Dartmouth Remains Perfect
Harvard on Four-Game Streak
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Dartmouth continues to roll in the ECAC Hockey League, as the Big Green swept its two games last weekend and is now the only unbeaten team in the country. Harvard is right up there too, with three wins last week. The two are also ranked among the nation's top five teams and will look to continue turning in top performances this weekend at tournaments.
Yale also swept last weekend, taking two games from Union on the road. St. Lawrence, Cornell and Colgate each picked up wins as they split their weekend games, along with Princeton, which faced non-conference action.
Dartmouth earned both of its victories on the road last week, taking games from Colgate and Cornell. Junior Tiffany Hagge was a leader for the Big Green, as she had a hand in six of the team's nine goals. She had an assist vs. the Raiders and then had two goals and three assists against the Big Red for a career-high five points.
The Big Green remains ranked as the No. 2 team in the country and is the only undefeated and untied team in Division I hockey after its sweep and after the No. 1 and No. 3 teams tied each other over the weekend. The team will look to tie its program record of eight straight wins this weekend when it plays in the New Hampshire tournament.
Harvard now has a four-game winning streak after picking up three wins last week. It bested then-No. 9 Brown last Tuesday before sweeping No. 6 St. Lawrence and Clarkson over the weekend. Several top performances were recorded by the Crimson, and three players earned the league's weekly honors. Nicole Corriero and Sarah Vaillancourt had 10 of the team's goals and nine of the assists en route to claiming the Player and Rookie of the Week honors. On the defensive side, goaltender Ali Boe (Goalie of the Week) stopped 51 shots and earned her ninth career shutout to tie for Harvard's all-time career shutout record. In picking up the three wins, the Crimson outscored its opponents 16-4.
Yale earned back-to-back shutouts last weekend vs. the Dutchwomen and put 12 goals on the board. Sophomore forward Jenna Spring had her first collegiate hat trick in Friday's win, while defenseman Erin Duggan moved into a tie for 10th on Yale's all-time goals list with two goals on the weekend. The team is now 5-3 on the year and is matching its best-ever start from the 1984-85 season.
St. Lawrence split its weekend games to ranked opponents. After falling to Harvard, the Saints came back to beat Brown 2-1 in overtime. Rebecca Russell netted both SLU goals. Cornell and Colgate both earned their wins over Vermont, while Princeton fell to Mercyhurst last Friday and then came back to blank the Lakers 1-0 the next day.
Two tournaments and a number of non-conference games are on tap this weekend along with two league matchups. Before the turkey is defrosted and put in the oven, Brown plays host to Northeastern on Tuesday and Yale travels to Princeton on Wednesday.
A lot of eyes will be on this weekend's Harvard Shootout, as No. 1 Minnesota and No. 5 Wisconsin will both be participating. The Crimson faces the Badgers on Friday night and will take on the Gophers Saturday. Northeastern rounds out the tournament field.
Dartmouth will play in the Univ. of New Hampshire tournament and takes on No. 9 Mercyhurst before facing Minnesota State.
Other non-league action has Colgate facing Maine, Cornell traveling to Wayne State and Princeton battling Connecticut. The lone ECACHL contest is the first-ever games between North Country residents Clarkson and St. Lawrence, as the two will play their home-and-home series this weekend.
Follow all the action with live stats from most games and postgame stories from all the contests online at http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/.
