins in the conference
2016–17 Division I Independents standingsvte :
| | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Sacred Heart | 29 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 113 | 64 |

## Player stats
### Scoring leaders

The following players lead the NCAA in points at the conclusion of games played on March 19, 2017.
| Player | Class | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Kelly Pannek | Junior | Minnesota | 39 | 19 | 43 | 62 |
| Cayley Mercer | Senior | Clarkson | 41 | 28 | 34 | 62 |
| Brooke Webster | Senior | St. Lawrence | 36 | 23 | 34 | 57 |
| Lara Stalder | Senior | Minnesota Duluth | 35 | 23 | 33 | 56 |
| Kennedy Marchment | Junior | St. Lawrence | 36 | 20 | 36 | 56 |
| Annie Pankowski | Junior | Wisconsin | 36 | 25 | 30 | 55 |
| Sarah Nurse | Senior | Wisconsin | 39 | 25 | 28 | 53 |
| Sarah Potomak | Sophomore | Minnesota | 38 | 20 | 33 | 53 |
| Genevieve Bannon | Senior | Clarkson | 41 | 15 | 38 | 53 |
| Brittany Howard | Junior | Robert Morris | 35 | 20 | 30 | 50 |

### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders lead the NCAA in goals against average at the conclusion of games played on March 19, 2017 while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.
| Player | Class | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Ann-Renee Desbiens | Senior | Wisconsin | 35 | 2115:52 | 29 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 17 | .963 | 0.71 |
| Sydney Rossman | Senior | Quinnipiac | 34 | 2028:08 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 9 | .929 | 1.45 |
| Steph Neatby | Freshman | Princeton | 19 | 1187:03 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 4 | .950 | 1.52 |
| Marlene Boissonnault | Sophomore | Cornell | 13 | 788:51 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 2 | .925 | 1.52 |
| Katie Burt | Junior | Boston College | 37 | 2225:04 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 57 | 8 | .935 | 1.54 |

## Awards
### All-America honors

| First team | First team | Second team | Second team |
| Player | School | Player | School |
| Ann-Renée Desbiens | Wisconsin | Kassidy Sauve | Ohio State |
| Megan Keller | Minnesota | Savannah Harmon | Clarkson |
| Lee Stecklein | Minnesota | Jenny Ryan | Wisconsin |
| Cayley Mercer | Clarkson | Sarah Nurse | Wisconsin |
| Kelly Pannek | Minnesota | Annie Pankowski | Wisconsin |
| Lara Stalder | Minnesota Duluth | Brook Webster | St. Lawrence |