First Round Complete ... Quarterfinals Ready to Roll
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The first weekend of playoff action is complete in the ECAC Hockey League and the top four teams will now join the fray after having the first weekend off. Clarkson pulled the lone upset of the weekend and it took over 200 minutes to get it done. Otherwise, three of last week's high seeds remain in the hunt for the 2005 title.
The Golden Knights went three games with Union to advance in the tournament. Entering the weekend as the No. 9 seed taking on the. No. 8 Dutchmen, the Knights won games one and three to take the series. Each game went to overtime, marking the first time that has happen in a league series. David Cayer broke Friday's scoreless tie with less than five minutes to go in the 20-minute overtime to win the first game. Game 2 went nearly as long before Union claimed the win. Game three was the longest of the weekend with Shawn Weller winning the series with 1:42 to go in OT. The two teams had met in last year's series as well with the Golden Knights advancing all the way to the championship game.
Dustin Traylen backed his Golden Knight team throughout the series over Union. The junior netminder made a combined 91 saves in the series and allowed just five goals, earning Goaltender of the Week.
Dartmouth also went three games in its series fighting off a feisty Yale squad to advance. The Big Green took the first game with a decisive 7-2 win before the Bulldogs won game two with a Will Engasser goal in overtime. Dartmouth came out of the gates in game three for the four-goal victory. Lee Stempniak led the Big Green over the weekend with three goals and three assists and was named Player of the Week.
The Rookie of the Week was Chris Poli, who helped lead his Brown Bears to a two-game sweep over Rensselaer. The forward led all league freshmen with four points on the weekend, including an overtime game-winning goal.
St. Lawrence also swept in two games, downing Princeton 7-0 and 4-2. Mike McKenna recorded 23 saves on Friday for his first career playoff shutout and the sixth in Saint post-season hockey history. He came back with a 20 save night, allowing two goals, in Saturday's W.
This week's action sees a repeat of last year's tournament with Clarkson traveling to Ithaca to take on #1 Cornell. The Knights left Lynah Rink victorious last year, taking games one and three of the series. #2 Harvard will welcome St Lawrence to Cambridge this weekend, while #4 Vermont will play Dartmouth for the fourth time this season. There is one TV game this week, and that is the Brown at #3 Colgate contest on Friday. That game will be televised in Central New York by Time Warner Cable.
The winners of the quarterfinals will advance to the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., for the championship round. Semifinal action takes place March 18 with the third-place and championship games taking place March 19.
Follow the action with live stats from all the games along with postgame stories and box scores from all the contests online at http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/.
