Four Teams Sweep Weekly Competition in the ECACHL
ALBANY, N.Y. - The North Country and upper New England duos all swept their opponents this past week, with St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Harvard and Dartmouth all earning four points. The Crimson also picked up a non-league victory with a decision over Boston College.
Five of the weekend's games also went to overtime, four of them on Friday, with just two ending up in ties. Rensselaer laid claim to those, matching both Cornell and Colgate with identical 1-1 scores. The Big Red, ranked fifth nationally heading into the weekend, was also up-ended on Friday night by Union.
For the sweeps, SLU and Clarkson earned their wins over Princeton and Quinnipiac. Both of Friday night's games went to OT with the Saints and Golden Knights coming out on top, defeating Quinnipiac (6-5) and Princeton (4-3), respectively. Saturday also produced one-goal victories for the North Country duo with no overtime necessary.
Harvard and Dartmouth were both at home and earned their victories over Yale and Brown. The Crimson went to overtime to down the Bulldogs 4-3, while the Big Green got the job done, 9-4 in regulation. Against the Bears, Dartmouth earned a 3-2 win, while Harvard blanked them 2-0.
The Big Green's Mike Ouellette picked up a total of seven points over the weekend and earned Player of the Week honors. Five of his points came against Yale, where he had a hat trick with a power-play goal, a short-handed marker and an even strength tally (which proved to be the winner).
Colgate picked up three points over the weekend after tying Rensselaer 1-all and downing Union 5-0. Mark Dekanich earned Goaltender of the Week honors after stopping 47 of 48 shots for a .979 save percentage and a 0.48 goals against average. The blanking of the Dutchmen was also his second shutout of the year.
After the tie at Colgate, the Engineers went on to tie Cornell. Freshman netminder Mathias Lange was outstanding both nights for Rensselaer, making 62 saves over the two games. With his weekend marks of a .969 save percentage and a 0.92 goals against average - along with tying two of the nation's top 20 teams, he was named Rookie of the Week.
Union took advantage of every opportunity it was given against Cornell on Friday night to claim victory. Despite being outshot 33-13, the Dutchmen came out on top after scoring two goals within 18 seconds of each other in the first period and having goaltender Kris Mayotte stonewall the Big Red for the 2-1 win.
In non-league competition, Harvard started off the week with a huge win, downing Hockey East foe Boston College 5-3. The game took place at BC's home rink and marked the first time since 1979 that the Crimson has won there. John Daigneau earned the win after stopping 36 shots, while Dan Murphy netted the winner mid-way through the second period.
Three Tuesday night games kick off this week's action, including a league contest. Quinnipiac will travel to Princeton for the first half of their home-and-home series, while Yale welcomes Mercyhurst and Harvard entertains Boston University.
Over the weekend, Dartmouth and Harvard will travel to the North Country to take on St. Lawrence and Clarkson, while the Tigers and Bobcats will play at Northford. In non-league play, Union will play Wayne State twice at Messa Rink and Colgate takes on Western Michigan for two at Starr; Yale will travel to Minnesota-Duluth for two games; and Brown is at St. Cloud State for two. Cornell takes on Niagara at Lynah Rink Friday, before the two teams travel to Rochester, N.Y., for a neutral site game at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday.
As it is a holiday weekend, we aren't without a holiday tournament. Rensselaer will play host to Holy Cross, Providence and Nebraska-Omaha this Friday and Saturday as part of the 55th Annual Rensselaer/Bank of America Holiday Tournament. The tournament is the oldest college hockey holiday tournament in the nation. The Engineers will face the Crusaders on Friday and then either the Friars or Mavericks on Saturday.
