Weekend Sweeps Change the Top Positions in the Latest ECACHL Standings
ALBANY, N.Y. -- It was another sweep weekend in the league with Colgate, Cornell and Yale each picking up two ECAC Hockey League wins. The Raiders claimed sole possession of first place in the standings with their wins, while Cornell is now second and Yale is in a three-way tie for fifth.
Rensselaer split its weekend games, earning a victory over Brown but falling to Yale, while Brown also picked up a point with a tie vs. Union. Non-league play saw Quinnipiac pick up two victories with identical 4-1 wins over RIT and Dartmouth split games vs. Sacred Heart and Holy Cross.
The Raiders were led to victory over Clarkson and St. Lawrence by junior Marc Fulton who picked up five points with two goals and three assists. He also tallied the game winner in overtime vs. the Saints to help his team past SLU and into first place in the league standings. Fulton's five points led the ECACHL over the weekend and earned him Player of the Week honors. Sophomore goaltender Mark Dekanich was also a key factor in the wins, as he stopped 68 shots, including 41 vs. Clarkson.
Alec Richards earned Goaltender of the Week honors for the second time this year after backstopping Yale to its weekend sweep. The freshman netminder stopped 54 shots in the two games and earned the shutout vs. Rensselaer. The blanking was the first for Yale over the Engineers since 1950. Five different players scored in the victory for the Bulldogs. Freshman forward Michael Karwoski netted the winner late in the third vs. Union.
Cornell blue liner Sasha Pokulok paced the Big Red with two goals and four assists in its wins over the North Country teams. He had two goals including the game winner vs the Saints and then had two helpers vs. the Golden Knights. Junior goaltender David McKee improved his numbers with the two wins. The junior is now seventh on Cornell's all-time saves list and needs just 24 minutes to become the all-time leader in that Big Red record category. He made 49 saves over the weekend and recorded a .925 save percentage. Cornell swept its home weekend vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence last year as well.
Rensselaer earned two league points with a 3-1 win over Brown. Senior defenseman Keith MCWilliams had the game winning goal vs. the Bears. The Engineers have been skating short-handed, and had just five defensemen and 11 forwards in the lineup over the weekend.
Saturday night saw the only tie of the weekend, with Brown and Union skating to a 2-all contest. After Jonathan Poirier put the Dutchmen up 2-1 with a power-lay goal in the third, Jeff Prough scored just three minutes later to even it back up. Both teams had power-play chances in the extra period, but neither was able to convert.
Quinnipiac saw both of its wins come in non-league play, as the Bobcats downed Division I newcomer RIT. Freshman forward David Marshall led the way for QU with four points in the two wins. His one-goal, three assist weekend earned him Rookie of the Week honors. He now has a league-best 17 goals on the season. Teammate and classmate Chris Myers matched Marshall with four points on four assists.
Dartmouth opened its weekend with a 4-2 win over Sacred Heart before falling to Holy Cross. Garret Overlock led the Dartmouth blue liners with a pair of points in the win and a goal in the loss. His goal on Friday was the game winner vs. the Pioneers, while his goal on Saturday tied the game up at 2-all vs. HC.
In league play this coming weekend, Yale and Brown travel to Colgate and Cornell, while union and Rensselaer are at Dartmouth and Harvard. Clarkson and St. Lawrence will play their annual home-and-home series, first in Potsdam and then in Canton. In non-league play, Quinnipiac will play host to Niagara for two. Princeton is off again this weekend as the team wraps up semester exams.
