Heading Into the Stretch Run With the ECACHL Race Still Wide Open

ALBANY, N.Y. -- There are just three weeks left in the ECAC Hockey League regular season and there is still so much at stake. Heading into this weekend's competition, 10 teams are still able to finish in first place and the other two could still finish third or fourth. Also, no team has secured a top four finish which includes a key first- round bye.

This weekend's games have Colgate and Cornell at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, while Brown and Yale are at Union and Rensselaer. Princeton plays at Harvard and Dartmouth, while Quinipiac has a single game vs. the Big Green.

Saturday's game between Princeton and Dartmouth will start at 4:30 to accommodate television. The game is being broadcast nationally on ESPNU and is also being picked up by the NHL Network in Canada. The Yale at Union game is also being televised regionally on Time Warner Cable (TWC3) in the Schenectady/Albany area.

Starting off in the North Country, Colgate and Cornell will look to sweep their season series with Clarkson and St. Lawrence, while the Golden Knights and Saints want the split. Earlier this season, Clarkson fell by identical 4-2 scores to their southern rivals, while SLU lost 5-2 to the Big Red and then went to overtime vs. the Raiders ending up on the short side of a 4-3 contest.

The Saints are 3-1-1 in the last five games against Colgate in Canton and have won the last two meetings at Appleton Arena. While Cornell has won four straight from the Saints at Appleton since a 3-2 Saint win in February of 2001, each of the last five games has been a one-goal game including last year's 3-2 Cornell win in overtime. Special guests at the games will be the members of the 1961 Saint men's hockey team, the first St. Lawrence team to play in a national championship game. That team, which included the late Terry Slater, a former Colgate coach and Saint All America, will be inducted into the St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Cornell is 16-3-1 against the Knights since the start of the 1999-2000 campaign and have a two-game lead (48-46-9) in the all-time series. Cornell is unbeaten against the Knights in their last nine (8-0-1) regular season match-ups. Clarkson's last regular-season win over Cornell was a 2-0 shutout at Cheel Arena on February 24, 2001. The Knights own an 8-5-2 mark in the series at Cheel Arena. The Knights are 10-2-2 against Colgate over the past 14 games and lead the Raiders in their all-time series, 78-39-9. Colgate won the first meeting this season by snapping a five-game losing streak against Clarkson at Starr Rink. Colgate's last win at Cheel Arena was a 6-1 victory on Nov. 15, 2003.

Union and Rensselaer welcome Brown and Yale to the New York Capital District this weekend.

Union will look to change the latest trend with Brown, as the Bears have a 4-1-2 mark in the last seven games and a 2-0-1 mark in the last three between the two schools. The Dutchmen's last win vs. Brown was back on Nov. 30, 2002 in Providence. Union is 3-8-3 at home against Brown with the last victory at Messa Rink coming back on Jan. 5, 2002. Two of the previous six meetings have ended in overtime draws and both teams have not combined for more than five goals in all six. Union is 10-17-2 all-time against the Bulldogs and has won three of the last four games. The Dutchmen swept Yale last season but after a loss at Ingalls Rink earlier this season the best they can hope for is a split. Union is 5-9 all-time against Yale at home following a 3-2 victory last season.

Rensselaer, which suffered its first shutout (5-0) against Yale since 1950 back on Jan. 21, has won three of the last four vs. the Bulldogs at Houston Field House. Overall, the Engineers hold a 47-32-5 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams head into the weekend tied for seventh place in the league standings with 14 points each. Saturday night will have Houston rocking, as it's the 29th annual "Big Red Freakout!" game. The Engineers are unbeaten (11-0-4) in the last 15 Freakout! games, including an exciting 3-2 win over the Bears last year.

In an effort to raise awareness about testicular cancer, as well as bring in money for cancer research, each member of the RPI team has had their heads shaved following a home game at the Houston Field House. The Engineers' campaign concludes this weekend with the final three heads going bald -- including Kirk MacDonald's -- as well as a special jersey raffle on Saturday. MacDonald, a senior who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last April, will be the final player to have his head shaved when he goes under the razor following Saturday's game. With a crowd of over 5,000 expected, MacDonald and classmate Kevin Croxton, who will also have his head shaved that evening, hope to get at least $1 for every person in the building.

Dartmouth plays host to both Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend and will look to split this year's series with the two squads. It will be the third-ever meeting with the Big Green and Bobcats each claiming one win each. Princeton is one of Darmouth's oldest rivals, as the two have met 176 times dating back to Jan. 9, 1907. In the last 10 meetings, The Big Green holds a 4-3-3 record vs. the Tigers.

The Tigers start the weekend off at Harvard and will look for the season split, following the Crimson's 2-1 win earlier in the season. Harvard also won both games last year.

Following this weekend's action, Harvard plays Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation game on Monday at 5. Follow this year's Beanpot action on line at www.beanpothockey.com.