Top Four Seeds Advance in ECACHL Tournament
Championship Round Set for March 17-18
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The tournament field is set for the 45th Annual ECAC Hockey League Men's Championship taking place this weekend, March 17-18, here at the Pepsi Arena. The top four seeds advanced to the championship round, but it wasn't without some work. Two of the quarterfinal series went to a third game, with No. 4 Harvard claiming the series vs. No. 5 St. Lawrence, and No. 2 Colgate making it through after going three with No. 10 Quinnipiac. No. 3 Cornell and No. 8 Clarkson battled through two overtime games - double OT each night - before the Big Red punched its ticket to Albany. No. 1 Dartmouth had the least amount of trouble advancing, sweeping No. 11 Yale in regulation each night.
The semifinal games will take place on Friday, March 17, with No. 4 Harvard taking on No. 1 Dartmouth at 4:30 p.m. The 8 p.m. game features No. 3 Cornell vs. No. 2 Colgate. Both games, as well as Saturday's 8 o'clock championship tilt, will be televised nationally on College Sports Television. CSTV is available on a variety of cable outlets as well as on satellite via DirecTV and the Dish, though you likely have to have a sports package or other specialty programming package to view CSTV. On DirecTV, CSTV is on channel 610, while the Dish shows it on channel 152. Please check with your local cable and/or satellite providers to see if CSTV is available to you.
You can also listen to all four games online, courtesy of WEOS Radio. Go to www.WEOS.org and click on the listen link on game day. Special thanks to WEOS for once again providing us with an online home for our broadcasts! WEOS is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, N.Y. Bob Ahlfeld, the Voice of Clarkson Hockey, will lead the broadcasts and will be joined by the WRPI crew of Jim Spavins, Rob Tricchinelli and Ed DerGuharian.
No. 1 Dartmouth was the first team to advance to the Championship Round after sweeping No. 11 Yale 5-1 and 3-1. Tanner Glass led the way for the Big Green in game 1 with two goals and two assists in the contest, while Sean Offers had the winner along with an assist. The next night, three separate players scored for Dartmouth in the win. Mike Devine stopped 55 of the shots he faced to earn the victories, while Alec Richards had 64 in the two losses.
No. 3 Cornell was the next team in after two double-overtime wins over No. 8 Clarkson. The two games also went down in the record books as the two longest games ever played at Lynah Rink. Game one lasted over 88 minutes (88:30), while the second game went 90:32. Ray Sawada was the hero on Friday night, while senior captain Matt Moulson won it on Saturday. Clarkson actually battled back from a 3-1 deficit on Friday to force the extra session, with Steve Zalewski tying it up in the third. The Big Red dominated the shots in game two (59-25), but was kept in check by the Golden Knights' David Leggio, who finished the weekend with a league-high 106 saves.
No. 2 Colgate was shaken up a bit right out of the gates on Friday night, as No. 10 Quinnipiac pulled off a 3-0 opening-night blanking. It was just a one-goal game until the third when the Bobcats netted two to increase their lead. The next night, Colgate came to life and scored five en route to its 5-3 win. Sunday saw the Raiders continue their scoring, with a 4-0 blanking over the Bobcats. Mark Dekanich stopped 30 shots to earn the shutout.
No. 4 Harvard also went to a third game and advanced after downing St. Lawrence 8-4 on Sunday. The Saints took the first game 5-1 behind the two-goal effort of Kevin DeVergilio. Kyle Rank also had multiple points with a goal and four assists in the victory. Saturday night saw a tighter contest, with the Crimson ending on top, 3-2. It was a come-from-behind effort for the Crimson, as it scored twice in the third to tie it up and go ahead for the win. Dan Murphy led on Sunday night with a hat trick, scoring once in each period, to lead the Crimson to the win and a trip to Albany.
Earlier this season, Dartmouth and Harvard split their regular season games, with each winning at home - the Crimson 6-2 in Cambridge and the Big Green 5-1 in Hanover. Cornell earned both wins vs. Colgate earlier this year, 4-1 and 3-2.
