St. Lawrence and Harvard Remain Tied for First in ECACHL Standings
ALBANY, N.Y. - The North Country was the happening place to be over the weekend, as important early-season ECAC Hockey League games took place. The end result was a split weekend for all four teams, and a tie for the top spot remained for St. Lawrence and visiting Harvard.
In fact, all six league games that were played resulted in splits, as no team swept a league opponent last week. The Golden Knights, Crimson and Saints, along with Dartmouth, Quinnipiac and Princeton all claimed one win, to keep the standings fairly in tact. Harvard and St. Lawrence entered the weekend tied at first and remained there, while Clarkson stayed in third. The Bobcats and Tigers each moved up one spot, while the Big Green had the biggest jump of the week, moving from seventh to fifth.
In non-league play, Cornell was the only team to pick up two wins, as it downed Niagara twice. Colgate and Union each earned a tie and a win against Western Michigan and Wayne State, respectively, while Rensselaer lost to Holy Cross but beat Providence and Brown fell to St. Cloud State before tying the Huskies in game two. Yale started off with an early-week win over Mercyhurst before falling twice to Minnesota-Duluth, while Harvard also saw early action and tied Boston University.
In upstate New York, the home teams pulled off wins on Friday night before falling to the visitors on Saturday.
In Canton, St. Lawrence had six players score in the win over Dartmouth with Charlie Giffin scoring the game winner. The next night, Harvard scored three goals in the second period and added one early in the third to take a 4-1 lead. The Saints fought back to bring it within one, but its final goal came with just 15.2 seconds left, not allowing enough time to even it up.
Down the road in Potsdam, Clarkson opened the game with a short-handed tally and then gained a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes of action. The Crimson scored once more early on in the third, but couldn't get closer. On Saturday, it was all Dartmouth, as the Big Green held the Golden Knights scoreless, including five power-play attempts, and scored four to earn the shutout. Mike Ouellette led the way with two of the Big Green's goals.
This week's Goalie of the Week selection earned his stripes in the North Country series, as Harvard's Justin Tobe took this week's honors. The junior netminder earned the win vs. SLU after making 43 saves and holding off 10 Saint power plays.
Travel partners Quinnipiac and Princeton each won on the road this past week. Last Tuesday, the Bobcats earned a one-goal victory, as Chris Walsh netted the winner with less than two minutes to go in regulation. On Saturday afternoon, the Tigers roared back with a 6-3 decision, with Rookie of the Week Brandan Kushniruk, picking up two goals and an assist in the win.
Cornell earned one of its weekend victories at home, while the other came in Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena. Junior Mark McCutcheon led the way at Lynah Rink with two goals, including a short-handed marker, which was the game winner. The next night, rookie Michael Kennedy stepped up with a goal and an assist.
Player of the Week honors went to Colgate's Jon Smyth, who had three points over the weekend. He had a power-play goal on Friday vs. Western Michigan and then posted an assist and the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday. His three points placed him among the top 50 scorers all time at Colgate.
Union also tied and won over the weekend in games played at home vs. Wayne State. Jason Visser had a hand in both goals on Friday, with an assist and a power-play goal. The next night, four players scored and Kris Mayotte made 25 saves in the shutout.
Rensselaer earned its weekend win in its own annual tourney - the Rensselaer/Bank of America Holiday Tournament. Goaltender Mathias Lange was named to the all-tournament team after stopping 40 of the 44 shots he faced, including 25 in the victory over Providence. He also had 15 in the Friday loss to Holy Cross.
After falling by three on Friday, Brown rebounded to tie St. Cloud State on Saturday. Jeff Prough had the game-tying goal early on in the third.
Although Yale lost twice at Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend, the Bulldogs left town with a winning highlight. The Elis started the week with a Tuesday night victory over Mercyhurst, winning 6-3. It was Yale's first win of the year.
As teams start taking final exams, the schedule is a little quieter than usual this weekend. In league action, there are just six games. Quinnipiac and Princeton will travel to Colgate and Cornell, while Yale is at Brown Friday and plays host to Harvard on Sunday.
In non-league play, Union will play a home-and-home series with RIT, while St. Lawrence plays host to UMass-Lowell and New Hampshire. Rensselaer will play one game, facing Sacred Heart at home Friday night, while Brown will play at Providence on Saturday in the annual Mayor's Cup game.
