On the fly
Friday, January 7
Brown 4 at Harvard 3
The Bears’ power play went 2/5, bookending the scoring in a wild game and negating a natural hat trick by Harvard senior Michael Biega. Freshman Garnet Hathaway, sophomore Chris Zaires, junior Bobby Farnham and senior Harry Zolnierczyk did the honors for Brown, while Biega obviously accounted for all of the Crimson’s scoring. The physically and offensively explosive match featured each team scoring two goals – for four total – in one 2:23 burst in the second period, and Brown scoring twice more in 19 seconds in the third. Freshman Marco DeFilippo made 32 saves for his second NCAA victory, while Harvard senior Ryan Carroll stopped 31.
Colgate 1 at Quinnipiac 3
Each team earned four power plays, but the only PPG scored – by Bobcats rookie Connor Jones early in the second period – proved to be the difference. Colgate sophomore Robbie Bourdon countered with an even-strength equalizer a few minutes later, but QU sophomore Ben Arnt put the ‘Cats ahead for good before the second horn and classmate Jeremy Langlois sealed the deal with an empty-net goal. Sophomore Eric Hartzell made 24 saves for his eighth win of the year, while Colgate junior Bryan Bessette fell to 0-2-0 despite 29 saves on 31 shots.
Clarkson 3 at Rensselaer 2 (ot)
Clarkson junior Paul Karpowich (32 saves) out-dueled RPI counterpart and classmate Allen York (30 saves) in a ferocious, back-and-forth game in which the Golden Knights’ penalty-kill (5/5) may have been the difference. Junior Mark Borowiecki started the scoring for the Knights, but classmate Corey Tamblyn did the rest, tying the game in the third period before winning it in OT. Sophomore transfer Nick Bailen drew RPI even in the second period, and junior Josh Rabbani put the Engineers ahead in the third before Tamblyn took over. The loss put a stop to RPI’s four-game winning streak, and it was only its second loss to an unranked team all year (10-2-1 vs. unranked teams).
Cornell 2 at Princeton 1
Cornell junior Sean Collins broke a scoreless deadlock just before the game’s midway point, and the Big Red looked good for the win with time running out… until rookie Andrew Calof beat junior Mike Garman (39 saves) with 1:48 to play in regulation. Cornell didn’t crumble, however, as soph Nick D’Agostino ruined freshman Sean Bonar’s evening (19 stops) only 31 seconds later for the Red’s first win in three games.
St. Lawrence 1 at Union 3
The Saints may have succeeded in keeping the nation’s best power-play off the scoreboard and off the ice by and large, but they couldn’t account for sophomore goalie Keith Kinkaid (26 saves). Union junior Kelly Zajac and senior Justin Pallos provided all the boost Kinkaid needed to win his 11th match, as SLU could only muster a single even-strength goal by rookie Greg Carey in defeat. Freshman Matt Weninger lost for the eighth time in 13 decisions (3-8-2) despite 23 saves. Dutch soph Kyle Bodie tacked on the empty-netter to bury the Saints, who – for all their discipline and penalty-killing prowess (3/3 on the night) – couldn’t do a thing on the power play (0/6).
Yale 2 at Dartmouth 1
Dartmouth held Yale to its lowest goal production of the season, but senior Ryan Rondeau’s 32 saves ensured the Bulldogs of another win nonetheless. All three goals were scored in a 4:23 span in the middle of the game, as Yale sophs Antoine Laganiere and Josh Balch sandwiched Dartmouth senior Rob Smith’s strike. Neither team mustered a power-play goal in five combined opportunities, and junior James Mello’s 35 saves went for naught for the Big Green.
Saturday, January 8
Brown 1 at Dartmouth 3
Dartmouth’s singular shorthanded, even-strength and power-play goals were all Mello needed as the third-year ‘keeper stayed hot with 33 saves on 34 shots… and an assist, to boot. Bruno’s power play was held scoreless for the first time in five games (0/3 on the night) as junior defenseman Jeff Buvinow managed Brown’s only goal in support of DeFilippo (32 saves). Sophomore Dustin Walsh’s third-period five-on-five score included a second assist to Mello (his second of the year and third of his career), and Walsh was joined in the red-light club by seniors Adam Estoclet (SHG) and Scott Fleming (PPG). Brown junior Jack Maclellan extended his point-scoring streak to nine games with an assist, despite battling the flu all weekend. He has registered a point in 14 of 15 games this year (11 goals, 14 assists).
Clarkson 1 at Union 8
After a scoreless first period, the Dutchmen jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the game’s 33th minute and never looked back, trouncing Karpowich (37 saves) and the Golden Knights. Kinkaid stopped 15 of 16, senior Corey Milan mopped up with three saves as Clarkson sophomore Cody Rosen did the same (seven stops, one goal against), but the story of the night was the tardy but hearty Union attack. Seven different Dutchmen scored: Kyle Bodie (twice), Pallos, frosh Kevin Sullivan, Mat Bodie, Daniel Carr, and Josh Jooris, and sophomore Jeremy Welsh. Clarkson junior Nick Tremblay prevented total embarrassment by breaking up the shutout, but the damage was done. ‘Tech surrendered the most goals it had in any game this season (tied with an 8-0 opening-night loss at Nebraska-Omaha), and lost by its second-greatest margin. Union on the other hand put up an eight-spot for the third time in the campaign, and remains in an elite group of two ECAC teams with unbeaten records at home (9-0-1; Yale is 9-0-0). This is despite what had been a 33 percent power play unit scoring only once in eight advantages this weekend. (The PP is now two for its last 13, and 31.6 percent successful for the season.)
Cornell 3 at Quinnipiac 2 (ot)
The Big Red swept a weekend for the first time all season in another high-drama duel. D’Agostino and senior Joe Devin sandwiched Bobcats junior Spencer Heichman’s goal to put the Red up 2-1 late in the second period, but for the second night in a row, Cornell blew a late lead when junior Scott Zurevinski scored with only seven ticks left on the clock. Devin wasn’t about to lose his game-winning goal though, so he made sure to get it back 2:14 into extra time and earn rookie Andy Iles his third win of the year (32 saves). Hartzell sustained the L with 24 saves on 27 shots-on-goal.
St. Lawrence 3 at Rensselaer 5
Every time SLU scored, RPI had a two-goal answer: Carey opened the game (and added the Saints’ third goal as well), but Engineers freshman Johnny Rogic and senior Jeff Foss replied. When SLU sophomore George Hughes potted one to tie the game at two, RPI junior Patrick Cullen and sophomore Greg Burgdoerfer countered. Senior Chase Polacek followed Carey’s second to secure York’s 11th victory (26 stops), while Weninger’s 21 saves fell too short to save the Saints, who suffered their fourth weekend-sweep of the campaign.
Yale 4 at Harvard 2
Penalties sunk the Crimson against its historic arch-rival, as Yale scored twice on seven power plays and once on a delayed penalty. Freshman Kenny Agostino, junior Chad Ziegler and seniors Chris Cahill and Brendan Mason scored for the Bulldogs, while Rondeau saved 29 of 31 to push his record to 13-0-0. Sophomore defenseman Danny Biega scored each of Harvard’s goals, as the Biega brothers combined for all five Crimson tallies on the weekend. Carroll saved 35 shots as Harvard dropped its third straight, and 10th of 11 (1-10-0). The victory was Yale’s ninth in a row, the longest current winning run in the nation. (North Dakota, on an 8-0-1 burst, is tied for longest unbeaten streak.)
Sunday, January 9
Colgate 4 at Princeton 5
Each team held two leads and they combined for five power-play goals in this chaotic contest, with Princeton’s 3/7 PP beating Colgate’s 2/7 effort at frigid Hobey Baker Rink. Soph Eric Meland, junior Brodie Zuk, and seniors Mike Kramer and Kevin Lohry struck for the Tigers; soph Mike Condon needed only 17 saves for the victory. The Raiders were bolstered by sophs Bourdon and Kurtis Bartliff, as well as junior Nick Prockow and senior Francois Brisebois. Junior Alex Evin had a decidedly more challenging workload with 39 saves, but he came up one short in the end as Colgate fell for the seventh time in a row – the team’s second seven-game losing skid of the season.
In retrospect…
Prediction precision: Me: 9-3-0 this week, 82-44-13 (.637) overall.
Guest guessers: 54-40-8 (.569)
Head to head: Sullivan 5, Guests 4*. And I started so well… sigh.
