Holiday Tourney Action Complete -- ECACHL Ready to Attack League Play
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The hustle and bustle of the holiday tournaments has come and gone, and in the ECAC Hockey League, Cornell and Clarkson advanced to their tourney title games. The Big Red claimed victory in a shootout, while the Golden Knights took second place.
Prior to the holidays, Harvard challenged Dartmouth in front of a national TV audience on CSTV, with the Big Green taking the league game 5-1. St. Lawrence played a single game out-of-conference, taking on former league foe Vermont and downing the then No. 3 ranked Catamounts 2-1 in Burlington.
Cornell claimed the Florida College Classic title for the second time after earning a 3-0 shutout over Northeastern in the opening game and then winning an overtime shootout with Minnesota State (final score for the books was a 1-1 tie). Senior forward Cam Abbott notched the Big Red's lone goal in the final with a short-handed effort and then had the deciding goal in the shootout, which earned him Player of the Week Honors. He was joined on the weekly list by junior netminder David McKee, who earned his 16th career (and ECACHL career record) shutout with the win over Northeastern, en route to being named Goaltender of the Week. Abbott and teammate Ryan O'Byrne were named to the all-tourney team, while McKee was the MVP.
Clarkson was also involved in a shootout after tying Bemidji State in the first round of the catamount Cup. The Golden Knights earned its spot in the championship game vs. host Vermont after Nick Dodge netted the only goal of 10 total shooters (five each team) to determine who advanced.
Dartmouth also played in the Catamount Cup and finished third after downing Bemidji in the consolation game. The Big Green's Mike Devine and Clarkson's Dodge were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
Out West, Princeton pulled out a huge win, downing two-time defending national champion Denver 4-1 in the opening round of the Denver Cup. The Tigers then lost to top-10 team Boston College in the championship game. Junior brothers Brett and Kevin Westgarth, a defenseman and forward, respectively, were both named to the all-tourney team.
At the Ohio Hockey Classic, Rensselaer put a scare into No. 2 Miami, taking the team to overtime, before the RedHawks scored with 11 seconds to go in the extra stanza for the win. The Engineers then lost to Holy Cross the next day.
Union skated to a third-place finish at the Dodge Holiday classic, dropping the opening game to host Minnesota before downing Canisius with a 2-0 shutout by goaltender Kris Mayotte.
The winter tournament season was kicked off before the holidays, with Colgate and Brown both playing in the Providence College Classic. The two faced each other in the consolation game and skated to a 3-3 overtime tie.
While not in tournament play, Yale also turned in strong performances, playing two non-league games out West last week. The Bulldogs went to overtime and tied Minnesota State 2-2 and then fell in OT two days later to Nebraska Omaha. Freshman goaltender Alec Richards was named the league's Rookie of the Week after stopping 76 shots in the two games.
Harvard split against North Dakota in Grand Forks, winning the first game 1-0 before falling 3-2 the next night.
Quinnipiac, the lone idle team through the holidays, starts up action this evening (Jan. 2) with an exhibition game vs. Queens College. Also playing a mid-week game is Colgate, which travels to Ohio for a Tuesday game vs. Bowling Green.
League play resumes this weekend, with Dartmouth and Harvard traveling to Rensselaer and Union, while Yale and Brown are at Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Bulldogs and Bobcats will play each other on Sunday at Ingalls Rink in a noon game that will be televised live on NESN. Clarkson and St. Lawrence will also square off with a neutral site league game, playing Saturday night at the Corel Centre in Ottawa.
Non-league games this weekend have Colgate playing host to St. Cloud State for two games and RIT visiting Clarkson and Cornell on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
