Weekly Release: Teams Eyeing Cup
ALBANY, NY -- As a result of last weekend's
action, five points now separate the top four teams in the ECAC
Hockey standings. Yale sits alone in first-place with a
two-point lead over Cornell. Princeton and Dartmouth are only
three and five points respectively from the top spot with three
weekend's of league play remaining.
Riding the nation's second longest current winning-streak, Yale
cracked the top ten in the national polls (No. 10/10) with two
convincing home wins last weekend. Sophomore defenseman Mike
Matczak had two goals and freshman forward Kevin Limbert had a goal
and three assists as the Bulldogs outshot Harvard 50-15 en route to
a 5-1 win before an Ingalls Rink sellout crowd. Harvard's
Matt Hoyle stopped 45 shots, while Alec Richards only needed to
stop 14 for the win. In a match-up of two ranked teams Yale
bettered Dartmouth by a count of 3-1 Saturday. Alec Richards
stopped 36 of 37 shots for the win and Yale got goals from three
different teammates to capture its third consecutive weekend sweep
over ECAC Hockey foes.
The Big Green (No. 19) were more fortunate the evening before as
they handed Brown a 5-2 loss at Meehan Auditorium behind three
third period goals which broke the 2-2 tie. One of
Dartmouth's leading scorers sophomore forward Scott Fleming potted
two goals in the win and freshman Jody O'Neill made 27 saves.
Senior forward Matt Votes netted a goal and added an assist for the
Bears.
No. 9/9 Princeton earned four league points over the weekend with
some heroic performances. On Friday, sophomore defenseman Cam
Ritchie netted his first goal of the season, scoring with 42
seconds left in overtime to lift the Tigers to a 3-2 win at
Colgate. It marked the second time this season that Princeton
posted an overtime win over Colgate. Junior Zane Kalemba
finished the game with 20 saves in picking up the win, while
Charles Long stopped 28 Princeton shots. The Tigers outshot
Colgate 31-22. Saturday night's win for the Tigers was even
more dramatic, as junior forward Dan Bartlett and sophomore
defenseman Taylor Fedun scored goals with under a minute remaining
to stun Cornell 2-1. Kalemba finished the night with 26
saves, while junior Ben Scrivens had 25 for the Big Red.
No. 6/7 Cornell would witness drama of its own the previous evening
as well, as it posted a 2-1 overtime win over Quinnipiac.
Senior forward Evan Barlow's goal with 2:08 to play in overtime
lifted the Big Red to the win. Junior defenseman Brendon Nash
added a goal and an assist in the contest for Cornell.
The Bobcats would be at the short-end of another overtime game the
following evening as they were downed by Colgate by 3-2
count. Senior forward Peter Bogdanich netted the
game-winner 55 seconds into overtime to pace Colgate to the
win.
In the Capital District clash last weekend Union took two games
from rival Rensselaer. On Friday, three power-play goals in
the second period lifted the Dutchmen to a 3-0 victory.
Senior defenseman Lane Caffaro matched a career-high with three
points, leading Union with a goal and two assists. Sophomore
goaltender Corey Milan pitched his second career shutout by making
31 saves. On Saturday, freshman forward Kelly Zajac scored
with 1:41 into overtime to give Union a 2-1 victory over the
Engineers in front of a sold out Messa Rink crowd.
Junior forward Matt Beca scored two goals and freshman goaltender
Richie LaVeau made a season-high 39 saves in helping the Golden
Knights overcome a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-3 overtime at St.
Lawrence Friday. Netminder Alex Petizian finished with 25
saves for the Saints who had a 42-28 edge in shots on goal.
The Route 11 Rivalry would change venues Saturday, as the Golden
Knights received a solid defensive effort, backboned in goal by
freshman netminder Paul Karpowich, and goals from three different
players to earn two league points in the 3-1 win over the
Saints.
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