Cornell, Princeton and St. Lawrence Each Win Two
League race remains tight heading down the stretch
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Cornell earned its first weekend sweep since November, while St. Lawrence earned its eighth sweep of the year to lead the ECAC Hockey League women this past weekend. Princeton was also on the move after winning two of its three games last week. The wins moved each team up one spot each in the league standings, however, the race remains too close to call, as eight teams can still finish first.
Yale also earned valuable points over the weekend, picking up three with a win and a tie, while Clarkson claimed two points with a lone victory and Harvard earned two with two deadlocks.
Cornell's sweep came at Union, as the Big Red downed the Dutchwomen 5-1 and 5-2. Sophomore Sarah Johnston helped lead her team to victory with three goals on the weekend, including the game winner in the second contest. Junior netminder Beth Baronick stopped 35 shots in the two contests to claim both victories. Union's Alex Ziebel combined for 96 saves in the series, stopping 43 shots on Saturday and 53 on Sunday.
St. Lawrence earned its wins over Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Saints started off the weekend with Player of the Week Sabrina Harbec picking up two assists, including a helper on the game winner, in a 3-1 W vs. Princeton. Harbec followed that up with a goal and three assists in the team's 7-1 win vs. Quinnipiac. Teammate Carson Duggan was also in top form, picking up four points on the weekend with three goals and an assist. Vicky Graham had the Bobcats lone goal.
Princeton returned from its exam break and played three league games last week. The Tigers opened back up with a 4-0 blanking of Quinnipiac before falling to the Saints and winning 1-0 vs. Clarkson in OT. Annie Greenwood earned Rookie of the Week honors after scoring a goal in each game. She had the winning goals against the Bobcats and the Golden Knights (scored at 3:49 in OT) and the lone tally vs. the Saints. Roxanne Gaudiel earned both shutouts, making a total of 30 saves between the two contests.
Harvard and Yale tied each other in their weekend contest and the goalies played a big part in that game. In fact, Sarah Love and Brittany Martin shared Goaltender of the Week honors. As the teams skated to a 1-1 draw, love made 40 saves for her Bulldogs, while Martin had 44. Love also helped her team to a 1-0 win over Dartmouth the night before, making 33 saves, while Martin had 32 saves in a 0-0 stalemate with Brown. Based on their two games, Love had a 0.48 goals against average and a .986 save percentage and Martin posted a 0.46 GAA and a .987 save percentage - making it impossible to choose one over the other for the weekly goalie honor.
Yale's win and tie were extra special, as it marked the Bulldogs' first win over Dartmouth since 1986 and it was the team's first point at Bright Hockey Center since in 25 years.
Harvard's 0-0 tie with Brown is the only scoreless tie in the Crimson's history.
Following its tie with the Cantabs, the Bears went on to record a 3-all tie with Dartmouth. The Big Green came out and gained a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of play and Brown came to life in the final 20, scoring three goals of its own for the draw. Maggie Kennedy scored twice for Dartmouth in the win, while Hayley Moore netted the tying goal with just 19 seconds to play in regulation.
Kira Hurley upped her NCAA lead in shutouts on Friday when she stopped all 19 Quinnipiac shots. She now has nine on the year. Ashley Shaidle scored two of the team's goals in the win.
Colgate was also in action over the weekend, facing No. 6/7 Mercyhurst on the road. Both games were hard fought, with the two teams battling to overtime draws each day.
Seniors Becky Irvine and Allison Paiano tallied their 100th career point together in Friday's 2-2 tie, with Irvine assisting on Paiano's goal. Paiano now has 101 career points (she also had a goal Saturday) with 48 goals and 53 assists, while Irvine had 47 goals and 53 assists for 100 points.
Harvard kicks off this week's games at the Beanpot, facing Boston University at 8 p.m. tonight (Feb. 7). The Crimson then travel to Princeton and Quinnipiac over the weekend for league games as does travel partner Dartmouth. Clarkson and St. Lawrence are also on the road, traveling to Colgate and Cornell. Yale will welcome Union to Ingalls Rink for two. Brown is off this weekend.
