Weekend Preview: Title There For the Taking
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Balanced play throughout
the season in ECAC Hockey undoubtably led for the crowing of a
conference champion to take place during the last weekend of
regular-season play. Defending Cleary Cup holder, Yale is
once again in the driver's seat, holding a two point lead over both
Cornell and Union. At the conclusion of this weekend's play,
the postseason seedings for the conference tournament will also be
determined.
No. 5/5 Yale/Brown at Princeton/Quinnipiac:
Winners of six straight games, Yale will close out its
regular-season on the road at Princeton Friday and Quinnipiac
Saturday. The Bulldogs will look to become the first team to
win back-to-back regular season titles in ECAC Hockey since the
Cornell accomplishment the feat in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Yale
owns a 123-99-8 lead on Princeton in a series that dates to 1899,
but the Tigers have taken six of the last nine. The Bulldogs
won the two meetings earlier this season, one conference game and
one non-ECAC Hockey contest. Yale continues to lead the
nation in scoring offense, netting 4.19 goals-per-game, as it has
seven players who have reached 20 points this season.
Quinnipiac leads Yale 5-3-1 in a New Haven County rivalry that
began in 2005-06. Princeton enters the weekend still in
contention for home ice in the ECAC playoffs, tied with Brown, one
point behind eighth-place Harvard in the standings.
Princeton's penalty kill has improved in recent weeks, killing off
21 of the last 23 Tiger penalties, good for a 91.3
percentage. Princeton is 4 of 20 on the power-play in the
same four-week span, a 20 percent efficiency. Brown is 8-15-4
overall 6-10-4 in ECAC Hockey and currently tied with Princeton for
ninth in the standings. Like Princeton, Brown enters the
weekend with aspirations for a home ice playoff series next
weekend. The Bears rallied twice in the third period a week
ago to take three of four points from Clarkson and St. Lawrence and
snap a five-game winless streak. Quinnipiac holds the
advantage in the all-time series against Brown with wins in seven
of the 11 meetings all-time. Quinnipiac had won five straight
before a 3-2 loss to Brown at the TD Bank Sports Center on Feb. 21,
2009 and a 2-1 loss in Providence to the Bears on Dec. 5.
Last season, Quinnipiac was 16-0-0 in games in which it led after
the second period. In their last 46 games in that scenario,
dating back three seasons, Quinnipiac is undefeated at 42-0-4 when
playing with a lead heading into the final frame.
No. 15/15 Union/Rensselaer at No. 10/10
Cornell/Colgate: With a first-round bye already
secure, the 15th-ranked Union College men's ice hockey team will be
gunning for the top spot in ECAC Hockey when it travels to
ninth-ranked Cornell Friday, Feb. 26 and to Colgate Saturday, Feb.
27. The Dutchmen and Big Red are tied in second place with a
13-5-2 record (28 pts.), meaning the winner of the Union-Cornell
game will finish no lower than second place. Colgate, which
is battle for fourth place and the final first round bye, enters
the weekend at 10-8-2. The Dutchmen are averaging 3.78 goals
per game, which ranks third in the nation. Cornell is paced
by senior Blake Gallagher's 32 points on 17 goals and 15 assists,
with Colin Greening just two points back on 13 goals and 17
assists. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer holds an 18-8-5 mark
all-time against Union. RPI and Colgate both control their
own destiny for the final bye as wins in both weekend games
clinches it for either team. Engineers' junior forward Chase
Polacek is the team's leader in goals (24), power-play goals (11),
and points (49). Freshman forward Brandon Pirri paces the
team with 30 assists and is second in points with 40. RPI has
a 4-7-0 record against Colgate in the last 11 meetings, dating back
to a 2-1 Engineers' victory in the Governor's Cup on Oct. 29,
2006. The Raiders haven't received a first-round bye since
the 2005-06 campaign, when it hosted Quinnipiac in the second
round. After its recent 10-goal explosion last weekend, the
Raiders' scoring offense climbed to 12th nationally (3.31
gpg). The offense is led by the trio of Austin Smith
(13-24-37), David McIntyre (10-24-34), and Brian Day
(20-13-33).
Dartmouth/Harvard at St. Lawrence/Clarkson:
Looking to clinch home ice in the opening round of the ECAC Hockey
playoffs, Harvard concludes the regular-season with a road trip to
the North Country to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Harvard
stands eighth in ECAC Hockey and could finish as high as sixth with
two wins this weekend. The Golden Knights hold a 48-45-11
series lead since the teams' first meeting, a 2-1, Clarkson win in
1935, and are one of just two ECAC teams with a winning all-time
record against the Crimson. Harvard is 1-0-2 in the teams'
last three meetings after Clarkson had won six straight.
Clarkson won three of its first five games but has struggled with
injury and won just four times since and twice in its last 13
contests. St. Lawrence put together a 7-3-3 record in
December and January to climb into the national rankings but is
winless (0-3-3) in its last six games. Travis Vermeulen leads
the attack with 17 goals and 34 points, and Mike McKenzie has a
team-high 19 assists for the Saints. The Golden Knights are
6-7-1 at Cheel Arena, including a pair of wins in their last games
in Potsdam. Matt Beca leads Clarkson in scoring with 33
points, including a team-high 19 goals. He has amassed 118
career points (50-68) through 144 games. The Knights are
averaging 2.47 goals per game. Clarkson holds the edge in the
series, 64-22-4. Dartmouth however has held its own in the
recent series as the Big Green has won or tied nine of the last 15
meetings. The Saints and Big Green have been fairly evenly
matched the past 15 meetings. Dartmouth has won eight, St.
Lawrence six with one tie.
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