Crimson Moves Into First; Saints Extend Win Streak
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The landscape saw some changes last week in the ECAC Hockey league standings based on the play of Harvard and St. Lawrence. The Crimson swept its weekend games as did the Saints, which gave the league a new No. 1 team and two points now separate first through third place in the standings.
Harvard is the new top team in the ECACHL and got there with two weekend shutouts over Union. The Crimson got some help from St. Lawrence, as the Saints defeated then-No. 1 Dartmouth to allow the changing of the guard. All three teams -- Harvard, Dartmouth and St. Lawrence -- have locked up home ice in the playoffs, but all three can still finish 1, 2 or 3.
Goaltender Emily Vitt earned both shutouts for the Crimson, while Nicole Corriero and Julie Chu led the way in scoring with eight and six points, respectively.
St. Lawrence has now won eight straight and started off its weekend with a 3-0 shutout over Dartmouth. Rookie of the Week Meaghan Guckian stopped all 27 shots she faced vs. the Big Green to earn her fourth shutout this season, while senior Rebecca Russell led the offense with two goals. To be fair, Dartmouth was down a number of players and had just 11 skaters dressed for the weekend, including seven forwards and four blue liners.
SLU's second victory of the weekend came over Vermont, while Dartmouth rebounded with a win over Clarkson.
Colgate and Princeton both had three points on the weekend, including a 2-2 tie with each other.
Goaltender of the Week Brook Wheeler was in net for both Colgate games and stopped 19 shots in a win over Yale. She then backstopped the Raiders to their tie with 32 saves against the No. 9 Tigers.
Princeton started off the weekend with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Cornell and had Sarah Butsch's heroics to thank. The Player of the Week scored three goals in a 2:37 time span to lift her team from a 5-3 deficit to a 6-5 overtime victory. It was her first collegiate hat trick and third game winner this season.
Other league victories over the weekend were claimed by Yale and Clarkson. The Bulldogs rebounded from their loss on Friday for a three-goal shutout of Cornell, while the Golden Knights started off with a 3-0 blanking of Vermont.
Harvard had a third victory last week, downing Northeastern 9-1 in the Beanpot Tournament. The Crimson will now face Boston College this evening (Feb. 15) in the championship game. Harvard is looking to win its seventh consecutive Beanpot title.
In other upcoming action this week, the Crimson and Brown will travel to Clarkson and St. Lawrence; Princeton and Yale are at Vermont and Dartmouth; and Colgate travels to Union. Cornell is also on the road for a non-league set at Mercyhurst.
Follow all the action with live stats from most games and postgame stories from all the contests online at http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/.
