Weekly Release: Tight Finishes
ALBANY, NY -- With the final stretch of the
season upon us, games involving ECAC Hockey teams proved to be
hard-fought rigid affairs. Six out of the 12 games went into
an the extra session, while seven out of the 12 games were decided
by one goal or fewer. As of result of last week's efforts
four teams have received national recognition with Cornell ranked
No. 4/4, Princeton (9/9th), Yale (19th) and Dartmouth (20th).
Yale earned its way back in to the national spotlight and climbed
into second place in the ECAC Hockey standings by scoring an
impressive road sweep at Cornell and Colgate last weekend.
They improved their record to an amazing 6-1 against ranked teams
this season, registering a 4-3 win over No. 3 Cornell, snapping the
Big Red's ten-game unbeaten streak before a packed Lynah
Rink. Four different Bulldogs scored goals as the visitors
outshot the Big Red 36-20. Yale' sophomore goalie Ryan
Rondeau stopped 17 of 20 shots while keeping the home team off the
board on seven of eight power plays. Cornell's Ben Scrivens,
the nation's leading goalie in goals-against average and save
percentage, made 32 saves on the night. Yale did not
ultimately let down the following evening as it was down by four
goals with just over 12 minutes left in the game, but scored five
straight and stunned Colgate 5-4 in overtime at Starr Rink
Saturday. Freshman forward Kevin Limbert's goal one minute
into the OT ended the game. Yale junior defenseman Tom
Dignard had two goals and one assist for the Bulldogs as well.
Cornell bounced back Saturday as it defeated Brown a 5-1 behind
sophomore forward Joe Devin's two goals. Senior forward
Michael Kennedy, freshman forward Sean Collins and junior forward
Blake Gallagher each added a goal and an assist for the Big
Red. Brown freshman goalie Michael Clemente made 31 saves on
the evening, while Big Red netminder junior Ben Scrivens turned
aside 14 shots.
The Bears would pick-up two points in the league standing over the
weekend as freshman forward Jarred Smith scored a goal and added an
assist and senior forward Matt Vokes tallied two assists to help
lead Brown to a 4-1 victory over Colgate Friday evening.
Freshman Mike Clemente picked up his first career win with 32
saves, as the Bears earned their first victory over Colgate in
Hamilton since February 19, 1993.
High drama unfolded in the North Country match-ups as on
consecutive nights Clarkson came away with 4-3 overtime wins versus
Union Friday and Rensselaer Saturday. Senior forward Shea
Guthrie netted each overtime game-winning goal for the Golden
Knights.
Rensselaer was the benefactor of drama itself last weekend as
sophomore forward Chase Polacek scored his second goal of the game
just nine seconds into overtime to lift the visiting Engineers to a
wild 7-6 victory over St. Lawrence. Senior forward Kevin
DeVergilio and junior forward Mike McKenzie each scored a goal and
registered three assists in the loss for the Saints.
The Saints would earn two points in the league standings the
following evening as senior forward Kevin DeVergilio set up the
game-winning goal and scored his 100th career point with a goal of
his own to lead St. Lawrence a 5-2 win over Union. Alex
Junior Petizian finished with 30 saves for the Saints and improved
to 2-0-1 in his last three while sophomore Corey Milan finished
with 29 saves for the Dutchmen. Junior forward Mario
Valery-Trabucco netted two goals in the loss for Union.
Dartmouth earned a paired of ties last week, scoring a 2-2 midweek
tie in non-conference action versus Holy Cross and a 5-5 tie with
visiting Harvard Sunday. Freshmen netminder Jody O'Neill made
30 stops for the Big Green against the Crusaders. Junior
forward Doug Rogers recorded a hat trick and added an assist to
lead the Harvard in a 5-5 affair with Dartmouth. Junior John
Riley made 37 saves, including 18 in the second period for the
Crimson. Sophomore Evan Stephens scored two goals and Jody
O'Neill stopped 32 shots for the Big Green.
Quinnipiac split its weekend series with visiting Robert Morris
last weekend. The Bobcats defeated Robert Morris, 5-4 Friday
as senior forward Bryan Leitch passed out three assists while
junior forward David Marshall had a goal and two assists.
Junior forward Jean-Marc Beaudoin's two goals were not enough the
following evening as Bobcats fell to the Colonials, 8-5.
