Weekly Release: Mid-Season Tournaments Highlight Holiday Season

ALBANY, NY -- In preparation for the second half of the season and the final sprint of league play, all teams were in action over the holiday stretch.  From top to bottom ECAC Hockey teams were looking to skate of the rust participating in holiday tournaments, non-league affairs, and one league game.

Princeton rallied from deficits of 4-1 and 6-4 to forge a 6-6 tie with Maine Tuesday afternoon in the opening game of the Florida College Classic at the Germain Arena.  Mark Magnowski led the Tigers with four points in the tie.  Dan Bartlett and Mike Kramer scored three minutes apart in the third period as Princeton came from behind to defeat fourth-ranked Cornell 3-2 Wednesday night in the third-place game. 

In the first round of the tournament Cornell ended its 24-day holiday break with a 4-2 loss to Colorado College Tuesday night at the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla.  Greg Miller and Colin Greening scored for the Big Red.  The Big Red would rebound in a big way as five different players scored a goal and a total of 12 different players recorded a point as they scored a 5-2 victory over New Hampshire Sunday afternoon in Durham, N.H.

Union played in three games over the holiday break, posting a 2-1-0 record.  Three third period goals by the 15th-ranked University of Massachusetts halted the Dutchmen's nine-game unbeaten streak with 4-3 loss Tuesday afternoon at the 2009 Toyota UConn Classic.  Despite three special teams' goals by the Dutchmen, the Minutemen prevailed, erasing 3-1 third period deficit.  Union earned a victory in the consolation game the following day, as seven goals from six different student-athletes and a defense that limited its opponent to 14 shots blanking UConn, 7-0.  The victory was the 100th career win for Union bench general Nate Leaman.  Senior Jason Walters scored the game-winning goal at 3:04 of overtime to give the Union a 2-1 victory at Army Saturday night in the Dutchmen's final non-conference tilt of the regular season.

Rensselaer went 1-1-0 over the break as sophomore Allen York made 43 saves, including 19 in the third period, and freshman Marty O'Grady notched the eventual game-winning goal in that frame to lead the Rensselaer men's hockey team to a 4-3 victory over Michigan in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena.  The Engineers would come up short the following evening as six different players recorded goals to lead 13th-ranked Michigan State to a 6-1 victory over Rensselaer in the Championship Game. 

The first January 1 game in St. Lawrence men's hockey history will be one for the Saints to remember as they bounced back from a 2-0 deficit with five unanswered goals to upend nationally-ranked Boston College 5-2 in game one of the 2010 Wells Fargo Denver Cup at the University of Denver Friday night.  Senior goaltender Kain Tisi made 37 saves as the Saints skated to a 2-2 tie in game three of the tournament Saturday evening against Nebraska-Omaha.

The battle of Bulldogs went to ECAC Hockey when Yale ended the nation's longest unbeaten streak in a 6-1 win over Ferris State.  Sean Backman's two goals and one assist helped the Bulldogs of Yale end a 10-game string by the Bulldogs of the CCHA in the opening contest of the 2010 Badger Hockey Showdown at the University of Wisconsin's Kohl Center.  Yale outshot the Badgers 42-22 and extended their unbeaten streak to four games, as it tied Wisconsin, 2-2 in the championship game the following evening.  Yale freshman Nick Maricic, who made a few quality, game-saving stops, finished with 20 saves.

The New Year started out on a sour note for Clarkson as it was shut out by Northern Michigan 4-0 in the opening round of the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis, MN last Saturday evening.  Despite a solid effort and goals from three different players, the Golden Knights came up short in a bid for its first win of the New Year as they were edged by Bowling Green 4-3 in the consolation game the following day. 

Notre Dame broke open a one-goal game in the second period with three scores en route to posting a 5-2 victory over Colgate in a first-round matchup in the Shillelagh Tournament at Sears Center, Saturday evening.  Despite a 36-save performance by netminder Charles Long the Raiders came up short in the consolation game getting upended by Niagara, 5-2.

Brown dropped it first two games of 2010 on its trip to St. Cloud State.  Sophomore Jeff Buvinow scored the lone goal for Brown, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end with a 5-1 loss Saturday.  Mike Clemente made 30 saves the following evening, but the Huskies broke away from a 2-2 tie midway through the second period to capture a 5-3 win over the Bears Sunday.

Dartmouth dropped its first round game of the Ledyard National Bank Classic to Northeastern Saturday in Thompson Arena.  The Huskies used a three-goal effort in the second period alone to take a 7-0 victory over the home team.   The Big Green would get doubled-up Sunday, falling 4-2 to Holy Cross in the consolation game. 

In the lone conference game over break, Harvard received three freshmen goals-with two registering the first points of their careers-and solid play between the pipes by junior Kyle Richter who made 36 saves to help the Crimson start the second semester with a 3-1 win against No. 8 Quinnipiac Tuesday night at Bright Hockey Center.

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