Weekend Preview: League Play Headlines Weekend Action
ALBANY, NY -- With the difficult portion of non-league
schedules out of the way, the intense intra-league action is now
under way in ECAC Hockey. A full league slate begins this
weekend, with some teams seeing their first league action of the
2008-09 campaign.
No. 9/9 St. Lawrence/Clarkson at Yale/Brown:
The Saints and Golden Knights will pay their annual visit to New
England this weekend. St. Lawrence is coming off a two-game sweep
of Robert Morris and have never lost to Yale, boasting a 25-0-1
record all-time against the Bulldogs. The two teams met four times
last season, and while St. Lawrence finished with a win in each
game, the two teams were separated by two goals or less in each
contest, including two overtime games. Yale is coming off a
close game to Rensselaer and will look to use the home ice to their
advantage. Brown meanwhile looks to regain prominence within
the league having received solid play from two of its freshman
defenders in Paige Pyett and Skyelar Siwak, as they helped the
Bears earn a split last weekend in their visit to the Capital
District. Clarkson, who will close out a four-game road trip
this weekend, have played eight of its first 10 games away from the
friendly confines of Cheel Arena, will look to continue the success
in conference play, when they posted their best ECAC Hockey record
in school history (13-6-3) last season. Clarkson has won
three of the past four games versus the Bears and the last six
meetings versus the Bulldogs.
Princeton/Quinnipiac at Colgate/Cornell: The
Tigers and Bobcats will invade Upstate New York, taking on Cornell
and Colgate. Both teams from Upstate New York will be playing
its first ECAC Hockey games of the season, while Princeton and
Quinnipiac will be taking on ECAC Hockey institutions for the
second weekend in a row. Cornell suffered its first loss of
the season last weekend, while Colgate finished the weekend at
1-1. Both Princeton and Quinnipiac had a tough time with No.
3/3 Harvard and No. 5/5 Dartmouth, with neither team finishing the
weekend with a mark in the victory column. The Bobcats will
look for offensive scoring punch this weekend, as they return 86%
of their goal-scoring output from last season. Despite not
facing an ECAC Hockey opponent, Colgate is battle-tested posting an
overall 5-4 mark. Senior defender Kiira Dosdall leads the
Raiders' in scoring with two goals and 10 assists. The
goaltending duties for the Raiders are being split thus far this
season between Kimberly Sass and Lisa Plenderleith. Sass has
recorded a .875 save percentage in three games, while Plenderleith
has earned a .927 in six contests. The Raiders showcase the
second strongest power play in the nation with a 31.1% success
rate. Cornell is 2-1 on the young season and led on offense
by sophomore Rebecca Johnston's two goals and six assists.
Rensselaer/Union at No. 3/3 Harvard/No. 5/5
Dartmouth: Two of the conference's ranked teams will
welcome in a pair of teams from the Capital Region this weekend
after a strong start to the teams' league schedule, both gaining
two wins each last weekend. The Crimson and the Big Green,
picked to finish first and third respectively in preseason
conference polls, welcome a young, hungry Union team looking for
its first victory of the season. Rensselaer meanwhile, looks
to add to its four-game winning streak, all at home.
Dartmouth has bounced around the polls, starting with a No. 7
ranking before moving up to No. 5, where they have remained.
Harvard, a veteran squad, will lean heavily on its experience to
stave off a fight from the two New York teams. Harvard was a
perfect 18-0-0 at home last season at Bright Hockey Center.
The Crimson have been dominate when leading after two periods,
sporting a record of 79-1-3 since the 2004-05 season. RPI is
14th in the country in scoring defense only surrendering 2.22 goals
per game. The Dutchwomen are lead by senior netminder Lundy
Day, who is averaging nearly 40 saves per contest.
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