Weekend Preview: League Clashes On Tap
ALBANY, N.Y. -- With only six weeks remaining in the
regular-season each game becomes more critical than the next as
teams look to place themselves into a postseason position.
One of this weekend’s special league matchups sees No. 2/2
Cornell visiting Rensselaer, who is 4-0-4 in its last eight games
and sports an 8-1-0 home record.
No. 2/2 Cornell/Colgate at
Rensselaer/Union: Two of the hottest teams in ECAC
Hockey will tangle Friday evening as nationally-ranked Cornell
visits Rensselaer. Cornell sits atop ECAC Hockey standings
with an unblemished 10-0-0 mark, while RPI stands in the fourth
position, but has the second best win percentage in the
league. RPI also comes into the game hot off of a home sweep
against perennial powerhouses Dartmouth and Harvard. RPI is
unbeaten in their its last eight games which heightens the
intensity of the game. RPI will look to continue its unbeaten
streak as Cornell tries to stay undefeated in league play.
Cornell will be confident in its starting goaltenders which have
combined to allow an average of 0.75 goals per game, while its
offense has produced 4.31 goals per game. Colgate is headed
to face Union for the first time this season. The Raiders
have a perfect 21-0 record against Union. In its last five
meetings versus the Dutchwomen, Colgate has not surrendered more
than a single goal which has proven to be effective winning all
five of those meetings. Colgate is looking for their first
win of the new year after tying Brown, 2-2 and falling to Yale, 3-1
last weekend. Union has also struggled of late with losses to
Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend and are currently 12th in ECAC
Hockey. Union's goaltender Kate Gallagher has done a great
job thus far in keeping her team in the game, ranking 14th in the
nation in save percentage at .929. Colgate's key to victory
will be the power-play as three skaters have combined for 13
power-play goals and Union ranks 28th in the nation in penalty kill
percentage (82.6%). Brittany Phillips, who has led the
Raiders all season, has a team-high 22 points from nine goals and
13 assists.
Clarkson/St. Lawrence at Dartmouth/Harvard:
North Country travel partners hit the road this weekend taking on
Dartmouth and Harvard in league action. St. Lawrence heads to
Cambridge to face Harvard for the first time this season.
Harvard has won the previous three meetings and looks to continue
the streak. Harvard is coming off a tough loss to RPI in
which it surrendered the final goal with less than ten minutes to
fall 2-1. St. Lawrence is also coming off tough losses to
Quinnipiac, 3-2 and Princeton, 3-1. The Saints currently hold
the final playoff spot in ECAC Hockey standings with eight points
in nine games. St. Lawrence will be looking to get ahead
early as they are 5-0-1 when leading after the first period.
Harvard will be looking for sophomore defenseman Josephine Pucci on
the ice as she is riding a six-game point streak into the contest,
including four points this past weekend against Union and
RPI. Clarkson heads to Hanover, New Hampshire to
face-off with Dartmouth for the first time this season.
Clarkson is coming off a pair of home losses to Princeton and
Quinnipiac and is looking to rebound from a four-game skid.
The Golden Knights will need a strong performance from freshman
goaltender Erica Howe who is ranked ninth in the country in
goals-against average at 1.73. Clarkson and Dartmouth
have been equal opponents as of late having split their last four
games at 1-1-2. Dartmouth has won three of their last four
contests and is led by sophomore defenseman Sasha Nanji who is
currently tied for the lead in points for defenseman in the country
at 18. Dartmouth holds a strong home-ice advantage mustering
up a 5-1 record at home while only 4-5 on the road. Dartmouth
has experienced much special team success this season, ranking
fifth in the nation on the power-play (22.4%) and sixth in the
nation in penalty kill (88.1%).
Brown at No. 4/4 Mercyhurst: Brown takes
the eight-hour drive to face nationally-ranked Mercyhurst for its
last two non-league games of the season this weekend. Brown
will be looking to rebound from a 3-0 loss at the hands of No. 2/2
Cornell last weekend. However, they do benefit from the
return of senior captain Samantha Stortini who had missed the
previous seven games before this past weekend due to a hip
injury. Brown will be looking for its first road points of
the season as its has performed particularly better at home so far
this year. Brown has dropped its last six meetings with
Mercyhurst with its last win dating back to February 16,
2002. Mercyhurst is coming off a pair of home wins against
Syracuse including a 6-0 shutout last Saturday. Senior
forward Meghan Agosta is leading the nation in points with 50
including four of her twenty-two goals being game-winners for the
Lakers. She currently has an eleven-game point streak having
netted two goals and adding three assists in the weekend's games
against Syracuse. Mercyhurst has seven members ranked in the
top 45 in the nation in points. This is a big part of their
top-ranked offense in the nation which nets 5.4 goals per
game. Katie Jamieson has posted some solid all-around numbers
for the Bears. Jamieson has accounted for both Bears’
wins this season and two of their ties. She has also posted a
2.68 goals-against average and .922 save percentage while stopping
321 stops in 604:32 minutes played this season.
