With Clarkson Out, M. Hockey Will Face Cornell

As of last Saturday night, four teams had clinched their tickets to Lake Placid for the ECAC tournament with sweeps over their respective foes.Only one series was forced to play the dreaded Sunday game in the best-of-three series.

Given the parity of the league, one would expect nothing less. In fact, some had predicted that the quarterfinals would be riddled with three-game series and upsets.

No one, however, could have anticipated this outcome.

Clarkson--the regular season champion--bowed out of the tournament in the first round to last-seeded Vermont Sunday night in an extended overtime contest.

"This shows that in our league, anything can happen," Harvard senior defenseman Tim Stay said. "Everything is so close and nothing is set in stone."

Since the league championship relocated to Lake Placid back in 1993, the Golden Knights had never failed to make an appearance. In fact, Clarkson had posted a 17-game undefeated streak in the quarterfinals at its home rink prior to this season.

But in one of the most stunning turn of events in the history of the ECAC quarterfinals, the Catamounts pulled out a 3-2 victory in extra time to permanently silence the Golden Knight faithful this season.

Vermont freshman Peter Sharp stole the season from Clarkson when he potted the game-winner at 9:04 of the 20-minute sudden-death session.

Sophomore J.F. Gamelin picked off a pass at the blue line and rifled a shot at the Golden Knights' second-string goaltender Karl Mattson. Mattson made the save, but Sharp banged home the rebound.

The victory makes the Catamounts the first-ever ECAC No. 10 seed to capture a best-of-three series, and leaves Clarkson in a questionable spot for the NCAA tournament. The loss knocks the Golden Knights to 12th in the pairwise rankings, meaning that Clarkson coach Mark Morris will need nothing short of a miracle to see his team advance.

The Golden Knights certainly did not make it easy for Vermont. The Catamounts jumped to an early series lead with a 5-3 win last Friday night, but Clarkson battled back with a 3-2 victory in perhaps the most physical and emotionally draining ECAC contest of the season.

With only seven seconds to play in double overtime--Vermont's longest game ever and Clarkson's second-longest ever--Golden Knights' rookie Rob McFeeters netted a low shot from the slot off a pass from Kent Huskins at the blue line.

Clarkson had appeared to have the victory sewn up earlier in the contest, but the Catamounts battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the final frame to push the game into extra minutes.

History replayed itself in reverse on Sunday night. After netting a pair of power-play goals merely 1:47 apart in the third period, the Catamounts were in the driver's seat late in the game.

But a Clarkson goal on the man-advantage--only its second power-play goal of the series--knotted the game at two apiece, sending the contest into overtime and paving the way for an eventual 3-2 Catamount win.

Not only does the Vermont upset make for a great story--this year marks the Catamounts' first appearance in Lake Placid since 1996--but it has far-reaching consequences for the other four teams making the trek to Olympic Village.

Knocking off Clarkson from the No. 1 berth moves the remaining four squads--St. Lawrence, Harvard, Cornell, and Dartmouth respectively--up one position and slides the Catamounts into the final slot. The Saints will face off against the victor of the play-in game between Vermont and the Big Green, while Cornell gets to avoid that dreaded Thursday night contest.

Best of all, Harvard will get a chance to avenge last year's early exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Big Red.

Cornell advanced to Lake Placid by pulling off a sweep of the Crimson at Lynah Rink last season.

"In the minds of our 17 returning players, we have flashbacks of two 4-3 losses in a row to Cornell," Stay said. "If there's any team next to Yale that we love beating, it's Cornell."

Initially facing St. Lawrence in the semifinals matchup, the Crimson at least postpones another meeting with the lone remaining North Country squad. Harvard's chances for advancing to the final round improve drastically with the change in opponents.

The Crimson did knock off the Saints 4-1 back in February, but St. Lawrence was without its top sniper Erik Anderson, who had netted a hat trick and three assists against Harvard in a 6-3 victory earlier in the season.

On paper, it appears that the Crimson will have its hands full with the Big Red. The teams skated to a 1-1 tie back in November, and Harvard suffered a 2-1 heart-breaker in early February.

But Cornell has hit a few rough patches as of late--its sweep over Princeton last weekend notwithstanding--and its weaknesses will only be magnified on the big sheet at Lake Placid.

Known for its suffocating defense, the Big Red allows an average of only two goals per game. Playing tight defense is great on a regular college surface, but the open ice will play to Harvard's strength: skating.

Thanks to Cornell's excellent blueliners, goaltender Matt Underhill posts a scalding 1.80 GAA, good for second in the league. However, the Olympic rink will give Crimson skaters like sophomore center Dominic Moore and assistant captain Chris Bala plenty of room to maneuver.

Of course, this is all speculation. The tournament championship and the lone NCAA berth are both up for grabs this weekend, and any of the five teams could be the taker. Certainly there are favorites heading in to the tournament, but as Vermont clearly proved last Sunday, nobody is safe.