Teams Lining up at the Top of the ECACHL Standings and National Lists
ALBANY, N.Y. - Harvard and Princeton swept their ECAC Hockey League games last weekend, while North Country foes Clarkson and St. Lawrence split their home-and-home series. The weekend results now have these four teams at the top half of the league standings, and all are also among the nation's top 10 in the latest women's polls.
This week's big story comes from up North, with Clarkson and St. Lawrence having completed their home-and home series. The action started in front of over 2,000 fans in Canton with the Saints taking the 3-1 victory and ended in front of 1,500 more people in Potsdam with the Golden Knights earning the 2-0 shutout. At the time of the games, St. Lawrence was the No. 1 team in the country, and had yet to be beaten. Clarkson was ranked 8th nationally and had been pulling off upsets.
The Golden Knights started the scoring in game one, but with the help of two power-play goals, SLU was able to earn the win. Friday night again saw Clarkson light the lamp first with an even-strength marker less than four minutes into the game. Ashley Shaidle added an insure goal on the power play late in the period and the Knights held on for the win. Clarkson's defense held strong throughout the game despite being out shot 34-8, and kudos go to Clarkson netminder Kira Hurley, who was named the Goaltender of the Week after picking up her NCAA leading sixth shutout of the year.
Princeton's sweep came with wins over Cornell (7-0 blanking) and Colgate (four-goal, 6-2 victory). Tiger junior Kim Pearce led the team with assists on six of the seven goals scored against the Big Red and a seventh weekend assist vs. the Raiders. She also posted a +6 rating over the two games and was named Player of the Week for her efforts. Overall, Princeton had nine players record multiple points for the weekend's two games. Freshman Annie Greenwood led the scoring with five goals.
Cornell, Colgate and Quinnipiac also earned points on the weekend, as the Bobcats and Raiders tied each other and the Big Red earned a 1-0 victory over QU. Brianne Schmidt scored Cornell's lone goal to win the team's first league game of the year.
The final league action of the week had Harvard earn back-to-back shutouts vs. Union. The Crimson also beat Providence 6-3 earlier in the week. Jenny Brine was the Crimson's top performer with seven points over the three games. She had three points (2-1) vs. the Friars and then followed that up with a goal ad three assists in the Union series. Her seven-point week earned her Rookie of the Week honors.
In non-league play, Brown fell to Northeastern in early-week action, while Yale was downed twice by Mercyhurst.
There are just three league games on this week's slate, starting tonight when Quinnipiac plays at Princeton. This weekend also has Union at St. Lawrence for two games. In non-league play, Brown faces Connecticut tonight, while Harvard takes on the Huskies Thursday. Clarkson will play games at Niagara this Friday and Saturday, while Princeton plays host to Wayne State for two and Quinnipiac has Maine at home for two. The Crimson will also play host to New Hampshire on Friday, and Dartmouth travels to Providence on Saturday.
Colgate, Cornell and Yale are all idle this week.
