Weekend Preview: Mid-Season Tests

ALBANY, N.Y. - Prior to the start of the heart of ECAC Hockey league action, all 12 men’s teams are in action in either holiday tournaments or featured non-league match-ups. Seven teams are involved in tournament play, while five others face non-league foes in preparation for the second half of the season.

Rensselaer vs. No. 17 UMass-Lowell
*The Engineers and River Hawks have played evenly through the years, locked at 10-10-1 (.500) all-time in a series that dates back to 1982. The upcoming meeting will snap a 15 year hiatus between match-ups and marks the first time the two squads will meet on neutral ice.
*Last UML win in the series was a 3-0 victory Nov. 13, 1996 and the last RPI win in the series was a 11-3 handling Dec. 30, 1993.

No. 10/10 Union at No. 15/15 Denver & No. 10/10 Union at No. 5/6 Colorado College
*Union is 9-3-5 overall and unbeaten in its last six games at 4-0-2 dating back to Nov. 15. In its final game before the holiday break, Union upset then- No. 5 Merrimack 3-1 on Dec. 17. Union is led in points by senior Kelly Zajac (4-14-18) and junior Jeremy Welsh (12-5-17).
*The Pioneers have been ranked in the top 15 since Jan. 23, 2006.
*Colorado College is 3-0 against Union after skating to a pair of 4-2 victories over the Dutchman to start the 2004-05 season and defeating them again in its 2005-06 opener, 6-1, all at the CSWA.
*Union is ranked third in the nation in team defense, allowing an average of 1.88 goals per game. The Dutchmen are ninth in the country on the power-play at 23.6% (21-for-89) and 14th on the penalty kill at 86.5% (64-for-74).

Clarkson vs. Maine
*Maine leads the series against the Golden Knights 9-5-1 and is currently on a four-game winning streak over the Green and Gold.
*The Golden Knights have five players with double figures in the point column, led by senior Louke Oakley with 17 on seven goals and 10 assists.

At No. 19 Yale, Bentley
*Yale's combined special teams rank No. 1 in Division I at 60.6 percent. The Bulldog penalty-kill is second (93.9), while only two teams have been penalized less than the Bulldogs.
*Junior forward Antoine Laganiere is the hottest Bulldog over the last three games with three goals and six points.

No. 13/13 Cornell vs. Massachusetts
*Both Cornell and Maine have competed in every edition of the Florida College Classic tournament, which started in 2000.
*Cornell leads the all-time series against UMass, 5-2-1, with the first three meetings between the programs coming in the 1920s.

St. Lawrence vs. No. 7/7 Merrimack
*Since its 0-5-0 start to the season, the Saints have gone 7-5-0, allowing 2.24 goals per game and scoring 2.16 per contest.
*St. Lawrence has participated in the Ledyard Classic or the Auld Lang Syne Tournament at Dartmouth three times...1980,
1996 and 2006 and was the 1996 champion, beating Northeastern 6-5 in game one and Dartmouth 4-3 in the title game.

Princeton vs. Northeastern
*This is the Tigers’ second time competing in the Mariucci Classic. Princeton won the Classic in 1998, defeating Minnesota 4-1 and Boston University 3-0.
*Northeastern leads the all-time series with Princeton, 25-13-3. Princeton has a 2-1-1 record over Northeastern when playing on neutral ice.

Brown at New Hampshire & Brown at Providence
*The Bears snapped a five-game winless drought with a 6-4 win over nationally-ranked Yale on Dec. 3 before the 27-day layoff. A well-balanced offensive attack is led by senior Jack Maclellan with five goals and four assists, while Bobby Farnham and Matt Wahl each have eight points for the Bears.
*UNH is unbeaten in the last eight meetings with Brown (7-0-1) including a 5-5 come-back tie last year.

At No. 11/12 Colgate, Canisius
*The Raiders are ranked 10th in the nation in scoring defense, as they are giving up 2.18 goals per game and have averaged 1.33 goals allowed during the current six-game unbeaten streak.
*The Raiders senior class has combined for 64 points on 30 goals and 34 assists thus far this season.

At Dartmouth, Holy Cross
*Dartmouth is 3-3-1 all-time versus Holy Cross including a 1-2-1 record versus the Crusaders in the last four meetings between the teams.
*The Big Green will have two chances to reach the 1,000-victory milestone mark at home when it hosts the Ledyard Classic on Dec. 30-31 at Thompson Arena.

Harvard at No. 18 North Dakota
*Harvard owns the nation's most efficient power play at 32.1 percent, but ranks 57th out of 58 Division I teams in penalty killing at 68.6 percent.
*The Crimson are averaging 3.5 goals through their first 10 games, which ranks seventh nationally. With 11 assists in 10 games, senior defenseman Danny Biega is averaging an NCAA-leading 1.10 assists per game.

Quinnipiac at Nebraska-Omaha
*Quinnipiac headed into the annual Holiday Break in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with nine points (3-4-3) with an overall record of 11-6-3 after posting a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1).
*Quinnipiac has successfully killed 76 of 85 penalties through its first 20 games for 89.4%, good for 5th in NCAA Division I hockey. The Bobcats also have three short-handed goals to their credit.

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