St. Lawrence and Princeton Lock up Home Ice
Saints, Tigers and Dartmouth all sweep in preparation for final weekend
ALBANY, N.Y. -- This weekend marks the final games of the regular season and the last chance for ECAC Hockey League teams to lock up their positions in the standings for the playoffs. We only know two things for sure heading into the last games of the year: St. Lawrence and Princeton will finish top four and have home ice for the quarterfinals; Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale are also playoff bound. The Saints and Tigers locked up home ice this past week with league sweeps, while the Big Green helped its cause by also winning two.
Given how tight the league race is, many possibilities still exist as to how it will all shake out. Going into the weekend, St. Lawrence and Princeton can both finish either first or second; Clarkson and Brown will place between third and fifth; Harvard can finish as high as third and as low as seventh; Dartmouth and Yale will finish between fifth and eighth; Colgate will be between sixth and eighth; Cornell and Quinnipiac will either be ninth or 10th; and Union finishes 11th.
St. Lawrence currently leads the league with 30 points after earning four last weekend with wins over Brown and Yale. Emilie Berlinguette stepped it up in those wins, scoring three goals including the game winner vs. Yale. The senior forward was named Player of the Week for her efforts. Against the Bears, five different players scored, with three of them (Abbie Bullard, Carson Duggan and Crystal Connors) also netting assists for two-points each. Meaghan Guckian was in net and stopped 15 shots. The next day vs. the Bulldogs, six different players, including Berlinguette scored goals. Jess Moffat was called into action between the pipes and made 34 saves en route to the win. Sheila Zingler scored Yale's lone goal in the game.
Yale and Brown played a total of three games last week, starting off with a matchup between each other. The Bulldogs earned a 3-2 win over the Bears, helped in part by Kristin Savard who had a short-handed goal and assisted on the game winner, scored by Crysti Howser. The two teams also played Clarkson, with the Golden Knights downing Yale before falling to Brown. Hayley Moore led the way in the Bear's victory, with two goals and an assist. Two different players scored for Clarkson in the win over the Bulldogs, with four different players picking up the assists.
Princeton sits two points behind the Saints after its sweep last week vs. Union. The Tigers went to Schenectady and scored 11 goals over the two games. Rookie Annie Greenwood led the way for the Orange and Black with three goals and two assists over the two contests. Teammate Heather Jackson also had five points, with a goal and four helpers. Kristen Young was in goal to earn the 5-0 shutout on Friday.
The Big Green moved up two spots in the standings following its four-point performance vs. Colgate and Cornell. Dartmouth downed the two teams by identical 2-1 scores. Freshman Marley McMillan played a key role in the two wins, netting the game-winning goal vs. the Raiders and then assisting on the winner vs. the Big Red. Her game-winning and assisting performances earned her Rookie of the Week honors. Classmate Carli Clemis was between the pipes for the win over Colgate and is riding a personal five-game unbeaten streak at 3-0-2.
Colgate and Cornell also took on Harvard over the weekend and had split results. The Big Red came out and earned is first win over the Crimson since Feb. 2002, while the Raiders fell 3-0. Beth Baronick backstopped Cornell to its victory vs. Harvard, making 28 saves, and also stopped 46 in the loss to Dartmouth. Her 74 save weekend, along with the win, earned the junior netminder Goaltender of the Week honors. Cornell's four goals were all even strength markers, with Brittany Forgues scoring the game winner.
The Crimson earned the win over Colgate with seniors Carrie Schroyer and Jennifer Raimondi scoring goals in their final regular season game at home.
The win was the first in three games for Harvard, as the squad also lost earlier in the week to Boson College in the Beanpot final.
Quinnipiac closed out the weekend's games, traveling to face Rensselaer in two games this past Saturday and Sunday. The Bobcats' Vicky Graham earned a spot in the school's record books by becoming the program's all-time scoring leader with two goals and an assist over the weekend. The junior now has 65 points in her career on 32 goals and 33 assists. Her second weekend goal also tied the school's single-season record for goals, as she now has 14 on the year. Nicolette Leone also had a three-point weekend, matching Graham's two-goal, one assist numbers.
This weekend is the final action of the regular season. St. Lawrence and Clarkson will play host to Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday and Saturday, while Princeton and Quinnipiac welcome Brown and Yale. Colgate and Union will meet for two games in Hamilton to close out the league schedule. In non-league play, Cornell faces nationally ranked Mercyhurst at Lynah Rink.
