M. Hockey Falls Out of First Place in ECAC Standings

Harvard missed a golden opportunity to gain the top spot in the ECAC standings this past weekend. A 2-1 Cornell victory over the Crimson (10-10-1, 9-5-1 ECAC) at the Bright Hockey Arena Saturday night propelled the Big Red into the number one spot while Harvard dropped into a tie with St. Lawrence for second place in the league.

Despite the tough loss to Cornell, the Crimson played well in a 4-1 victory over visiting Colgate on Friday night. In addition to its victory over Harvard this past weekend, Cornell also defeated Brown 2-1 in overtime on Friday night. Cornell's Krzysztof Wieckowski netted the game winner just 1:17 into overtime. Cornell (11-6-4, 9-3-2) will take its league-leading record on the road this weekend with a game against Vermont on Friday night and Dartmouth on Saturday night.

Dartmouth (9-10-2, 6-6-2) was on the losing end of two battles last weekend. The Big Green beat itself in a 4-2 loss to Rensselaer on Friday, as its 10 penalties led to three powerplay goals for the Engineers. And despite outshooting the Dutchmen 31-16 on Saturday night, one goal was the difference in a 4-3 loss at Union. Dartmouth will play host to Harvard and Brown this weekend.

St. Lawrence (11-9-4, 8-3-3) is tied with Harvard in second place, a point back of Cornell, after splitting its two games last weekend. After a high scoring 6-4 loss to Princeton on Friday night, the Saints buckled down defensively on Saturday night and defeated Yale, 1-0, in an exciting overtime game. Erik Anderson, the ECAC's point leader, scored the game winner for the Saints just eight seconds into overtime. St. Lawrence will look to keep the pressure on Cornell this weekend, playing host to Union and Rensselaer.

Rensselaer (13-9-2, 7-5-2) drew a tie and a win this past weekend. The Engineers, led by Matt Murley's three goals, defeated Dartmouth 4-2 on Friday night. On Saturday, Rensselaer came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Vermont. The game was even in every respect, as even the shots were tied at 34 apiece. Rensselaer will be on the road versus St. Lawrence and Clarkson next weekend.

Clarkson (13-8-3, 8-4-2), currently one point behind Harvard and St. Lawrence in fourth place in the league, had two lopsided victories last weekend. Home ice and the number six were both lucky for the Golden Knights as they defeated Yale 6-0 and Princeton 6-1. Clarkson attacked each team often and early scoring three goals in the first period against Yale and four in the opening twenty minutes versus Princeton. Clarkson will be looking for more magic at home as it hosts Union and Rensselaer this weekend.

The home ice appeared to be an advantage for Union (9-12-3, 5-8-1) as well as the Dutchmen beat Vermont and Dartmouth at Achilles Rink this past weekend. Jeff Hutkins netted what would prove to be the game winner over Vermont in the second period. Nathan Gillies scored the game winner with just under four minutes remaining in the third period against the Big Green. Union will head to the road next weekend with games at Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

Vermont (10-11-2, 6-7-2) dropped below the .500 mark for the first time since November with the loss to Union and a tie at Rensselaer. The Catamounts will have another opportunity to even its record as they play host to Brown this Friday night.

Brown (4-15-2, 2-10-2) suffered two losses this past weekend at the hands of Cornell and Colgate. The Bears gave up three third-period goals in the loss to Colgate. The loss kept Brown firmly anchored in the cellar of the ECAC.

Colgate (6-16-4, 4-9-1) suffered the opposite extremes of winning and losing this past weekend. After losing to Harvard 4-1 on Friday night, the Red Raiders turned the tables on Brown to come away with a 4-1 victory on Saturday. Colgate capitalized on their power play opportunities, scoring on two of its five chances. Colgate will face Yale and Princeton this weekend.

Yale (10-11-0, 6-8-0) and Princeton (6-12-3, 5-7-2) are currently tied for eighth place in the league with 12 points. The Elis were shut out in both its defeats last weekend--a 6-0 clobbering at the hands of Clarkson on Friday and a close 1-0 loss to St. Lawrence on Saturday. Yale had suffered two shutout defeats in the same weekend once before this year, losing 5-0 and 4-0 to No. 1 Michigan State the first weekend in January.

Princeton did not fair much better against Clarkson, losing 6-1, but the Tigers managed six goals on their own on Friday night defeating St. Lawrence 6-4. Princeton forward Scott Prime's second-period powerplay goal--his first of the year--would prove to be the game-winner over St. Lawrence. The upset snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Tigers.

Both Yale and Princeton will play host to Cornell and Colgate next weekend.