Cornell and Dartmouth Sweep Weekend Action
Yale breaks 20-year hex
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Cornell and Dartmouth each earned two wins in ECAC Hockey League action this past weekend and were the only two teams to sweeps their opponents. The Big Green is now 4-0-0 in league play and sits in first place in the standings. Yale split its two games over the weekend, but Friday's game was historic in proportion, as it defeated Harvard for the first time in 20 years. Non-conference action also saw St. Lawrence tie and beat New Hampshire, which helped move the Saints in the national polls.
The Big Red earned its two wins with victories over Union at Lynah Rink. The two head coaches were pulling double duty, as Cornell's Melody Davidson is also the head coach of Team Canada and Union's Tim Gerrish is an assistant coach with Team USA. Davidson's team prevailed in Ithaca and combined for 13 goals in the two wins. Team Canada also defeated Team USA 2-1 for the gold medal at the Four Nations Cup.
Dartmouth earned its sweep over Vermont, including a 4-0 shutout, which was goalie Christine Capuano's second straight. Junior forward Cherie Piper was the offensive standout for the Big Green, as she had a hand in seven of the team's nine goals. She finished the weekend with three goals and four assists and was named the league's Player of the Week.
Yale, by far, had the story of the week, as the Bulldogs defeated then No. 3 Harvard 3-2 last Friday night. It was Yale's first win over its archrival since Nov. 18, 1984, and snapped a 39-game Harvard streak. Junior goalie Sarah Love did everything she could to earn the win, including making 48 saves in the game. She was named the league's Goaltender of the Week for her efforts. Erin Duggan netted the winning goal. Yale's victory was also noted on the national scene, as CSTV featured the squad on its Sunday night sports show.
St. Lawrence moved up one spot in this week's national polls, while its weekend opponent, New Hampshire, fell two after the Saints earned a tie and a win over the Wildcats. Following a 2-2 tie on Friday, SLU came out to earn a 5-3 win the next day to hand UNH its first loss of the year.
Freshman Meaghan Guckian made 23 saves in net to earn her fifth win in six starts and the league's Rookie of the Week honors. Junior Emillie Berlinguette led the offense with a goal and two assists in the win (her first multiple-point game), including a helper on the game winner.
Harvard went on to earn a shutout on Saturday, while Princeton and Brown also had one league victory each on the weekend. Clarkson and Colgate faced non-conference foes, and had one win each.
This week has Harvard and Brown facing each other in a Tuesday night contest before regular league play continues on the weekend. Clarkson and St. Lawrence will see their first ECACHL games when they travel to Brown and Harvard. The only non-league games of the week have Princeton traveling to Mercyhurst for two games.
Follow all the action with live stats from most games and postgame stories from all the action online at http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/.
