Dartmouth and Harvard Tied for Top Spot After Sweeps
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Dartmouth and Harvard moved up to the top spot in the ECAC Hockey League standings after winning two games each on the road over the weekend. Clarkson also earned a sweep, picking up four key points in the standings.
The Big Green and Crimson teamed up to beat Princeton and Quinnipiac over the weekend, with the games vs. the Tigers being big ones. Harvard and Dartmouth entered the weekend tied for second place and Princeton sat in the top spot. The Big Green got things done on Friday with a 6-3 win vs. the Tigers, while the Crimson downed the Orange and Black 5-0 on Saturday. Against Quinnipiac, Harvard earned a 6-1 win, while Dartmouth took a one-goal, 3-2 victory.
The Crimson's Jenny Brine and the Big Green's Cherie Piper share Player of the Week honors this time around, as they each had three goals and three assists on the weekend. Brine had two goals against Princeton, including the game winner, while Piper had four points (two goals, two assists) vs. the Tigers. Harvard goaltender Christina Kessler earned Rookie of the Week honors after stopping 30 shots to earn the shutout.
Clarkson earned its sweep with victories over Cornell and Colgate. Marie-Jo Gaudet led the way for the Golden Knights with a goal in each game, while freshman Britney Selina earned her first collegiate hat trick with three goals vs. Cornell. Gaudet's goal vs. Colgate was a crucial one, as it came with less than a minute to go in regulation and sent the game into overtime. Christine Bailkowski scored a short-handed marker at 3:51 in the extra stanza to earn the win.
Colgate rebounded with its 3-2 win over St. Lawrence the next day. Brook Wheeler earned Goaltender of the Week honors after making 33 saves in the win. It was the Raiders' second victory over a ranked opponent this season.
St. Lawrence had started its weekend with a 3-0 win over Cornell. Meaghan Guckian earned the shutout after making 11 saves.
In non-league games, Brown earned a win over Providence in the Mayor's Cup game and then tied Niagara on Saturday. Andrea Hunter scored two of the goals in the victory, including the game winner.
Yale played a single game on Saturday and claimed a 3-1 win over Northeastern. Crysti Howser had a hand in all three goals with two assists and an empty-net score.
Union closed out the weekend with two losses against Boston University. It was the Dutchwomen's first games after taking time off for exams.
ECACHL Co-Player of the Week
JENNY BRINE-- Harvard
So., Forward * Truro, N.S.
Brine had six points with three goals and three assists. She scored
twice vs. Princeton, including the winner.
ECACHL Co-Player of the Week
CHERIE PIPER -- Dartmouth
Sr., Forward * Scarborough, Ont.
Piper also had three goals and three assists. Two of her goals and
two assists came vs. Princeton.
ECACHL Goalie of the Week
BROOK WHEELER -- Colgate
Sr. * Brussels, Ont.
Wheeler made 33 stops to earn the 3-2 win vs. ranked St. Lawrence.
It was her first start since early November.
ECACHL Rookie of the Week
CHRISTINA KESSLER -- Harvard
Goaltender * Oakville, Ont.
Kessler earned the 5-0 shutout vs. Princeton. She made 30 saves in
helping the Crimson take first place from the Tigers.
TEAM NOTES
Brown: Head Coach Digit Murphy will pass former Providence and Yale coach John Marchetti to become the all-time winningest coach in Division I women's hockey with Brown's next win. She will also become the third-winningest all-time in all divisions ... Friday's win ended Brown's nine-game losing streak, the program's longest ever.
Clarkson: The Knights closed out a four-game road trip with three straight wins and have won five of their last six games ... Clarkson gained its first ECACHL weekend sweep of the season with a pair of wins in central NY, defeating Colgate 2-1 in OT and Cornell 5-1 ... A pair of freshmen lead Clarkson in scoring. Britney Selina has 14 points (6-8) and Genevieve Lavoie follows with 13 points, including a team-high eight goals.
Colgate: Colgate came back from a hard-fought 2-1 OT loss to Clarkson on Friday to defeat No. 5 St. Lawrence 3-2 on Saturday. It was the Raiders' second win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season ... This is the first time that Colgate has recorded two wins over top-10 teams in the first half of the season ... In November, six of Colgate's eight games were against nationally-ranked squads. The Raiders put together a 3-5 record in that time ... Fifteen games into the season, Colgate is one of four teams in the nation that has not been shutout and also has not posted a shutout.
Cornell: The Big Red will be looking to pick up some much needed wins this weekend as it gets back on the road and heads to Rensselaer and Union. Cornell will look to snap a nine-game losing streak and will play its last weekend series before the holidays.
Dartmouth: With the two wins over the weekend, Dartmouth stays on top of the league standings ... Senior Cherie Piper has put up at least two points per game in her last four games ... Sophomore Julia Bronson leads the league in points by a defender with 14, all being assists ... Sarah Parsons remains at the top of the league list in scoring among freshman with 17 points in 10 games.
Harvard: Harvard has won six straight, marking the Crimson's longest winning streak since an eight game stretch late in the 2004-05 season ... Harvard outscored its two opponents by a 7-0 margin in the second period last weekend. The Crimson has owned the second period in 2006-07, outscoring its opponents by a 22-3 margin in the middle 20 minutes ... Harvard limited Quinnipiac to just nine shots in on Friday. It marked the first time since a Dec. 2, 2005 win vs. Union that Harvard held an opponent to single-digit shots.
Princeton: Princeton's season-opening unbeaten streak ended at 10 games with a loss to Dartmouth on Friday night ... Princeton's 10-game unbeaten streak was the longest in program history, one more than the previous high of nine, which was set last season.
Quinnipiac: Senior goaltender Laura Brennan set a program record for saves in an ECACHL contest with 47 against Dartmouth ... Quinnipiac once again had a very balanced scoring attack this weekend. Nine players accumulated a point and nobody had a multi-point weekend ... Quinnipiac's 2.91 goals per game in ECACHL contests this season is more than double its 1.35 goals per game a season ago in the team's inaugural season.
Rensselaer: Rensselaer was away from action this past weekend and returns to play this weekend vs. Cornell and Colgate ... Friday's game against Cornell marks the first meeting between the Engineers and the Big Red ... Freshman Whitney Naslund has tallied a point or more in five of RPI's last six games and leads the team with 13 points.
St. Lawrence: SLU goalie Meaghan Guckian picked up her 11th career shutout in Friday's win vs. Cornell ... Saturday's loss to Colgate puts the two teams into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings ... Annie Guay and Sabrina Harbec extended their scoring streaks this weekend to three and four games, respectively. Guay had three assists, while Harbec tallied a goal in each contest.
Union: Molly Garrett and Jackie Koetteritz both scored their first career goals in Sunday's game. Union drew even at 2-2 in games at Messa Rink this weekend ... The Dutchwomen have scored at least one power play goal in each of their last three games ... Union resumes ECACHL play with three of the next four games at home.
Yale: The seniors have accounted for 11 of Yale's 24 goals ... Jenna Spring moved into a tie for ninth on Yale's career goals list with her 35th Saturday at Northeastern ... Yale's win vs. Northeastern was the Bulldogs' second in a row in that series after losing the first 18 ... After Saturday's win Yale is 5-1 when leading after two periods and 0-4 when trailing after two periods ... Freshman goaltender Ansley LaHue has stopped 23 of the 24 shots she has faced this year (.958).
