ECAC Hockey Report, Week of 1997 November 17

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Recent Action

(scores are linked to box scores and recaps on US College Hockey Online, which is not affiliated with The Big Red What? or Joe Schlobotnik)

It was a weekend that saw the ECAC's unexpected leaders make things more exciting, and also allowed all of the cellar dwellers to garner at least one point. As snow blanketed the Northeast, the Colgate Red Raiders unleashed a scoring blizzard on Vermont and Dartmouth, burying the Catamounts 7-0 with seven goals in the first two periods, and then dusting goals through all three periods in a 7-2 whitewashing of the Big Green. Their travel partner Cornell skidded their way to a three-point weekend with a 4-1 victory in Hanover and a 1-1 tie in Burlington. The Red scored first for the first time this season, netting a goal in the first minute of Saturday's contest, and then were unable to score another in the next 64 minutes, despite seven power plays, including one covering the final 78 seconds of overtime. Cornell have now failed to score on all 26 man-up opportunities in four ECAC games.

Farther to the south, there were upsets Friday night, with Yale falling 3-2 to Brown in overtime and Harvard scoring in the final minute of regulation to tie Princeton 3-3. The visitors got back on track Saturday, with Princeton edging Brown 6-5 in the extra session and Yale prevailing 3-1 in regulation at Harvard. It was the Elis' first ever win at the Bright Center. And up in the North Country, Clarkson used their home league opener against archrival St. Lawrence to get back on the winning track, 4-3.

There was some nonconference action in the Capital District; RPI scored with 21 seconds remaining to edge Union 3-2 in the second ever Capital Skate Classic at the P*ps* Arena in Albany; Trevor Koenig had 47 saves in a losing effort. Rensselaer pulled out another narrow nonconference win 4-2 over Niagra Saturday night, while Union fell 4-1 to Mass-Amherst.

Standings

Cornell lay sole claim to the most points this week, but Rensselaer's two games in hand leave them with the perfect winning percentage. On the other end of the scale, Vermont have managed their first league point of the season, but both they and St. Lawrence are looking to crack the win column.

                          ECAC                    Ivy
                   W-L-T  PF-PA   Pct     W-L-T  PF-PA   Pct  
 1  RPI            2-0-0   4-0  1.000
 2  Cornell        3-0-1   7-1   .875     3-0-0   6-0  1.000
 3  Colgate        3-1-0   6-2   .750
    Princeton      2-0-2   6-2   .750     1-0-1   3-1   .750
    Yale           3-1-0   6-2   .750     1-1-0   2-2   .500
 6  Union          1-1-0   2-2   .500
 7  Harvard        1-2-1   3-5   .375     0-2-1   1-5   .167
 8  Clarkson       1-2-0   2-4   .333
 9  Dartmouth      1-3-0   2-6   .250     0-1-0   0-2   .000
    Brown          1-3-0   2-6   .250     1-2-0   2-4   .333
11  St. Lawrence   0-2-1   1-5   .167
12  Vermont        0-3-1   1-7   .125

The National Scene

Despite suffering the first blemish on their record, Cornell managed to move up a spot to sixth in this week's US College Hockey Online Poll. For the third week in a row, the Big Red are the only ranked ECAC squad, but RPI, Colgate and Princeton also received votes this week.

Upcoming Games

The top four teams in the ECAC's points race will face off in Central New York as Cornell and Colgate play host to Princeton and Yale. Friday night's contest between the 4-0-2 Tigers and 4-0-1 Big Red is a battle between the last two unbeaten teams in Division I College Hockey. The Tech rivalry is renewed in the North Country as RPI and Union visit Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Dartmouth host travel partner UVM Saturday night, and in non-conference play Harvard are at Boston College Tuesday and Brown travel to Boston University Friday.

Last Modified: 2011 October 9

Joe Schlobotnik / joe@amurgsval.org