Weekend Preview: Capital Region Showdowns
ALBANY, N.Y. -- As the chase for the Cleary Cup heats up, this
weekend marks the first of five consecutive weekends with full
slates of league action on the schedule. With a bullseye on
its back Yale currently has a five point lead over second-place
Union with four other teams within striking distance. All 12
league teams are in action this weekend, each playing in a pair of
league contests looking for valuable league points.
No. 1/1 Yale/Brown at No. 12/13 Union/No. 10/10
Rensselaer: Top-ranked Yale and Brown will travel to
the Capital District to take on nationally-ranked Union and
Rensselaer this weekend. The Bulldogs have a 21-14-3 lead in
a series verus the Dutchmen that began in 1991-92, the year Union
replaced Army in ECAC Hockey. Sitting in second-place in the
conference standings, the Dutchmen own a 10-1-1 overall record on
their home ice this season. Friday night’s game will be
a classic battle between the nation’s top offense of Yale
(4.79G/GM) and the nation’s top defense of Union (2.04
G/GM). RPI will host its 34th annual Big Red Freakout!
Saturday at Houston Field House when it welcomes the
Bulldogs. Rensselaer is 10-1-0 on its home ice this
season. RPI is 18-10-5 all-time in the Freakout!, including a
recent 17-game unbeaten streak (12-0-5). The Bulldogs and
Engineers first played in 1908-09 and RPI has a 49-38-6 lead.
On the home ice senior Chase Polacek has 20 points on nine goals
and 11 assists in those contests, while sophomore defenseman Nick
Bailen has three goals and 13 assists. The Engineers will
tangle with Brown Friday evening. RPI owns a 52-22-6 all-time
record against the Bears. In the last 11 meetings between RPI
and Brown, the Engineers have a 7-3-1 edge. Junior
forward Jack Maclellan has continued to shine on offense for
the Bears in league action scoring 15 points in 12 games (1.25
PTS/GM). The Dutchmen boast the nation’s top power-play
unit having scored 34 goals on 115 chances (29.6%), while the
Bulldogs’ unit ranks third in the nation with 26 goals on 108
chances (24.1%).
Cornell/Colgate at No. 18 Dartmouth/Harvard:
No. 18 Dartmouth, which has posted an impressive 8-3-1 record over
its last 12 games, currently sits in third-place in ECAC Hockey
standings. The Big Green will welcome Cornell and Colgate to
Hanover this weekend for a pair of important league contests.
In goal, Dartmouth junior James Mello has been outstanding on the
year, sporting a 2.08 goals-against average and a .934 save
percentage with a 9-3-2 record. Dartmouth's power-play unit
has converted on 16-of-74 chances this season (11th nationally,
21.6%). Cornell holds a 72-43-2 lead in the all-time series
against Dartmouth, including six of the last nine contests against
the Big Green. Harvard will be looking to gain some momentum
in the later part of the regular season as it has dropped 14 of its
last 15 games, including each of the last seven. Senior
Michael Biega and junior Alex Killorn lead the Crimson in scoring
with 14 points each on six goals and eight assists. Cornell
holds a 69-58-7 lead in the all-time series with the Crimson.
Colgate has lost seven one-goal games in the last 11
contests. Forwards Francois Brisebois and Austin Smith pace
the Raiders offense with seven goals and 12 assists each in 24
overall games this season.
No. 19 Princeton/Quinnipiac at St.
Lawrence/Clarkson: The Tigers and Bobcats make the
annual trek to the North Country this weekend to take on Clarkson
and St. Lawrence. Clarkson, which has earned at least one
point in everyone of its league weekends (5) this season, is two
points out of third with a game in hand on every team in the
conference other than travel partner, 10th-place St.
Lawrence. The Golden Knights have won two straight over
Quinnipiac after losing in the previous three meetings and hold an
8-6 lead in the all-time series. Clarkson holds a decisive
71-26-5 edge in the all-time series against Princeton, which began
with an 8-5 Knight victory in New Jersey on January 17, 1928.
Clarkson has won two straight in the series, including a 5-3
victory at Hobey Baker Rink on December 3. Princeton is 7-1-1
in its last nine games and has gone 12-3-1 in its last 16 games
after opening the season with three consecutive one-goal
losses. Princeton visits St. Lawrence Friday night looking to
complete a season sweep of the Saints. Princeton defeated St.
Lawrence 5-1 in early December. The Saints have dropped
five-straight league games dating back to their December 4 loss at
Princeton, but have gone 4-0-1 in the five non-league games they
have played in the span. St. Lawrence leads the all-time
series with the Tigers 59-19-9 overall and 30-7-3 in Canton.
Quinnipiac is 11-1-2 this season in the 14 games in which it has
scored first.St. Lawrence holds the all-time edge, with eight wins
to Quinnipiac’s five, with two games coming to a draw.
The Bobcats are 2-5-1 all-time in Appleton Arena. Quinnipiac
is one of four teams in ECAC Hockey, along with Brown, Union and
Yale, to feature eight players with double-digit point totals.
