Weekend Preview: Precious Points on the Line
ALBANY, N.Y. -- With the end of the regular season becoming more
visible, teams are trying to jockey for positions and paint the
picture for the postseason. Currently, the league standings
are tight with two teams tied for second-place, two teams tied for
the fourth spot, and three teams locked in the eighth position.
No. 2/2 Cornell/Colgate at Colgate/No. 2/2
Cornell: Coming off a huge win this past Tuesday,
3-0 over nationally-ranked Mercyhurst, avenging its only loss of
the season, the Big Red will take on travel partner Colgate in a
home-and-home series this weekend. The Big Red will face the
Raiders at 7 p.m. Friday at Lynah Rink in Ithaca before the scene
shifts to Saturday's contest at Starr Rink in Hamilton at 4
p.m. Cornell's offense is led by junior Rebecca Johnston's 27
points on 13 goals and 14 assists in 17 games, while freshman
Brianne Jenner is a point back with14 goals and 12 assists in the
same number of games played. In all, Cornell has six different
players averaging at least a point per game, and all 17 skaters on
the roster have recorded at least one point this season.
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Raiders, 23-11-3, and
has claimed the win in each of the last three matchups.
Classmates Brittany Phillips and Jenna Klynstra have played a key
role in the Raiders’ offense this season scoring 21 of the
team's 47 goals and combined have a total of 45 points. Since
the first of the year, the Raiders have gone just 1-2-2, scoring a
victory last weekend at Union, and earning ties at Syracuse and
Brown.
No. 10/10 Quinnipiac at Wayne State:
Quinnipiac travels to face non-conference opponent Wayne State for
a two game set on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 22
at 2 p.m. No. 10/10 Quinnipiac is ranked for the first time
this season and the second time in the program's history.
Wayne State owns a 10-2-1 all-time series lead versus the
Bobcats. The Warriors went 10-0-1 over the first 11 meetings
before the Bobcats swept a series last January in Hamden, CT.
Quinnipiac has won six of its last seven games and 10 of its last
14. Sophomore Victoria Vigilanti has started 22 of
Quinnipiac’s 23 games between the pipes. She ranks 11th in
the nation in goals-against average (1.81) and 16th in save
percentage. Bobcats’ forward Kelly Babstock ranks first
among all NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey freshman in goals
(20), assists (20) and points (40) and is tied for first in the
country with seven game-winning goals. This weekend Wayne
State is looking to snap an 18-game winless streak against ranked
opponents. The Warriors have lost eight straight against
top-10 foes since a 2-2 tie Nov. 12, 2009 at No. 6
Wisconsin.
Brown/Yale at St. Lawrence/Clarkson:
Clarkson looks to move up in the league standings and establish a
solid hold on one of the top eight spots in the conference as it
hosts Yale and Brown this weekend. Senior Melissa Waldie
leads the Clarkson offense with 15 points on nine goals and six
assists. Yale has won three of its last five conference
games, including a 3-1 win over Colgate last time out. Yale
is also looking to claim one of the top eight spots in the league
standings. Sophomore Laurie Jolin continues to be the Bears
main offensive threat, leading the team with five goals, eight
points and 44 shots. Katie Jamieson has accounted for both
Bears’ wins this season and two of their ties. She has
also posted a 2.94 goals-against average and .919 save percentage
while making 376 stops in 673:21 minutes played this season.
St. Lawrence recently stopped its four-game losing skid Saturday in
Hanover, NH, as the Saints used two third period goals to pull away
from Dartmouth, 4-2. Prior to that the Saints had been on an
8-2-1 tear, including a pair of wins over nationally ranked teams
(No. 7 BC and No. 4 Mercyhurst). Forward Kelly Sabatine, who
had two goals in the win over Dartmouth and was named ECAC Hockey
Player of the Week, leads the team in scoring (11-9-20).
Rensselaer/Union at Harvard/Dartmouth: The
Crimson and Big Green will host some pivotal games this weekend
versus Capital Region travel partners Rensselaer and Union.
The Big Green enter the weekend with a 10-8-0 overall record and a
6-6-0 mark in league action, which sits them in the sixth position
in the conference. The Big Green post an all-time record of
15-0 against the Dutchwomen and 8-3-1 all-time against the
Engineers. Dartmouth is averaging 3.39 goals per game, while
giving up 2.61 goals per game. In 51 periods of regulation
hockey so far this season, Harvard has only allowed double-digit
shots 11 times in a given period. Harvard has yet to allow more
than 30 shots to an opposing team in a game this season. The
Crimson is averaging 30.6 shots per game to its opponents' 20.5 and
is outshooting its opponents 520-349 through 17 games.
Harvard holds a slim 5-4-1 series edge in the young series over the
Engineers. The Crimson will honor eight former Olympians who
will be in attendance for this weekend's games. They will be
honored on the ice during the Union.
RPI who has found its stride as of late enter
this weekend tied for fourth in the ECAC Hockey standings, just one
point behind the Crimson. The showdown weekend marks the
first time the Engineers will play on the road in five games, with
their last road contest being a 4-1 win over Union Dec. 3.
The Dutchwomen are led in goal by reigning Goaltender of the Week
Kate Gallagher. Gallagher has started 17 games and played
1,077:15 minutes. She has 581 saves, a .930 save percentage,
a 2.45 goals-against average.
