The Stretch Run is About to Begin in ECACHL Women's Race
ALBANY, N.Y. -- St. Lawrence gained four more points in ECAC Hockey League action over the weekend with a sweep, and now sits one point out of second place and three points out of first. With just a handful of weeks left, the stretch run is about to open up and the race for playoff positioning is about to get interesting. Colgate and Yale also helped themselves over the weekend, as both picked up three points, while Brown and Clarkson claimed one victory each. Princeton and Harvard were idle over the weekend because of semester exams and Dartmouth played just one non-league game.
St. Lawrence claimed its two wins at home against Rensselaer and Union. Crystal Connors led the way for the Saints, with six points over the two games, including her first career hat trick against Union.
Colgate and Yale tied each other on Saturday after each team picked up two points with wins on Friday. The Raiders downed Brown, while the Bulldogs defeated Cornell. Elayna Hamashuk earned both wins in goal for Colgate stopping 60 shots over the two contests. Yale's Sheila Zingler was named Player of the Week, after netting five points on three goals and two assists in helping her team pick up three league points.
Brown may have lost to the Raiders on Friday, but the team rebounded with a 3-0 shutout vs. Cornell on Saturday. The Bears also claimed a non-league win over Northeastern earlier in the week. Netminder Nicole Stock earned both wins for Brown and picked up her second blanking of the year. She posted a 0.44 goals against average and a .982 save percentage for the week and was named Goaltender of the Week. Teammate Erin Connors was named Rookie of the Week after picking up five points on two goals and three assists.
Clarkson's single win came against Union, while Rensselaer earned its victory over the Golden Knights. Britney Selina had a hat trick in Clarkson's victory, while Whitney Naslund scored the winner for the Engineers.
Dartmouth's lone game of the week was a 4-2 win over New Hampshire on Saturday, while Quinnipiac had two games vs. Wayne State (tie, loss). Big Green senior Katie Weatherston scored a short-handed goal to beat the Wildcats, while Carli Clemis made 30 saves. Hayley McMeekin led the way for the Bobcats with two goals and two assists on the weekend.
ECACHL Player of the Week
Sheila Zingler -- Yale
Sr., Forward * Wausau, Wis.
Zingler posted three goals and two assists over the weekend,
including the winner vs. Cornell and the tying goal vs. Colgate.
ECACHL Goalie of the Week
Nicole Stock - Brown
So., Goalie * Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Stock earned wins vs. Northeastern and Cornell and saw time vs.
Colgate. She posted a 0.44 goals against average and a .982 save
percentage for the week.
ECACHL Rookie of the Week
Erin Connors - Brown
Fr., Forward * Newburyport, Mass.
Connors nearly doubled her season point total during the week,
posting five points with two goals and three assists. She has a
six-game point streak (4g, 4a).
TEAM NOTES
Brown: The Bears went 2-1 last week, splitting a conference weekend at home with Colgate (L, 4-3) and Cornell (W, 3-0), and defeating Northeastern (4-1) in non-conference action ... Sophomore goaltender Nicole Stock has seen time in the Bears' last five games, making 103 saves and allowing five goals in 228:03, going 3-0-0, and posting a .954 save percentage and 1.32 goals-against average ... The Bears are now 5-2-1 in their last eight ... The line of Hayley Moore, Erin Connors and Andrea Hunter has been on fire, accounting for 29 of Brown's 50 points since exam break. Moore now has 13 points (8g, 5a) during an eight-game point streak, Connors has eight points (4g, 4a) during a six-game point streak, and Hunter has seven points (3g, 4a) during a four-game point streak. Hunter also has points in seven of Brown's last eight games, totaling 12 points on four goals and eight assists.
Clarkson: Three freshmen lead the Golden Knights in scoring, paced by Genevieve Lavoie with 28 points, including 19 goals. Center Britney Selina follows with 22 (10-12) points and rookie defenseman Carlee Eusepi chips in 18 points, including a team-high 15 points ... The Knights are the second least penalized team in the country, averaging only 9.8 minutes per game.
Colgate: Colgate set a program record for most league wins (10) after defeating Brown on Friday, 4-3. Since joining the ECACHL in 2001 the Raiders had previously topped out at nine wins. After a 2-2 tie with Yale, Colgate is in fourth place with Princeton in the league standings ... The Raiders won their first game ever at Meehan Auditorium. Colgate had previously gone 0-5 when playing Brown in Providence ... Colgate's special teams were in full effect over the weekend. Of the six goals Colgate scored over the weekend, only two were even strength. The Raiders recorded three power-play goals and one short-handed goal ... Freshman Evan Minnick continues to contribute the Raiders' scoring column. She sits on a four-game scoring streak with two goals and two assists.
Cornell: The Big Red was winless on the road this weekend when it played Yale and Brown. Cornell split its goaltending between freshman Jenny Niesluchowki and senior Beth Baronick. Brittany Forgues scored the Big Red's only goal of the weekend on Friday night. Cornell will return home this weekend to face Union and Rensselaer.
Dartmouth: The Big Green knocked off its fifth ranked team of the season with a, 4-2, win over New Hampshire on Saturday. That was the team's last non-conference game of the season, as it will now take on eight ECACHL teams to wrap up the regular season.
Harvard: The Crimson has been idle due to semester exams and returns to action this coming weekend against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
Princeton: The Tigers have been idle due to semester exams and return to action Feb. 2-3 against Brown and Yale.
Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac has faced 11 nationally ranked opponents - a program record - this season. Mercyhurst and St. Lawrence, who have been nationally ranked for the entire 2006-07 season, still remain on the regular season schedule ... Quinnipiac's top six scorers are all freshmen and sophomores. The freshmen and sophomores account for 80.2 percent of the Bobcats' scoring production this season ... QU's last game at the Northford Ice Pavilion is this Friday. The first ice hockey game -- men's or women's -- to be played at the TD Banknorth Sports Center will be this Saturday night at 7 p.m. when the Quinnipiac women face Mercyhurst.
Rensselaer: Rensselaer split with No. 6 St. Lawrence and Clarkson over the weekend, and remains tied with Yale for sixth in the ECACHL standings ... After going 1-9-0 in their first 10 games, the Engineers are 6-3-1 in their last 10, with all six wins coming against conference opponents. ... Frosh Whitney Naslund continues to lead the squad in scoring with 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) . The Engineers are 14th in the nation and fourth among ECACHL teams in scoring offense (3.12 goals per game).
St. Lawrence: The Saints extended their season-long unbeaten streak to 10 games with their wins over Rensselaer and Union, and improved to 15-1-1 against unranked-opponents this season ... The Scarlet and Brown, which is 18-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season, hope to keep the momentum going as it travels to Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Saints vs. Big Green game on Saturday is USCHO.com's "Game of the Week."
Union: Senior netminder Mandy Hanson picked up her first career point with an assist at Clarkson... Sophomore Danielle Kimble made her third start of the year at Clarkson, registering 12 saves... Six different Dutchwomen picked up points on the weekend... Elise Nichols snapped Union's 192:56 scoreless streak with her 12th goal of the season against Clarkson.
Yale: Yale is 6-1-1 since winter break and has outscored its opponents 31-14 in that stretch ... The Bulldogs received a vote in both national polls last week. The line of sophomore forward Crysti Howser, senior forward Jenna Spring and senior forward Sheila Zingler has 41 points in the last eight games. Spring's four-assist game vs. Cornell on Friday marked the first time since March 11 a Yale player has had a four-point game. Freshman forward Mandi Schwartz is 28-4 on face-offs in the last three games. Freshman forward Caroline Murphy scored her first career goal Friday night.
