No givers in Red & Green
Cornell and Dartmouth – the two Big Colors of Division 1 – are also the only remaining unbeatens among college hockey’s top ranks. Each squad is 3-0-1, with the Big Red taking three points and the Big Green four this weekend. Both teams may also consider themselves lucky after a couple wild rides on the ECAC-coaster this week.
The Big Red can thank junior goalie Andy Iles for Friday’s win, as the Ithaca native turned away 44 of Colgate’s 45 shots on goal in a stolen 3-1 win in Hamilton. Cornell only put 14 shots of their own on net – four each in the first and third periods, six in the second – but Iles’ 24 first-period saves set the tone for the night. Eric Mihalik was the hard-luck loser for the Raiders, and he probably didn’t feel great about his 25 saves at Lynah on Saturday either as Cornell scored twice in the last 10 minutes of regulation to earn a 2-2 draw.
Up in Hanover, Yale gave the Green all they could handle in a defense-light 7-4 Dartmouth win. The hosts actually posted the touchdown with only 23 shots on net, whereas rookie goalie Charles Grant stopped 35 of 39 Bulldogs bids. Matt Lindblad, Eric Robinson, and Tyler Sikura each scored twice for Dartmouth on Friday, and Robinson added the game-winner (his fifth goal of the year) on Saturday night in a much more conventional 2-1 grind-out win over battered Bruno.
Next up for the undefeated tandem? Dartmouth hosts RPI and Union next weekend, while Cornell hits the road to parry with Princeton and Quinnipiac.
Blue bounce back
Despite Friday’s groaner in the Granite State, Yale was able to put it all together the following evening at high-flying Harvard. The Bulldogs tagged five goals and a first loss on Crimson junior Raphael Girard, increasing their season goal tally to 14 in four games. Juniors Jesse Root and Kenny Agostino each popped home a pair at the Bright Hockey Center and senior Jeff Malcolm denied the hosts on 28 of their 29 shots on goal.
The Elis are averaging over 35 shots a game, and after opening the season with a 2-2 tie against Dartmouth, then scored three versus Princeton, four at Dartmouth, and five at Harvard. Look out, Clarkson: The Blue are gunning for six.
Dutch demolish Engineers in Capital District deuce
While the shots weren’t all that disparate, the Dutchmen hung big numbers where they mattered in the home-and-home hoedown against regional rival RPI.
The two-time defending Cleary Cup champs bested the ‘Tute by an 11-5 aggregate, following Friday’s 4-2 battle in Troy with a decisive 7-3 result in Schenectady on Saturday. The latter affair got rough by the third frame, as a second-period contact-to-the-head major and DQ to RPI’s Luke Curadi precipitated four more 10-minute infractions with under 10 minutes to play. In fact, over the two games, the teams combined for 30 penalties totaling 114 minutes served.
Since Union’s surprising opening-night loss to Merrimack, the team has gone 5-0-1 and out-scored the opposition 30-11. Don’t sleep on the Dutchmen; they’re liable to hurt you.
