Rensselaer Wins Both ECACHL Games of the Weekend
Clarkson, St. Lawrence sweep non-league opponents
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The only women's ECAC Hockey League games this past weekend were between local rivals Rensselaer and Union, and the Engineers took all four points in sweeping the Dutchwomen. Several non-league games also took place, as Clarkson and St. Lawrence won two games each, Princeton won one, Dartmouth won and tied and Harvard went 1-1-1 in its three games.
The Engineers had 11 players score at least one point over the weekend, with eight athletes picking up at least two. Rookie of the Week Whitney Naslund was one of the team's leaders with five points on two goals and three assists. Both of her goals came in the first win of the weekend, and both tallies were scored at even strength. Teammate Jaime Jacquard-Sowa also had a lot of offense for the team with two goals and two assists, while Ashley Mayr earned both wins in goal.
St. Lawrence earned its sweep over Maine, downing the Black Bears twice by identical 5-1 scores. Sabrina Harbec earned Player of the Week honors after earning eight points on two goals and six assists. She assisted on Friday's winning goal and then netted the winner herself on Saturday.
Clarkson's two wins also came on the road, as the Golden Knights downed Niagara twice at home. Stephanie Hansen continued her solid play in goal, backstopping the Knights to their longest winning streak in the program's four-year history with seven straight victories, including the weekend sweep. She recorded her second shutout of the year with 15 saves in Friday's 5-0 win and then came back with 26 stops, including 10 in the third period in Saturday's 2-1 win.
Harvard's week started last Tuesday, when the Crimson fell to Connecticut, 3-2. The team rebounded with a 3-3 tie against No. 3 New Hampshire before downing Providence 2-0 on Sunday. Dartmouth also faced the Wildcats and Friars over the weekend and shut out Providence 5-0 before matching UNH with a 3-3 tie on Sunday. Carli Clemis was named Goaltender of the Week following her 61 save weekend.
Princeton traveled to Detroit and split its weekend games with Wayne State. The home team won on Friday 4-2, while the visitors took Saturday, 1-0. Sophomore Kristen Young earned her first shutout of the season as she made 26 saves on Saturday in the whitewash.
Brown had just one game last week, beating Boston University 3-1. It was a special victory, as it was head coach Digit Murphy's 293rd career win, making her the winningest head coach in women's Division I hockey.
ECACHL Player of the Week
SABRINA HARBEC -- St. Lawrence
Jr., F * St. Hubert, Que.
Harbec had an eight-point weeked as the Saints swept Maine in a
pair of non-league road games over the weekend. She assisted
Friday's game-winner, and then scored the game-winning goal in
Saturday's series finale.
ECACHL Goalie of the Week
CARLI CLEMIS -- Dartmouth
So. * Taber, Alb.
Clemis stopped 61 shots on the weekend, as the Big Green came away
with a win over Providence and a tie against No. 3 UNH.
ECACHL Rookie of the Week
WHITNEY NASLUND -- Rensselaer Forward * Bloomington, Minn. Naslund
helped Rensselaer post two league victories over Union, scoring two
goals and adding three assists for five points.
TEAM NOTES
Brown: Head Coach Digit Murphy broke the record for career Division I wins Tuesday, picking up her 293rd win ... Senior Lauren Deeb and freshman Nicole Brown, both defensemen, picked up their first points of the year with assists against BU ... Brown skaters blocked 19 shots against BU, the fourth straight game in which the team has blocked at least 18 shots.
Clarkson: Clarkson enters the break with the longest winning streak in the program's four-year history at seven games and has won nine of the last 10 ... Stephanie Hansen, who took over the starting role in goal when All-American Kira Hurley was injured, has allowed just nine goals over the past seven games and picked up her second shutout of the season with in the 2-0 win vs. Niagara ... Genevieve Lavoie has powered the Knights' offense during their recent winning streak with 16 goals in the past nine games.
Colgate: Colgate is idle until Jan. 5-6, when the Raiders play Wayne State in a pair of games in Detroit, Mich.
Cornell: Cornell is idle until Jan. 2, when it plays at Providence.
Dartmouth: Captain Gillian Apps extended her point streak to six games, as she put up three more points on the weekend. She now has 20 points in 12 games ... With the tie against New Hampshire, the Big Green are now 3-2 against nationally ranked opponents this season ... After her three-point weekend, Apps now moves to 12th on the Big Green's All-Time Points list with 132 ... Dartmouth will meet Harvard for the 71st time this Friday at Thompson Arena. The Big Green has won 40 of the 70 prior contests.
Harvard: Julie Chu has scored at least one point in the last 17 games in which she has played, dating to the 2004-05 season. Chu missed last Tuesday's game against Connecticut, but had assists in the Crimson's tie against UNH and win against Providence ... Jenny Brine came out of this week's action as the national leader in goals (18), PPGs (14) and GWGs (5).
Princeton: Princeton's winless streak reached five games before the Tigers snapped it with a 1-0 win on Saturday at Wayne State ... Saturday's win was Princeton's third 1-0 game of the season. Princeton has wins over Cornell and Wayne State by that score, as well as a loss at Mercyhurst by the score.
Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac is away from action until Dec. 30-31 for the Third Annual Nutmeg Classic against UConn and Yale ... After averaging just 1.35 goals per game in ECACHL contests last season, the Bobcats have more than doubled the mark and average 2.91 gpg in league games this season. Quinnipiac also averages a program record 2.65 goals per contest for overall games ... QU has matched its win total in league games from a year ago even though it is just halfway through the conference schedule.
Rensselaer: With the Engineers two-game sweep of Union last weekend, RPI moved into sole possession of seventh place in the ECACHL ... Freshman Whitney Naslund is ranked 10th nationally and third among all ECACHL players in rookie scoring (1.00 points per game) ... Through 19 games, 18-of-19 players have all tallied multiple points ... RPI is 12th in the nation and third among all ECACHL teams in offensive scoring (3.32 ppg) having tallied 63 goals in 19 games.
St. Lawrence: Only one game after Chelsea Grills became the 10th player in SLU women's hockey history to reach the 100 point mark, fellow senior Crystal Connors joined the "Century Club" with a pair of goals in Friday night's opener versus Maine. The Belford, N.J., native now has 102 points in 137 career games with the Scarlet and Brown ... The Saints finish the first half of the season with an overall record of 14-5-1 , including a 7-3-0 mark in conference play.
Union: Elise Nichols snapped a 208:46 scoreless streak for the Dutchwomen with her 11th goal of the season at 9:00 of the first period in Saturday's game against Rensselaer ... The home loss to the Engineers marks the first in four games against RPI at Messa Rink ... Union resumes play the first weekend in January with home games against Yale and Brown.
Yale: Yale is on break until Dec. 29, when it hosts UConn in the Nutmeg Classic. That game will be broadcast as USCHO.com's "Game of the Week" ... The senior class has 44 wins, third-most all-time at Yale, and is five wins away from the school record ... All 10 of Defenseman Helen Resor's points have come in league games (2-8-10), placing her third among ECACHL blue liners in ppg (1.25).
