{"id":62811,"date":"2015-02-26T11:02:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T17:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=62811"},"modified":"2020-08-24T18:53:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T23:53:23","slug":"playoff-preview-ecac-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2015\/02\/26\/playoff-preview-ecac-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Playoff preview: ECAC women"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Phoebe<\/a>
Yale will need a big series from Phoebe Staenz if it wants to advance past Harvard. (Sam Rubin\/Yale Sports Publicity)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s conference tournament time.<\/p>\n

Two weeks, three rounds, and four conference champions will be determined. More so than any previous year, a wide variety of narratives could unfold in most of the leagues. Let’s scratch the surface of what a few of those might be.<\/p>\n

No. 1 Clarkson versus Dartmouth<\/strong>
\nPostseason history:<\/strong> Clarkson swept the Big Green in a 2014 quarterfinal, claiming a pair of 2-0 verdicts.<\/p>\n

Clarkson Golden Knights<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 22-9-3
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Clarkson is the top seed thanks to new arrivals like goalie Shea Tiley and defenseman Savannah Harmon, and the growth of returnees such as forwards Cayley Mercer and Shannon MacAulay.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> The Golden Knights aren’t especially deep, and only had 15 skaters dressed when they shut out Harvard to secure first.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> Clarkson swept the Big Green during the season, including a dramatic OT win on the final weekend.
\nWhy the Golden Knights will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> After a breakthrough past two years, it’s the one prize missing from the trophy case.<\/p>\n

Dartmouth Big Green<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 13-13-2
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Dartmouth is led by the triple threat of forwards Lindsey Allen, Kennedy Ottenbreit, and Laura Stacey.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> The Big Green have the league’s best power play, but their penalty kill ranked 10th, so they’ll need to either improve or stay out of the box.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> Dartmouth has been down this road before, losing a hard-fought series in Potsdam to a much deeper Clarkson.
\nWhy the Big Green will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> The gap between them and the rest of the field isn’t as big as it usually is for a bottom seed.<\/p>\n

No. 2 Harvard versus Yale<\/strong>
\n Postseason history:<\/strong> Harvard advanced out of a quarterfinal series in 2014 by taking the third game, 4-0, after splitting a pair of double-overtime contests.<\/p>\n

Harvard Crimson<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 21-5-3
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Harvard is deep at forward, deep at defense, but seems to go as junior goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer goes.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> The whole has been mystifyingly less than the sum of the parts at times.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> In the wake of a somewhat flat weekend at home to close the season, I wouldn’t expect another one.
\nWhy the Crimson will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> After taking four championships in five years, they haven’t won since their perfect ECAC performance in 2008, so the Crimson are due.<\/p>\n

Yale Bulldogs<\/strong>
\nRecord:<\/strong> 15-13-1
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Jamie Haddad and Phoebe Staenz share the scoring lead with 24 points, but the balance is improved.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> Yale will have to tighten up a defense that ranks seventh.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> Ivy League teams always get up to play Harvard.
\nWhy the Bulldogs will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> The Bulldogs are riding a season-best five-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

No. 3 Quinnipiac versus Princeton<\/strong>
\n Postseason history:<\/strong> The Bobcats swept the Tigers in a quarterfinal series in 2011.<\/p>\n

Quinnipiac Bobcats<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 24-7-3
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Taylar Cianfarano leads the country with eight game-winning goals, and Chelsea Laden sits atop the shutout list with 14.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> A lot of air has leaked out of the balloon in recent weeks; Quinnipiac has scored multiple goals only three times in its last 10 games.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> The Bobcats didn’t give Princeton much reason for optimism in sweeping the season series.
\nWhy the Bobcats will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> For Quinnipiac to make its first championship a reality, it will need to get back to being near impossible to score against.<\/p>\n

Princeton Tigers<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 15-12-2
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Kelsey Koelzer leads ECAC defensemen in points with 26, while Molly Contini is tops on the team with 28.
\n Hurdles to overcome:<\/strong> Goalie Kimberly Newell will have to be on her best form, because any goals allowed will be very challenging to answer.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> The Tigers haven’t reached the semifinals since their NCAA tournament year in 2006, so they’re due.
\nWhy the Tigers will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> Princeton is also looking for its first crown, but this year, there doesn’t appear to be a dominant team to overcome, so the time is ripe for a surprise winner.<\/p>\n

No. 4 Cornell versus St. Lawrence<\/strong>
\n Postseason history:<\/strong> SLU fell to the Big Red in a semifinal in 2013 after defeating them in the final in 2012.<\/p>\n

Cornell Big Red<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 16-10-3
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Cornell has the league’s biggest offensive threats in seniors Brianne Jenner, Emily Fulton, and Jillian Saulnier.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> The Big Red rank fifth in scoring defense and penalty kill in the league.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> Cornell has won its last five quarterfinal series.
\nWhy the Big Red will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> With the players they are graduating, it could be a while before they have a realistic chance to win the tourney again, like they did the last two years.<\/p>\n

St. Lawrence Saints<\/strong>
\n Record:<\/strong> 19-10-5
\nImpact players:<\/strong> Defenseman Amanda Boulier, goaltender Carmen MacDonald, and a solid stable of forwards.
\nHurdles to overcome:<\/strong> There was a wide variance between the Saints on their best day and their worst.
\nWhy they will advance:<\/strong> SLU will need to start faster, as they’ve fallen into 4-0 and 3-0 holes in losing twice to Cornell this year.
\nWhy the Saints will win the ECAC tournament:<\/strong> They’ve come from off the radar to do it before, but only the seniors and Boulier were around to see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arlan takes a look at the four ECAC playoff series, and what each team needs to do to advance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":118143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlayoff preview: ECAC women - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arlan takes a look at the four ECAC playoff series, and what each team needs to do to advance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62811\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Playoff preview: ECAC women - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Arlan takes a look at the four ECAC playoff series, and what each team needs to do to advance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62811\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-26T17:02:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T23:53:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/staenz.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"422\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arlan Marttila\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arlan Marttila\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2015\/02\/26\/playoff-preview-ecac-women\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2015\/02\/26\/playoff-preview-ecac-women\/\",\"name\":\"Playoff preview: ECAC women - 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