Some quick observations from this weekend:
Three points for Cornell: The Big Red made their first trip to the Mountain Time Zone since 1995 count as they took three points from No. 6 Colorado College. Andy Iles turned away 39 shots Friday to help Cornell take a 3-1 win, and the Big Red rallied from two goals down en route to a 3-3 draw Saturday. Good weekend for Iles and Cornell after a disappointing Florida trip, and an excellent non-conference marker for the ECAC.
On the other hand…: Clarkson and Colgate didn’t do much for the ECAC’s out-of-conference mojo. The Raiders were swept by Ferris State while Clarkson lost 3-1 to North Dakota in Winnipeg, Manitoba as part of the U.S. College Hockey Classic. The Raiders dropped to 21st in the PairWise rankings.
Muddled conference picture not getting any clearer: Brown garnished praise in this space as well as many others across the web following a four-point weekend and three-game winning streak heading into the first full weekend of 2012. The Bears responded with just one point via a 2-2 tie with Quinnipac Saturday following an overtime loss to Princeton Friday.
It just goes to show the up and downs on the season…of which there is still a lot left. A disappointing weekend for sure, but Brown has fourteen conference games left. Still, one point weekends aren’t going to get home ice.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats enjoyed a three point weekend thanks to a 2-1 win over Yale prior to their tie with Brown. Quinnipiac is now tied with Colgate for second according to points, although the Raiders are 6-2 while the Bobcats are 4-4-4.
Speaking of ties, Union and Harvard had yet another game end in a draw. Each team has six ties in overall play this year.
“There is a fine line between winning and losing, especially within this league,” Union coach Rick Bennett told USCHO’s Evan Slavit following the game. “I felt tonight we had our chances, but it’s great to say we had our chances, but you’ve got to bury them. You’ve got to put them away. We had a chance to put that team away tonight in the third period and we didn’t.”
