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ALBANY, NY  --  While some questions were answered from last weekend's league play, as Harvard captured its fifth ECAC Hockey title and St. Lawrence secured a home-ice postseason spot, the final portion of the playoff puzzle will be resolved this weekend.  Play has been admirable all season with three to four teams unfailingly receiving national recognition and a myriad of teams parading postseason goals.  This weekend figures to be a classic photo finish as four teams will fight for two home ice spots and three teams will battle for the remaining two playoff spots.

No. 1 Harvard/No. 10 Dartmouth at Colgate/Cornell:  The Crimson will be looking to complete the first undefeated regular-season in league play since the 1996-97 Brown Bears as they visit Colgate and Cornell this weekend.  The Crimson own a 12-1-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Raiders that dates back to 1978-79.  Harvard has earned victories in 14 of the last 15 contests against the Big Red, including a 4-1 win this year.  Unbeaten in its last six (3-0-3) travel-partner Dartmouth is poised to remain one of the top four teams in the league standings in order to keep home ice for the opening round of the postseason tournament.  Dartmouth is riding an 11-game winning streak over the Big Red.  Dartmouth owns an all-time series lead of 19-2-1 versus Colgate.  The Big Green will be looking to avenge a 2-1 overtime setback to the Raiders in January.  Cornell will faceoff against the two nationally ranked opponents looking to put marks in the win column to secure its seventh-place league standing and earn a chance to make the playoffs.  When a goal is needed for the Big Red look for senior forward Caeleigh Beerworth, who leads the league in game-winning goals with six to be near the net.  Colgate sealed a playoff bid last weekend marking the seventh straight season that the Raiders have reached the playoffs in their seventh year in the conference.  Junior forward Sam Hunt has anchored the Raiders offense this season scoring 13 goals, including two of the short-handed variety, in Colgate's 20 conference games.

Princeton/Quinnipiac at No. 6 St. Lawrence/No. 9 Clarkson:  Clarkson finds itself in a strong position to host its first playoff games at Cheel Arena, needing to gain one point this weekend versus Quinnipiac or Princeton to guarantee itself another weekend on their home ice.  The Golden Knights will honor their seniors who have helped to lead Clarkson to a 74-52-15 record, two 20+win seasons, and four consecutive berths in the ECAC Hockey playoffs.  The Scarlet and Brown, who have already nailed down the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament will also host the Tigers and Bobcats this weekend.  St. Lawrence has not had any problems finding the back of the net this season, leading the league in scoring offense (4.00G/GM) and power-play performance, converting on 28.3 percent of all opportunities.  The Tigers, who have clinched a playoff spot, trail Dartmouth by three points for the fourth position in postseason action.  Princeton has earned at least one point in 12 of 15 games.  Out of the playoff picture, Quinnipiac, has received admirable play between the pipes, with its netminders halting 30-plus shots in the last four games. 

Union/Rensselaer at Yale/Brown:  With 16 points the Bulldogs and the Engineers remain in a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot and  trail seventh-place Cornell by three points.  The two will battle with possibly all on the line Saturday at Ingalls Rink.  The Bulldogs will look for scoring punch from junior forward Crysti Howser (6-11-17) and freshman Bray Ketchum (9-1-15).  Look for the Engineers to get an unexpected lift on special teams from sophomore forward Whitey Naslund, who has notched two shorthanded goals in league play.  Brown and Union, which have been eliminated from the playoff picture, will look to play the role of spoiler.  Union's goaltender junior Lundy Day and Bears' netminder junior Nicole Stock continue to be work-horses in net, posting 764 and 680 saves, respectively, in league action.