Two Upsets in First Round Action; NCAA Record Set
Quarterfinals take the stage this coming weekend
ALBANY, N.Y. -- There were two upsets in the first round of play in the ECAC Hockey League tournament over the weekend, and Yale pulled off one of them in a record-making game. The No. 11 Bulldogs captured its series victory in the fifth overtime vs. No. 6 Union on Saturday night. The game went 141:35 and became the longest NCAA men's game ever played. Newcomer No. 10 Quinnipiac also pulled off a surprise, downing No. 7 Rensselaer in two games.
No. 5 St. Lawrence was taken to a third game vs. No. 12 Brown but survived for another day and joins Quinnipiac and Yale as an advancing team. No. 8 Clarkson also moves on after defeating No. 9 Princeton twice.
Looking ahead to this coming weekend's games, No. 1 Dartmouth will play Yale; No. 2 Colgate will entertain Quinnipiac; No. 3 Cornell faces Clarkson; and No. 4 Harvard takes on St. Lawrence.
Taking a look at this past weekend's games, we start with No. 5 St. Lawrence and No. 12 Brown. The two teams went to three games and all three were decided by one goal - in fact, two of the contests went to overtime. The Saints won the first game when Mike Zbriger netted a goal just 25 seconds into overtime. The next night, Brown opened the scoring with two goals in the first period, followed by two SLU strikes in the second. Jeff Prough scored what would stand as the game winner at 13:29 in the third. That goal gave the Bears the win and forced game three. While the third game also went to OT, the Saints denied Brown's bid to become the first 12th seed to advance in the tournament since the full 12-team league became tournament eligible in 2003. Seven goals were scored between the two teams in the third period alone and led to the 4-all deadlock. Brock McBride broke the tie at 4:48 in the extra session to send the Saints on to the quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, Brian McNary led the league in scoring in the opening weekend with six points on two goals and four assists in the three games. Brown goalie Adam D'Alba also deserves a lot of credit, as the sophomore stopped a tournament record 153 shots in the three games.
On Friday in Schenectady, Yale pulled off the first-half of its upset with a 2-1 overtime victory vs. Union. Both teams had scored power-play goals to tie the score at 1-all and neither could pull ahead before the end of regulation. So into overtime it went, with Matt Cohen scoring the winner at 9:21. The Bulldogs then claimed the series with Saturday's 3-2 win when David Meckler netted the winner with a short-handed tally. The game was a marathon, starting at 7 p.m. Saturday and not ending until 1:10 a.m. Sunday - a stretch of six hours and 10 minutes. Both teams gave it all they had, putting a combined 120 shots on net over the course of the game. Union's Kris Mayotte and Yale's Alec Richards were both outstanding in goal, making 58 and 57 saves, respectively. The two games also marked the fifth straight overtime playoff games for the Dutchmen, dating back to their three-game series last season vs. Clarkson.
Down the road in Troy, N.Y., another first-round upset was taking place, as Quinnipiac downed Rensselaer in two games. Playing in their first ECACHL playoffs, the Bobcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on Friday night and kept the Engineers off the board until early in the third, when Oren Eizenman scored right after a QU penalty ended. RPI was unable to even it up and David Marshall's second period power-play goal stood up as the winner. On Saturday night, Eizenman scored first to put Rensselaer up at the start of the game, however Quinnipiac came right back and scored four straight to take the lead and eventually the game.
Clarkson won its two games vs. Princeton at Cheel Arena, and as a result, will face Cornell in the quarterfinals for the third straight season. The Golden Knights' Mike Sullivan netted both goals in Friday's win, with the game winner coming at 6:23 in the third. The next night, David Leggio earned the 5-0 shutout after stopping all 20 shots he faced.
