BOSTON — Defeating Harvard Monday night, 4-1, at the TD Garden, Boston College will play for the Beanpot trophy next week. The Eagles won the second of the tournament’s semifinals. Northeastern defeated Boston University, 3-2, in the evening’s first game, both before a sell-out crowd of 17,565. Sophomore forward Quinn Smith scored twice for the Eagles, which offered an overall dominate defensive performance. In next Monday’s final, the Eagles have an opportunity to win their fourth-consecutive Beanpot title — the first school to earn that achievement since Boston University in the mid-1990s.

What I Saw

During the third period, the sense of comfort among the BC fans in the building was tangible as the Eagles seemed firmly in control (3-0 lead), while giving Harvard little space with which to operate. Danny Biega knocked the deficit to two, launching a slap-shot from the point on a screened Parker Milner mid-way through the stanza. Six minutes later, the Eagles firmly determined the outcome, as Steven Whitney skated from his own blue-line into the Harvard zone and scored on a stoic Crimson defense.

Harvard looked about to be escaping the second period only down one goal, having been vastly outplayed in the frame. With two minutes left, however, Smith scored his second of the game. This time it was a long rebound surrendered by Raphael Girard that the sophomore returned past the goalie. Then, just 44 seconds later, the Eagles converted a power play opportunity as defenseman Michael Matheson launched a one-time shot from the right face-off circle directly into the net.

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While Quinnipiac was idle, the gap between them and the rest of the league in many experts minds only grew. On Saturday night, second place Yale lost to a very talented Colgate team 4-1 at home. This weekend will bring the much anticipated in-state battle of Yale and Quinnipiac, the matchup most ECAC fans have been waiting for.It should be one of the top games in the country as it will pit the first (Quinnipiac) and the fifth rated (Yale) pairwise teams in the country. Regardless of the result, the atmosphere will be a playoff type environment that is very important for both squads going forward.

Quinnipiac remains six points ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings, despite not playing a conference game in the last 18 days. Behind the Bobcats is a mess of worldly proportions as 10 teams are within eight points of eachother. The pairwise rankings don’t look good for the ECAC as Quinnipiac and Yale are the only two teams that are comfortably in, and Dartmouth sits in position 15 on the bubble. But if there is a silver lining to them, Union and Colgate are just on the outside looking in, in positions 18 and 19. Getting one or both of those teams in and keeping Dartmouth on the inside would be the best case scenario for the conference. This weekend, as every weekend is down the stretch, will have a huge impact on the Pairwise.

1. Quinnipiac (18-3-3, 11-0-1) – Last Week 1

Is there any doubt these days? The Q has not lost a game since Election Day, November 6 2012, a span of 17 games without a defeat. Once again Quinnipiac was idle last weekend, as they have played just once in the past three weeks. Are they the top team in the country? This will be the test that may prove it. (more…)

BOSTON— The Harvard Crimson, now losers of six straight, cannot catch a break. In a 3-3 tie they couldn’t convert on a two-minute, five-on-three man advantage with 2:48 remaining in regulation, and then lost in overtime on a George Hughes blast from the point as St. Lawrence (11-10-3 overall, 4-5-3 ECAC) defeated Harvard (5-13-1 overall, 3-11-0, ECAC) 4-3 in overtime Saturday night.

St. Lawrence was led by forward Jeremy Wick, who tallied a goal and an assist while being all over the ice all game long, logging a game-high 10 shots. Harvard got a good effort from freshman forward Jimmy Vesey who scored two goals — one late in the first and the other early in the second to tie the game at two at the time. Both goaltenders were impressive, especially Harvard’s Raphael Girard who finished with 39 saves, while St. Lawrence’s Matt Weninger had 27.

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ALBANY, N.Y. — Extending their dominance of the Union-RPI rivalry to eight consecutive wins, the Dutchmen defeated the Engineers, 3-2, at the Times Union Center Saturday night in front of 5,959 fans. Matt Wilkins scored a power-play goal on an odd-man rush with 36 seconds remaining in the game. Freshman goaltender Jason Kasdorf offered a strong performance in net with 34 saves for RPI, but it was not enough to stymie the Dutchman power play which converted twice.

Given the non-conference nature of the game, Union earned the rights to the first annual Mayors’ Cup instead of the customary two ECAC points. The event was an opportunity for the fan bases of both schools to see their favorite teams compete in the region’s top venue.

What I Saw                                                                                         

For the third time in the game to begin the final frame, one of the Capital Region rivals scored within the first four minutes of the period. Senior defenseman Greg Colburn shot the puck from the point straight into the back of the net. Kasdorf seemed to have a clear view of the puck, but could not reach the powerful slap shot while sliding to his left. But the Engineers eventually answered — this time near the end of the period. C.J. Lee put the puck on net during an odd-man rush, which Union goalie Troy Grosenick saved with his right pad. But the forceful rebound lay in perfect position for Mark McGowan to level the score. To break the 2-2 tie, Wilkins scored after receiving a perfect pass on an odd-man rush opportunity from Josh Jooris, who was skating quickly along the right side-boards.

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Hanover, NH.- St. Lawrence was the hungrier team on Friday night at Thompson arena. A three goal third period lifted the Saints to a 4-2 come from behind victory over Dartmouth. Junior forwards Jeremy Wick and Greg Carey each had big three point nights to lead their team to victory.

Dartmouth came out of the gates late in the first period with an awkward power play goal with one second remaining in the period. St. Lawrence came out a very motivated team at the start of the second, as Wick slotted home a PPG against Big Green goaltender Charlie Grant.

Dustin Walsh returned from injury and put Dartmouth up 2-1 on a beautiful breakaway goal at the end of the second period. From that point on the Big Green could not put anything past Saints goaltender Matt Weninger. A total offensive break came from the top line of Saint Lawrence in the third period, as Wick and Carey sealed the game off with a positive 4-2 victory.

What I saw:

There seemed to be a shift in momentum at the start of the second period. Dartmouth completely looked like the normal dominating offense they have shown all year in the first period. They just could not get that final puck past Weninger.

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Cambridge, MA.- Harvard came storming out of the gates and scored a quick goal off the stick of Jimmy Vesey at two minutes, 34 seconds of the first. After five minutes of play, Harvard led Clarkson 1-0 and were outshooting the Golden Knights 8-2. They would take that lead into the first intermission and Clarkson would use two quick goals nine seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead over the Crimson after two periods. The lead would hold in the third period as Clarkson would further their lead to 5-1 and Joe Zarbo would complete the hat trick on an empty net goal. 5-1 would be the final in this one as Clarkson improves 5-12-6 overall and 4-5-2 in the ECAC, while Harvard falls to 5-12-1, 3-10-0. (more…)

It seems that this season in ECAC play there is a real separation at the top. With Quinnipiac seemingly miles ahead of everyone many can presumably already give them the Cleary Cup, as they currently have an 11-0-1 conference record.  That puts them a full eight points ahead of second place Yale in the standings. While the Bobcats do have a substantial advantage in points there is always room for error. However at this point there really is only minimal room at the top of the league.

The case for the Cleary:
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We all know who will be on the top of these rankings and at this point it will probably take a lot to dethrone them from the top. Yale has also taken hold of the second position to stay and behind that, as per usual there is a lot of movement. The standings are owned by Quinnipiac as they hold an eight game lead over Yale, with a mess of teams following closely behind the Bulldogs. If the NCAA tournament started today, in accordance with the Pairwise Rankings, Quinnipiac would be the top seed with Dartmouth and Yale joining them in the big dance. Not to be greedy three teams is OK but a couple more would be best. Without further ado here are my rankings for the week.

1. Quinnipiac (18-3-3, 11-0-1) – Last Week 1

The Bobcats were idle in ECAC hockey last weekend, but hosted in-state rival Connecticut on Tuesday night. The Bobcats defeated the Huskies 2-1, but dominated the game outshooting UConn 50-22 in the contest. They will be idle again this weekend in a weird scheduling quirk where they play once in a span of 20 days.

2. Yale (11-4-3, 7-3-1) – Last Week 2

Yale has continued to solidify there position in these rankings with another two wins last weekend. On Friday night the Bulldogs defeated Harvard 4-0 and on Saturday they defeated Dartmouth 4-2. Yale has yet to lose back-to-back games yet this year and they have won four games in a row. The Bulldogs, like Quinnipiac, are quite cozy in their position. (more…)

From Dec. 10 against UMass-Lowell, to Jan. 12 at Dartmouth, Harvard goaltender Raphael Girard has given up at least three goals per game. Girard continued his streak tonight at Yale, as the Bulldogs blanked the Crimson by a final score of 4-0. Yale forward Trent Ruffolo recorded two goals, while Bulldogs Andrew Miller and Antoine Laganiere each had an additional tally. Yale goaltender Jeff Malcolm also made 21 saves on as many shots. (more…)

Friday 1/18

Dartmouth @ Brown- This one looks like a straight forward win for Dartmouth. It seems that Brown is going to have some goalie problems with Anthony Borelli having a flu. This is going to force Marco DiFilippo to come back early from injury to start tonight. 3-1 Dartmouth

Colgate @ RPI- The Engineers still have fight in them this season and nobody will want to meet them in the playoffs. It has been awhile since Colgate has been really tested, so can they hold the form they had going into break? 3-2 RPI

Cornell @ Union- The Dutchman were very close to knocking off the best team in the ECAC last weekend at Qunnipiac. That should make them very hungry at home this weekend, as they look for a momentum boosting sweep. Cornell’s recent form has been dipping. Union 2-0

Harvard @ Yale- This one is on NBC Sports tonight. Harvard had a tough loss to travel partner Dartmouth last weekend on the road. Yale is on a hot streak and that keeps going Friday night. Yale 3-2

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