Weekly Release: Defenses Answer the Call
ALBANY, N.Y. - Traditional unyielding defenses continue to be
prevalent on the ice down the stretch in ECAC Hockey action.
In all of the 12 games played last week involving ECAC Hockey
teams, 13 of the winning or tying defenses and goaltenders only
surrendered two goals or fewer in claiming victory or a tie.
As a result of the stringent defenses last week, eight netminders
allowed only one goal on the defensive end of the ice.
Top-ranked Yale continues to sit atop the ECAC Hockey standings as
it earned four points last weekend, claiming two wins at Ingalls
Rink. On Friday, the Bulldogs’ power-play unit went
0-for-7, but the home team still got two goals from Chris Cahill (3
points) and other scores from Brian O'Neill and Denny
Kearney. Kevin Peel pitched in two assists while Ryan Rondeau
stopped 21 of 23 shots. Clarkson twice overcame
one-goal deficits against the top-rated Bulldogs, tying the score
2-2 early in the third period on junior Julien Cayer’s first
goal of the season. Yale outshot Clarkson 33-23. Junior
Paul Karpowich made 28 saves for Clarkson. The Knights
finished 1-for-8 on the power-play and held Yale’s
high-scoring unit scoreless in seven man-advantage
opportunities. Playing in front of the sixth straight sellout
crowd at Ingalls Rink, the Bulldogs cruised to a 4-1 win over St.
Lawrence en route to a weekend sweep in league-play. The
Bulldogs were led on offense by freshman Kenny Agostino’s two
goals in providing the spark for the nation’s top-rated
scoring offense. Agostino now has seven goals in his last
seven games. The Blue outshot the Saints 36-29 and kept
freshman goalie Matt Weninger (32 saves) very busy. Ryan
Rondeau who stopped all 12 shots in a fast pace first period
finished the game with a 29-save night. Kyle Flanagan scored
the Saints’ goal at Yale Saturday. SLU finished its
eight-game road trip with a 3-4-1 record. With the win Yale
(22 points) has a five-point lead over Union, seven points better
than Dartmouth and Princeton.
Clarkson would pick-up two key points as junior defenseman Mark
Borowiecki’s power-play goal 2:06 into the third period
snapped a 1-1 tie and would stand as the game-winner, as the Golden
Knights defeating Brown 3-1 at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, RI
Saturday afternoon. Clarkson outshot the Bears 37-31.
Junior Paul Karpowich posted 30 saves. The Knights went
1-for-5 on the power-play, while Brown was 1-for-3 with the
man-advantage. Mike Clemente recorded 34 saves for the Bears
and freshman Matt Wahl scored his third of the year for the home
team. Brown was able to skate away with two league points
over the weekend as rookie Garnet Hathaway scored for the second
straight game, breaking a 1-1 tie early in the third period to lift
the Bears to a 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence Friday evening.
Brown has now taken at least one point from the Saints in ECAC
Hockey play for the 19th straight year with the home win in the
first of two meetings between the two teams this season.
Brown finished with a 29-26 edge in shots on goal with Mike
Clemente making 25 saves and Matt Weninger stopping 27 for the
Saints. It was the 11th time in 17 starts that the Saints
have scored two or fewer goals in a start by Weninger.
Central New York travel partners Colgate and Cornell took part in
rivalry weekend playing a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday
evening. On Friday Locke Jillson scored his third goal of the
season early in the third period for Cornell, but Colgate's Jeremy
Price scored the game-tying goal with 1:35 to play in regulation as
the Big Red and Raiders skated to a 1-1 tie at Starr Rink in
Hamilton, NY. The Raiders won the shot battle by a 25-19
margin and each team failed to score on the power-play.
Colgate went 0-for-2 on the man-advantage, while Cornell had three
opportunities, including a five-minute power-play. In Part II
of the annual series, the same two teams met again Saturday as
senior Tyler Roeszler scored three goals and added an assist as
Cornell broke open a 2-2 tie with a three-goal third period en
route to a 5-2 victory over Colgate at Lynah Rink in Ithaca.
The hat trick was the first by a Cornell player since Colin
Greening did so on Feb. 28, 2008 against Dartmouth. Austin
Smith had a pair of tallies, with Corbin McPherson, Mike Leidl,
Chris Wagner and Kurtis Bartliff each adding an assist for the
Raiders. Eric Mihalik took the loss in goal, stopping 18
shots as the Raiders went scoreless in eight power-play
chances. Andy Iles stopped 20 shots in goal for Cornell,
which went 1-for-7 on the power-play on the night.
Quinnipiac capped off a two game set at Canisius Monday by skating
to a 2-2 overtime tie at the Buffalo State Sports Arena in Buffalo,
NY. Jeremy Langlois and Zack Currie both scored in the
game while Clay Harvey had a pair of assists for the Bobcats.
The game marked the 10th overtime game of the season for the
Griffins, the most of any team in the country. Freshman
goaltender Tony Capobianco anchored the Canisius defense, stopping
a career-best 42 shots. The Bobcats outshot the Griffs,
44-21, on the afternoon, including a 17-2 edge on the
power-play. Eric Hartzell recorded 19 saves for Quinnipiac to
earn the draw. The Bobcats defeated the U.S. National Under-18
team, 4-2, in an exhibition game at the TD Bank Sports Center in
Hamden, CT Saturday. Senior goalie Pat McGann stopped 23
shots in the game while Connor Jones, Mike Dalhuisen and John
Dunbar all had a goal and an assist in the Bobcats win.
Nationally-ranked Rensselaer continued its hot play downing
visiting Harvard by a count a 3-2 Friday and handling Dartmouth,
5-1 Saturday. The Engineers were led by senior Chase Polacek
who scored two goals, including the game-winning tally. Allen
York finished with 36 saves, allowing goals to Harvard seniors
Michael Del Mauro and Pier-Olivier Michaud. Kyle Richter
ended the night with 13 stops, as he never had to make more than
six in any given frame. Harvard was 0-for-8 on the
power-play, while the Engineers were 0-for1 with their only
man-advantage. In a battle of two ranked teams Saturday,
Rensselaer scored three goals in a span of 7:38 in the second
period, on its way to defeating 18th-ranked Dartmouth, 5-1, in ECAC
Hockey action, at the Houston Field House. York made 18 saves
for the win, while Dartmouth starting goaltender James Mello
stopped 21 shots, before being relieved by junior Jody
O’Neill. O’Neill was able to turn away five of
the six shots he faced in 20 minutes of work. Polacek (1g,
1a), Tyler Helfrich (2a), and Joel Malchuk (1g, 1a) were the
multiple-point scorers for RPI.
On Friday Dartmouth would pick-up two league points using three
goals, two of them power-play strikes, in the first period to take
an early lead over Union that it never relinquished en route to a
4-1 in the Dutchmen's Messa Rink. Despite outshooting Union,
13-7 in the first period, the Dutchmen ended up with 40 shots to
the Big Green's 33. James Mello recorded a season-high 39
saves in getting the win, while Keith Kinkaid finished with 29, as
the Dutchmen suffered their first home loss of the season.
Scott Fleming netted two goals for the Big Green including the
game-winner in the first period.
Union would bounce back the following evening erasing a 1-0 lead by
Harvard as freshman defenseman Mat Bodie scored at 17:43 of the
third period to help lift the Dutchmen to a 2-1 win over Harvard at
Messa Rink. Keith Kinkaid made 25 saves for his 15th win of
the season, improving to 15-7-2 on the year, while Ryan Carroll
stopped 40 shots and fell to 0-5-0. With the win, Union
picked up its first season series sweep against Harvard in program
history. Michael Biega scored in the first period for the
Crimson.
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