Weekend Preview: Road to Title Begins
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The 28th annual ECAC Women’s Hockey
Championship gets underway this weekend with eight teams, in order,
are Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Clarkson,
St. Lawrence and Rensselaer. The quarterfinal matchups will be
best-of-three series and be played Friday-Sunday on campus-sites -
Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton. The tournament’s
home teams have posted a combined record of 32-10-2 on their home
ice during regular-season conference play this season.
No. 8 Rensselaer at No. 1 Cornell: Cornell
will open up its league tournament title defense against Rensselaer
in the quarterfinal round of the ECAC Hockey tournament this
weekend at Lynah Rink. The Big Red and Engineers will meet in a
best-of-three series this weekend, with Friday's contest starting
at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game two and a decisive game three if
necessary Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. For the year, Brianne Jenner
leads the team with 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points, with
Rebecca Johnston one point back with 21 goals and 20 assists. Laura
Fortino holds the team lead in assists with 26 from her spot on the
blue line, chipping in eight goals for 34 points. In all, six
different players are averaging at least a point per game this
season. In goal, Lauren Slebodnick has seen most of the action
during the 2011 portion of the season, recording a 1.09
goals-against average and a .949 save percentage on the year.
Rensselaer will make its third straight appearance in the ECAC
Hockey playoffs this weekend. Under the direction of eighth-year
head coach John Burke, Rensselaer owns a 10-16-7 overall record
with an 8-12-2 mark in ECAC Hockey play. The Engineers feature six
players who have reached double-figures in points this season, led
by sophomore winger Taylor Horton with 23 points on a team-best 12
goals and 11 assists. The Big Red downed the Engineers in both
league meetings this season, scoring a 6-1 win at Houston Field
House and a 6-0 shutout at Lynah Rink.
No. 7 St. Lawrence at No. 2 Harvard: The
Crimson welcomes St. Lawrence to Bright Hockey Center for an ECAC
Hockey quarterfinal series. This is only the second time the
Crimson has squared off against the Saints in the quarterfinals.
Harvard holds the edge in the all-time series with a 30-11-5 mark.
Harvard has been the dominant team as of late, picking up eight
wins in the last nine match-ups between the two teams. The Crimson
and Saints have faced each other six times in the history of the
ECAC Hockey tournament with Harvard holding a 5-1 record in those
game. The Crimson holds an all-time record of 31-15 in ECAC Hockey
tournament action. Coming into the tournament as the No. 7 seed,
the Saints were .500 in conference action this season (11-11-0).
They posted a conference road record of 6-5 on the season. The
Crimson edged the Saints in both league matchups of the season, 2-1
at home and 3-2 in overtime on the road.
No. 6 Clarkson at No. 3 Dartmouth: Dartmouth
ended the regular-season playing its best hockey of the year. The
Big Green have won 10 out of their last 11 games, including an
upset of the second-ranked team in the country, Cornell, last
Friday. Dartmouth finished the regular-season with a 19-9-0 record
overall, a 15-7-0 mark in the ECAC Hockey. Dartmouth ended the
regular-season with six players with over 20 points and nine
skaters with double-digit points. Sophomore Camille Dumais leads
the team with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points. The Golden
Knights, who are 6-2-3 since January 21, have qualified for the
league’s postseason action in each of the first seven years
they have been eligible. Senior Melissa Waldie leads a balanced
Clarkson offense with 24 points on 15 goals and nine assists.
Freshman Carly Mercer, who takes a six-game point-scoring streak
into the playoffs, is second in scoring with 22 points (7g-15a).
Dartmouth leads the all-time series against Clarkson 8-3-3, but the
rivalry has been even over the past seven games at 2-2-3. The teams
split the past two regular-season series, with the Knights winning
both games in Hanover.
No. 5 Quinnipiac at No. 4 Princeton:
Princeton closed out the regular-season with two wins to jump
Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey standings and finish fourth in the
final league rundown. This weekend Princeton opens up the
postseason at home hosting Quinnipiac in a best-of-three
quarterfinal series at Hobey Baker Rink. Princeton climbed into a
top-four finish with a terrific stretch run, going 13-2 in its last
15 games and winning its last four to secure a home-ice playoff
spot. Princeton and Quinnipiac split their season series with each
team winning at home. The weekend series marks the second
consecutive season (and second overall) in which the Bobcats have
reached the ECAC Hockey post-season. In 2010, Quinnipiac went 1-2
in its playoff stint, falling to Rensselaer in its opening round
quarterfinals matchup. Princeton leads the all-time series 10-1-2
overall and 6-0-1 at home, including a 3-0 win at Baker Rink in
early January.
