Another weekend of ECAC non-conference action brought us even more turmoil in these rankings. Yale went out to Colorado over the weekend and swept Denver and Colorado College. This sweep has to move them up in the rankings as they are the only ECAC team, save Union, to take two wins out of the weekend. Cornell also won against Michigan at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Friday night was a success for the conference as a whole as the teams had an aggregate 4-0-1 record, but Saturday night was more of a struggle as the conference went 3-4-1 against teams from the other conferences. The conference still looks good in terms of non-conference tilts and should bode well going forward. Cornell and St. Lawrence have done well in their non-conference games while they have struggled within the league.

1. Union (8-2-1, 3-1-0) – Last Week 2

Troy Grosenick returned for the Dutchmen on Sunday and this can only improve an already good team that was ranked second last week in these rankings. Union swept Penn State over the weekend, sending 88 shots at the Penn State goal. 

2. Yale (5-2-1, 2-2-0) – Last Week 6

Yale had as good of a weekend as a team could have. Few would have expected them to go out to Colorado and sweep Colorado College and Denver; but that is exactly what they did. Jeff Malcolm has taken hold of the starting goaltender job and has run with it, while the Agostino scoring line continues to provide much of the offense. This makes Yale the biggest mover this week and has many wondering how good is Yale? Yale is good and the future can only tell how good they actually are.

3. Dartmouth (5-2-2, 4-1-1) – Last Week 1

Dartmouth really should not be moving this far down after a  6-3 loss to Boston College, but Yale needed to move up after their weekend and the Big Green are winless in three games. Entering Saturday evening’s tilt against BC, Dartmouth was ranked second in Pairwise while their opponent was ranked first. They gave it their all on the road and hung in with the Eagles for much of two periods, as Dartmouth had come back to make it a 3-3 game after the second stanza. But it was not to be and BC scored two quick goals early in the third to put the game away. No one is beating BC these days, so a 6-3 loss does not hurt them much.

4. Quinnipiac (8-3-2, 4-0-0) – Last week 3

Quinnipiac is arguably one of the hottest teams in the country as the Bobcats are on a six game unbeaten streak, with four wins and two ties. On Saturday, the Bobcats tied Massachusetts on the road and kept the streak alive. Eric Hartzell continues to stop almost everything that is sent his way. He allows 1.56 per game and this is good for fifth in the national goaltender rankings. The Bobcats can prove a lot on Friday as they take on Union on the road.

 5. Colgate (6-6-2, 2-3-1) – Last Week 5

Gate tied with Merrimack on the road in their lone game of the weekend. Spencer Finney stopped 23 of 24 shots sent his way and Joe Wilson scored the lone Raider goal. Colgate has been hot and cold so far this year but is on a three game unbeaten streak which keeps them in the top half of these rankings.

6. Harvard (4-3-0, 3-3-0) – Last Week 5

Harvard was idle last weekend and will next play Merrimack on December 7. Because of the lack of games they will probably stay near this position for this week and next.

7. Cornell (4-3-2, 1-3-2) – Last Week 9

Cornell broke their five game winless streak in grand fashion by defeating Michigan 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. The win had to be a relief for a team that has struggled mightily in conference play so far this season but maybe they have turned the corner. In most cases a win against Michigan would move a team further up these rankings but Michigan is struggling at 5-7-1 on the season, while the Big Red have gone 1-3-2 in ECAC play. To move further up these rankings Cornell needs to start transferring the success that they have had in non-conference matchups into league play games.

8. Clarkson (2-5-5, 2-1-1) – Last Week 7

Clarkson continued its struggle in non-conference play last weekend with a tie against RIT, but remains in this position because of not losing quite simply and their performance in conference play thus far this season. The Golden Knights have one loss in their last seven games but have only two wins in that stretch. That could be cause for concern going forward but much can be said for having one loss in seven tilts.

9. Princeton (3-4-1, 2-1-1) – Last Week 8

Princeton split a weekend with a win against Sacred Heart on Friday night and a loss at UMass-Lowell on Saturday night. The weekend was a step in the right direction for the tigers after a 7-2 defeat at the hands of Clarkson just a week before. Mike Condon continues to be the bright spot for Princeton as he has started all eight games for them and stopped 33 of 36 shots against the River Hawks on the road. If it wasn’t for a sloppy minute and a half, where they gave up all three of the goals to UML, the Tigers may have escaped the weekend with two wins. Instead they had to settle for the split and stay relatively in the same position as last week.

10. St. Lawrence (6-4-2, 0-2-2) – Last Week 11

St. Lawrence continued their dominance of Hockey East with a 5-2 win over Northeastern on Friday night but could not keep it up on Saturday night as they fell to a strong Boston University team 4-0. Kyle Flanagan and Greg Carey continue to put up a lot of goals and points for the Saints but were relatively dormant for them on Saturday night. As a team, the Saints did not have the speed or the talent up front to compete with BU, but they also were a tired bunch having played the night before. The Saints are winless in conference play and will need to bring some confidence out of a 6-2-0 run in non-conference action into league tilts.

11. Brown (3-4-2, 0-2-2) – Last Week 10

Brown struggled mightily in a 7-0 rout at the hands of cross town rival Providence. In the contest, the Friars sent 39 shots at Bear goaltender, Marco De Fillipo and Brown failed to stop three of seven PC power-plays. They would respond on Sunday against Holy Cross with a 3-2 win.

12. RPI (3-5-2, 0-4-0)- Last Week 12

RPI was idle last weekend and continues their hold on 12th place in these rankings. They need conference wins and need them fast as they are the only team with 0 points in conference play.

 

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 - 8:00 am | Blogs, ECAC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings