Battle For League Supremacy Continues

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ALBANY, N.Y.  -- League teams will take part in 12 games this weekend, including eight league contests on Friday and Saturday, highlighted by nationally ranked Dartmouth and Harvard making their first league road trips of the season.  Clarkson will receive a true test this weekend when it hosts a two-game series versus No. 2 ranked Mercyhurst.

Colgate/Cornell at Princeton/Quinnipiac:  Riding high from last weekend's upset of then No. 1 New Hampshire, Princeton will look to continue its winning ways that vaulted it into the top 10, when it hosts two rivals this weekend.  The Tigers welcome Cornell at 7 p.m. Friday and Colgate at 4 p.m. Saturday.  The Tigers are led by freshman defenseman Sasha Sherry (1-7-8), who is among the nation's leaders in points per game among defenseman averaging one point per contest, and ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week junior Kristen Young, who stopped 48 of 51 shots last weekend in a pair of wins versus Hockey East opponents Boston University and New Hampshire.  Quinnipiac will also take on the travel partners, as the Raiders come calling at 7 p.m. Friday and the Big Red pays a visit to TD Banknorth Sports Center at 4 p.m. Saturday.  Seeking their first league win, the Bobcats will look for some offensive fire-power that has only yielded six goals in five league contests this season.  Colgate brings its 2-0-0 record on the road for the first time in league play.  The Raiders possess a stable game at both ends of the ice where they rank third in both scoring offense and scoring defense in league play.  Cornell also takes the road for the first time in league play.  The Big Red pack a prolific freshmen one-two punch with forwards Rebecca Johnston and Kalee Overguard, who are first and second in the nation in points per game among rookies, 1.67 and 1.50, respectively. 

Dartmouth/Harvard at Yale; Dartmouth at Bown; & Brown at Harvard:  Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale have all gotten out of the gate quickly in league action, while Brown's three league losses have come as a result of a combined six goals.  The Bears will play host to No. 8/9 ranked Dartmouth at 1 p.m. Friday and then travel to No. 6/7 ranked Harvard at 2 p.m. Saturday.  Due to a temporary mechanical malfunction with the ice surface at Meehan Auditorium, Friday's game has been moved to Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI and Saturday's match-up with the Crimson moved to Harvard.  The Bears will have their hands full as they look to bring their disciplined act, which ranks 10th in the nation averaging only 13.0 penalty minutes per game, to the ice against two of the league's best.   Dartmouth, 4-0-1 possesses the highest scoring offense in the country averaging 4.60 goals per game.  Sophomore forward Jenna Cunningham (7-6-13) and junior forward Maggie Kennedy (2-6-8) lead the way for the Big Green.  Yale will test its 3-1-1 record this weekend when it hosts the Crimson and the Big Green in league action.  The Bulldogs have been excelling at both ends of the ice with special teams throughout the season.  Taking to the road for the first time this season, the Crimson look to improve on their 2-0-0 record behind junior forward Sarah Vaillancourt, who has scored five points in Harvard's first two games.

Non-Conference:  With strong defenses, both Clarkson and Rensselaer take to the ice this weekend in non-conference action.  Behind two freshmen phenom goaltenders, Lauren Dahm and Eve Grandmont-Berube, Clarkson will host No. 2 ranked Mercyhurst in two matinee games.  The match-ups will be a classic confrontation with a high-scoring attack of Mercyhurst, third in the nation in scoring averaging 4.10 goals per game, versus the reluctant defense of Clarkson, tops in the nation scoring defense allowing only  0.92 goals per game.  The Golden Knights are riding a nation's second-best winning streak of five games, taking a backseat only to St. Lawrence's streak of seven games.  Rensselaer finishes a four-game road trip when it travels to Wayne State for a weekend series.   The Engineers are 6-4-1 on the young season, and are anchored on defense by their own freshman netminder Sonja van der Bliek, who sports a 4-1 overall record and ranks second in the nation in goals against average with 1.00.  Rensselaer is sixth in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 1.45 goals per game.