Colgate Continues to Lead, Dartmouth Gains Ground in the ECACHL
ALBANY, N.Y. - Colgate extended its lead in the ECAC Hockey League race over the weekend, and Dartmouth gained ground, as the two teams earned four points with sweeps over the weekend. Cornell earned three points with a win and a tie, while Union, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Harvard all split for two-point weekends.
Colgate now has a three-point lead over Cornell in the standings heading into this weekend's home-and-home series between the two teams. The Raiders gained ground after earning a 2-1 overtime win over Yale and a 5-2 win vs. Brown. Tyler Burton led the way for Colgate with two goals and an assist (a helper on the OT winner), and he became the first Raider to hit the 30-point mark this season in the process. Goaltender Mark Dekanich earned the win vs. the Bulldogs after making 25 saves.
Yale's Alec Richards and his teammates didn't make it easy for the Raiders to earn the win and were just as tough in the 2-2 tie with Cornell. Richards earned Rookie of the Week honors after making 65 saves against the top two teams in the league. He had 36 saves vs. the Raiders and 29 against the Big Red. Joe Zappala helped provide the offensive punch and had the tying goal against Cornell.
Cornell's David McKee stopped a penalty shot against the Bulldogs to help earn the Big Red a point in the standings. The Big Red opened the weekend with Chris Abbott netting the winner in OT vs. Brown.
Dartmouth earned its sweep at home in front of more than 100 former players and coaches who were in town to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Dartmouth hockey. The Big Green didn't disappoint those on hand, by downing Union 5-1 and Rensselaer 6-3. Mark Devine backstopped the team to the two wins with 49 saves in the two games. He had 32 vs. Union and 17 vs. Rensselaer to post a 2.01 goals against average and a .925 save percentage for the weekend, earning him Goaltender of the Week honors. Devine might have picked up some extra pointers from earlier in the day, as Big Green head coach Bob Gaudet put on the pads and was the goalie for the first of two alumni games on Saturday afternoon helping his Green team to a 9-7 victory.
Clarkson and St. Lawrence played their annual home-and-home series over the weekend, facing each other in back-to-back regular-season games for the first time in the 81-year history of their hockey rivalry. The series proved to be just as exciting as any other, with the Golden Knights earning a one-goal, 3-2 win at Cheel, and the Saints took a one-goal, 5-4 win at Appleton. Shea Guthrie netted the winner for Clarkson in its home win, while John Zeiler scored the winning goal for St. Lawrence.
Saint senior T.J. Trevelyan led his team and the league over the weekend with five points and earned Player of the Week honors as a result.. He had a hand in both of this team's goals on Friday with a goal and an assist and then had two goals and an assist in Saturday's win. One of his goals was a short-handed marker.
Union and Harvard also picked up two points on the weekend, as they each split their weekend games. The Crimson started things off with a 3-1 win over Rensselaer, while the Dutchmen downed the Cantabs on Saturday 2-1.
In non-league action, Quinnipiac played Niagara twice and won the second game 5-2.
Princeton jumps back into the swing of things tomorrow night (Jan. 31) when it plays Robert Morris. The Tigers have been off the past few weeks taking exams. Princeton then plays St. Lawrence and Clarkson at home, as does travel partner Quinnipiac. Dartmouth hits the road, traveling to Yale and Brown this weekend, while Harvard has one league game, vs. the Bears. The Crimson are then off Saturday night as part of its preparation for the opening game of the Beanpot vs. Boston University on Feb. 6. The remaining league games have Rensselaer and Union playing their annual home-and-home series as are Colgate and Cornell. Yale wraps up play for the weekend with a non-league game vs. Connecticut on Sunday.
