Weekend Update: ‘Cup’ Still Unclaimed
ALBANY, N.Y. -- History will have to wait another day in ECAC
Hockey as both Union and Yale posted ties in league action holding
their first and second place positions in the league standings
respectively. Union, Yale and Dartmouth have clinched first-round
byes for the upcoming tournament thus far with Union and Yale still
seeking to claim the Cleary Cup and No. 1 seed in the
tournament.
Quinnipiac 2 at No. 5/5 Union 2 (ot):
Quinnipiac forward John Dunbar scored at 13:06 of the third period
to help the Bobcats (13-13-7, 6-9-6 ECAC Hockey) earn a 2-2 tie
with No. 5/5 Union (24-7-4, 16-3-2 ECAC Hockey) in front of 1,968
fans at Messa Rink. Senior forward Adam Presizniuk and sophomore
forward Kyle Bodie each scored in the second period to give Union a
two-goal advantage midway through the contest. For the game, Union
outshot Quinnipiac 33-24 and when 1-for-2 on the power-play.
Sophomore Dan Clarke started his first game since Dec. 4, stopping
31 of Union's 33 shots on goal for the game. With Yale's 1-1 tie
against Princeton, the Dutchmen still control their own destiny in
the race for the Cleary Cup.
Colgate 1 at No. 3/3 Yale 1 (ot): Yale played in
its first overtime game of the season last night in tying visiting
Colgate, 1-1 at Ingalls Rink. The Bulldogs outshot Colgate 40-32
but had to settle for the 1-1 tie earning one point in the league
standings which kept them a point behind first-place Union. Both
goaltenders played outstanding as Yale senior Ryan Rondeau stopped
31 shots to keep the Elis unbeaten (14-0-1) at home. Eric Mihalik,
a freshman, turned aside 39 shots, including 22 over the third
period and overtime combined for the Raiders. Both goals came in
the second off the sticks of Yale's Andrew Miller and Austin Mayer
of Colgate. The teams were blanked on a combined seven power-plays.
Colgate played in its eighth overtime game and is 1-4-3 in overtime
this season.
Princeton 4 at No. 13/14 Rensselaer 3:
Princeton leaped to fifth in the ECAC Hockey standings and remains
in contention for a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs
after a 4-3 road win over Rensselaer Friday night at the Houston
Field House, while RPI dropped to the sixth spot. Andrew Ammon
scored two goals in the win for the Tigers. Brock Higgs, Johnny
Rogic and Matt Tinordi netted the goals for the Engineers.
Princeton outshot RPI 44-30. Princeton netminder Sean Bonar stopped
27 shots in the win while Allen York made 40 saves in a losing
effort. RPI can still finish as high as fourth in the league
standings and earn a bye in the opening round of the playoffs with
a win against Quinnipiac at the Houston Field House and losses by
both Princeton and Cornell. The Tigers enter the regular-season
finale at Union in need of gaining a point on Cornell in order to
secure a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs.
At No. 18 Dartmouth 4, St. Lawrence 2: The
start of Big Green’s Senior Weekend turned out to be pretty
special for Adam Estoclet and Scott Fleming who each tallied the
100th point of their careers in a 4-2 Dartmouth victory over St.
Lawrence Friday night in Thompson Arena. The victory gives
Dartmouth a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs that begin
next weekend. Estoclet finished with three points on the night
while Fleming had two. Fleming and Estoclet are the 34th and 35th
players in Dartmouth history to record 100 career points. St.
Lawrence can finish no higher than its current 10th place standing
and could drop to 11th as it faces a Harvard team which beat
Clarkson 3-1 Friday and has won four of its last five.
At Brown 4, Cornell 3 (ot): Senior Harry
Zolnierczyk scored a pair of goals to give Brown a 2-0 lead and
senior David Brownschidle struck for the game-winner just 30
seconds into overtime to lift the Bears to a 3-2 win over Cornell
Friday evening at Meehan Auditorium. Tyler Roeszler and Sean
Collins both scored a power-play goal for the Big Red in the final
10 minutes of the third period to send the game to overtime. Andy
Iles made 31 saves in taking the loss. Cornell finished the night
2-for-5 on the power-play. Mike Clemente made 31 saves in the win
for the Bears, who finished the night 1-for-3 on the
power-play.
At Harvard 3, Clarkson 1: Marshall Everson
broke a third-period tie with less than six minutes remaining,
lifting Harvard to a 3-1 win against visiting Clarkson Friday night
at Bright Hockey Center. Paul Karpowich made 32 stops for the
Golden Knights. Jake Morley scored Clarkson's goal at even
strength. Harvard committed just two penalties and has now killed
its league opponents' last 15 power-plays. Harvard, which was
2-for-4 on the power-play and outshot the Knights 35-24. Clarkson
falls to eighth place in the league standings after Quinnipiac tied
Union 2-2. At 14-17-2 overall and 8-12-1 in ECAC Hockey, the
Knights can guarantee themselves home ice in the first-round of the
conference playoffs with a win or a tie when they close out the
regular-season Saturday with a 7 p.m. game at Dartmouth. The
Knights, who can finish from 7th-9th, can also clinch with a Brown
loss or tie against Colgate.
