Last Modified: 2011 October 9
Joe Schlobotnik / joe@amurgsval.org
URL for this frameset: http://slack.net/~whelan/tbrw/tbrw.cgi?1999/ecac.981230.shtml
(scores are linked to boxes on ECAC HockeyNet, which is not affiliated with The Big Red What? or Joe Schlobotnik)
Nine ECAC teams were involved in five holiday tournaments this past week, garnering two last-place finishes, one consolation victory, three runner-up spots, and three tournament championships.
The Princeton Tigers, the lone ECAC representative in the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis, downed hosts Minnesota 4-1 and then blanked Boston University 3-0 to take the title, along with a measure of revenge for their season-opening 9-1 shellacking at the hands of the Terriers. Syl Apps had both gamewinning goals for the Tigers, with an assist thrown in for good measure.
Other action out West saw two Ivy teams compete in the Badger Showdown in Milwaukee, each prevailing over the hosts. Yale used a pair of second-period Jeff Hamilton goals and 38 saves by Alex Westlund to defeat Wisconsin 4-2 in the semifinals, but fell 4-1 to Bowling Green in the championship game. Meanwhile, Cornell came back from a 2-0 third period deficit to send their semifinal with Bowling Green to overtime, but fell 3-2 in the extra session. In the consolation game, the Big Red turned the tables, as Ryan Moynihan's game-tying and -winning goals gave Cornell a 3-2 overtime win over the Badgers.
Dartmouth's Auld Lang Syne tournament saw the one all-ECAC final, as the Big Green and neighboring Vermont Catamounts each vanquished a Division I Independent in the semifinals (Dartmouth 8-1 over Air Force and UVM 3-0 over Minnesota State-Mankato) before the Cats handed the Green a 4-1 loss in the chanmpionship game.
The biggest shock of the weekend came in the Syracuse Invitational, where an early faceoff seemed to catch the St. Lawrence defense off guard in a 7-0 loss to Division I upstart Niagara. Colgate easily handled Miami University 7-2 in the other semifinal, but ran into the second half of the Purple Eagles' double-dip when Niagara's Mike Isherwood completed a hat trick 23 seconds into the second overtime to give the newcomers a 3-2 victory and their first championship in Division I play. And in the consolation, SLU's woes continued with a 4-3 loss to Miami.
Starting a day later, the RPI Invitational was the only tourney involving the ECAC to be won by the host team. The Engineers squandered leads of 4-2 and 5-3 before prevailing 6-5 over Merrimack, and then rolled to a 4-1 victory against Minnesota-Duluth of the WCHA. The Bulldogs had made the final with a 4-2 win over Union, who fell once again in the consolation, 4-1 to Merrimack.
The holiday tournaments saw ECAC squads go 2-1 against Hockey East, 1-3 against the CCHA, 4-1 against the WCHA and 2-2 against Division I Independents.
Meanwhile, Harvard, winless in ECAC play, retains its perfect record outside of the conference.
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Non-Conference Records
Team ECAC HE CCHA WCHA D1 Indy Total NC
Clarkson 2-0 1-2 0-2 3-4-1
Colgate 1-1 0-1-1 1-0 2-0 1-1 5-3-1
Cornell 0-1 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 3-2
Dartmouth 0-1 1-1 3-1 4-3
Harvard 2-0 2-0 4-0
Princeton 3-2 1-1 4-2
RPI 1-0 2-2 1-0 1-1 5-3
St. Lawrence 1-0 2-3 1-0 1-1 0-1 5-5
Union 0-1 0-4 0-1 1-0-1 1-6-1
Vermont 1-0 3-2 1-1 1-0 6-3
Yale 0-2 0-1 1-0 1-3
ECAC HE CCHA WCHA D1 Indy Total NC
Totals [4-4]16-17-1 3-5 8-4 10-4-2 41-34-3
Dartmouth's win and loss, and Harvard's two wins, against Nebraska-Omaha are included in the above table, but will not be considered for NCAA tournament selection.
Each team's name is linked to information on RealAudio transmissions of its radio broadcasts. A summary of ECAC webcasts can be found on Joe Schlobotnik's Sports Machine, while a page with direct links to each of the weekend's webcasts is made available by Eric Carlson.
The first weekend of the new year marks a return to conference play in the ECAC. Because of the holiday Friday, the full slate of weekend series will take place on Saturday and Sunday nights, with the exception of Sunday's 3pm start in Potsdam. This tournament also features two ECAC teams, with Cornell and Colgate trek to the North Country to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence; league-leading Princeton, along with Yale, are at RPI and Union; and Harvard look to register their first ECAC win as they and and Brown visit Dartmouth and Vermont.
There's also one non-conference game Tuesday, as Cornell hosts Providence in a rematch of the triple-overtime thriller from the 1996 Syracuse Invitational Tournament.