Three Way Tie For First After St. Lawrence and Princeton Sweeps
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The women's race in the ECAC Hockey League is starting to heat up, and at the mid-way point, there is a three-way tie for first place. St. Lawrence and Princeton swept their league games this past weekend and in doing so, are now even with Harvard to claim a share of the No. 1 spot in the standings. Brown, Clarkson, Quinnipiac and Colgate also picked up points on the weekend as they each split their league games.
Princeton earned its sweep on the road, winning games at Colgate and Cornell. Senior Sarah Butsch scored the game winners in both contests and was named the league's Player of the Week for her efforts. Freshman Annie Greenwood was also a key to the Tiger's success, scoring two goals in the win over the Big Red.
St. Lawrence had a lot of balance in its offensive production over the weekend and had 10 players pick up at least one point in the wins over Brown and Yale. Sabrina Harbec led the way with four points on a goal and three assists. Her lone tally was a short-handed effort in the win over Brown. Marianna Locke was also a factor vs. the Bulldogs, as the frosh scored two goals, one on the power play and the other the game winner.
Colgate rebounded from its Friday night loss to record a shutout over Quinnipiac. Elayna Hamashuk earned her first collegiate blanking and first league win in the game after making 20 saves. For the weekend, Sam Hunt was the team's leader on offense, picking up a goal in each game and a helper in the win. Her three-point weekend, including a short-handed goal, earned her Rookie of the Week honors.
Goaltender of the Week honors went to Brown's O'Hara Shipe for the second straight week. The sophomore netminder earned the shutout vs. No. 9 Clarkson, stopping 25 shots to earn the win. She also played tough vs. No. 3 St. Lawrence and stopped 40 of the shots she faced. Keaton Zucker scored the team's lone goal in the win over the golden Knights.
Clarkson rebounded to take its next game, with a 1-0 decision over Yale. Junior Ashley Shaidle scored for the Knights, while Kira Hurley recorded her NCAA-best eighth shutout of the year.
Quinnipiac started its weekend on a positive note, earning a 4-2 win at Cornell. Freshman Elyse Cole netted the game-winning goal, which was setup by classmate Jennifer Maclean, who also scored in the contest.
Despite its two losses on the weekend, Cornell saw an outstanding performance by sophomore Caeleigh Beerworth, who had two assists on Friday and two goals on Saturday for a four-point weekend. She now leads the Big Red with 14 points.
In non-league action over the weekend, Union played two overtime games vs. Robert Morris. The first night ended in a 2-all tie, but game two belonged to the Dutchwomen, with Elise Nichols netting the game winner. Union is now unbeaten at home over its last four games.
Dartmouth also had a tie out-of-league, skating to a 1-1 draw with Connecticut on Saturday. And, before breaking for exams, Harvard was downed by New Hampshire 5-1 last Wednesday.
This week's schedule is a little lighter than usual, as Harvard and Princeton are off for exam break and Yale also has an open weekend. Brown starts the action with a mid-week game at home vs. Boston University on Wednesday.
In league play, Cornell and Colgate travel to Clarkson and St. Lawrence for games on Friday and Saturday, while the Bears are at Union for two. Non-league contests have Quinnipiac playing host to Robert Morris for two games, and Dartmouth takes on New Hampshire Friday night.
