Well now … where do we begin?<\/p>\n
Perhaps the nation’s biggest headline from last weekend (OK, among headlines regarding college hockey) was No. 2 Union’s slip, stumble, and splat at the feet of Rensselaer in the Route 7 Rivalry series. The defending national champions were swept by an 8-2 aggregate score in the home-and-home affair, running their losing streak to three games — their longest since the end of the 2010-11 season and the Dutchmen’s longest regular-season slide since Janurary 2010. RPI scored six goals against Colin Stevens on 45 shots this weekend, and two more against Alex Sakellaropoulos on six shots on Friday night; the wins elevate the Engineers to the top of the ECAC Hockey standings at 2-0. Union has had the significant advantage in the series’ recent history: Rensselaer had not beaten Union on consecutive nights since January 2004.<\/p>\n
In Hamilton, the fourth-ranked Raiders beat Mercyhurst 4-0 on Friday but were unable to carry the momentum over to Saturday, falling 2-1 for their first home loss — and indeed, first home goals-against — of the season. Colgate out-shot the visiting Lakers 40-21, but goalie Jimmy Sarjeant was up to the task with 39 saves to earn Mercyhurst its biggest win in program history.<\/p>\n
The six Ivy League programs took to the ice last weekend for their first regular-season games of the season. The only ECAC Hockey action between them took place on Saturday, where Harvard defender Patrick McNally scored twice — including the game-tying goal midway through the third period — to salvage a 3-3 draw against visiting Dartmouth.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Yale “beat” Princeton 2-2 (winning the shootout) in the late semifinal of the Liberty Hockey Invitational in Newark, N.J.; Yale edged Connecticut for the tournament title on Sunday while Princeton was manhandled by Merrimack in the consolation contest. Brown edged Army 4-2 in the Bears’ only game so far, while Cornell tied and lost at home to unranked Nebraska-Omaha.<\/p>\n
With November upon us, the early leaders for postseason acclaim are working hard to stay ahead of the pack.<\/p>\n
Union’s Mike Vecchione and Colgate’s Kyle Baun are tied atop the goal-scoring leaderboard with five goals in eight games apiece; Vecchione scored once this weekend, while Baun was held off the scoresheet.<\/p>\n
Last year’s Rookie of the Year — Quinnipiac’s Sam Anas — has tallied six of his eight overall points on the power play, and he added two more helpers (including one on the advantage) in Sunday’s non-conference win over Northeastern. Teammate and early contender for ROTY Landon Smith has four goals and eight points through six games to lead all freshmen; playing with Anas and Matthew Peca hasn’t hurt, though he is making a name for himself on the second line now as well.<\/p>\n
Finally, netminders Charlie Finn (Colgate) and Colin Stevens (Union) are holding down the fort, and then some. Finn boasts three shutouts already and a 1.26 GAA, to go with a .947 save percentage. Stevens is running the same path, holding a 1.84 GAA and .939 save rate along with one clean sheet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well now … where do we begin? Union, Colgate humbled at home Perhaps the nation’s biggest headline from last weekend (OK, among headlines regarding college hockey) was No. 2 Union’s slip, stumble, and splat at the feet of Rensselaer in the Route 7 Rivalry series. The defending national champions were swept by an 8-2 aggregate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1425],"tags":[1221,1486],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n