On the fly
Friday, February 18
Brown 3 at Princeton 7
Brown senior Harry Zolnierczyk tied the game at 1 apiece 6:38 into play, but it was all downhill from there for Bruno as the Tigers scored three straight (twice, actually) to pull away. Seniors Kevin Lohry and Tayler Fedun each scored twice for Princeton, which also got goals from freshmen Andrew Calof and Andrew Ammon, and sophomore Rob Kleebaum. Senior Alan Reynolds saved 30 of 33, while Brown needed two ‘keepers – junior Mike Clemente (14 saves) and rookie Marco DeFilippo (22 saves) – to wrap up the loss. Junior Bobby Farnham and senior Jesse Fratkin also scored for Brown, which lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-6-0). The win snapped a four-game winless slide for Princeton (0-3-1).
Dartmouth 3 at Colgate 5
The Raiders scored twice on four power plays while holding Dartmouth to 1/6 on the advantage, as Colgate stunned the Big Green in Hamilton. Senior Francois Brisebois scored twice, and rookie Chris Wagner and sophomores Jeremy Price and Kurtis Bartliff each scored once for Colgate as well. Freshman Eric Mihalik stopped 33 of 36, besting Dartmouth junior counterpart James Mello (28 saves). Sophomore Dustin Walsh, junior Connor Goggin and senior Adam Estoclet scored for Dartmouth.
Harvard 4 at Cornell 3
Harvard’s three power-play goals made all the difference, as sophomore Danny Biega’s PP snipe with 7:21 left lifted Harvard to its first win over the Big Red in six games (1-5-0). Junior Alex Killorn scored twice and senior Michael Biega added another for the Crimson, who stretched a season-long unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1). Senior Ryan Carroll (27 saves) also helped Harvard stymie Cornell on each of the Big Red’s three power plays, while Cornell junior Mike Garman (24 saves) couldn’t quite match Carroll’s feat. Sophomores John Esposito and Nick D’Agostino and senior Joe Devin scored for Cornell, who fell to the Crimson at Lynah for the first time since March of 2008.
Rensselaer 3 at St. Lawrence 5
The Saints held the Engineers to eight shots each period, and scored five times on 24 shots to chase RPI junior Allen York (24 saves) from the net in his first game back from a concussion. Freshman Greg Carey scored twice for SLU, while sophomore Jordan Dewey and seniors Jared Keller and Sean Flanagan contributed with goals as well; junior Robby Moss stopped 21 in the win. Rensselaer sophomore Bryce Merriam made seven saves in relief of York, but goals by sophomore C.J. Lee, junior Josh Rabbani and senior Jeff Foss weren’t enough to keep RPI from its third straight loss.
Union 4 at Clarkson 3 (ot)
Clarkson surrendered only a single power-play goal on seven opportunities to Union’s robust PP unit, and scored three third-period goals to force overtime… but it still wasn’t enough, as sophomore Wayne Simpson’s overtime goal lifted the Dutchmen to an eighth consecutive win. Sophomore Greg Coburn, junior Kelly Zajac and senior John Simpson also lit the lamp for Union, which got 25 saves out of sophomore Keith Kinkaid. Clarkson freshman Ben Sexton scored in his first game back from a broken leg, and junior Corey Tamblyn and senior Scott Freeman also chipped in in the third period. Junior goalie Paul Karpowich made 34 saves on 38 shots.
Yale 6 at Quinnipiac 1
Four goals in the game’s first 32 minutes paced Yale to an easy win, thanks in large part to senior Ryan Rondeau’s 30 saves. Senior Denny Kearney scored twice; juniors Kevin Limbert and Brian O’Neill and seniors Jimmy Martin and Ken Trentowski each scored as well for the Bulldogs. Rookie Kellen Jones scored QU’s only goal, as sophomore Eric Hartzell (23 saves) and junior Dan Clarke (13 saves) split duty handling Yale’s 42 shots.
Saturday, February 19
Brown 2 at Quinnipiac 2 (ot)
Bruno came back from a 2-0 second-period deficit, as Clemente (39 saves) stopped all 27 shots faced after the first intermission and rookies Dennis Robertson and Mark Hourihan drew Brown even to wrest a point from the Bobcats. Sophomore Russell Goodman and junior Scott Zurevinski scored first-period power-play goals for QU, and Hartzell stopped 29 of 31 as the ‘Cats snapped a three-game losing streak.
Dartmouth 2 at Cornell 3 (ot)
The Big Red bounced back from Friday’s loss and a 1-0 second-period deficit on Saturday to sink the Big Green. Senior Tyler Roeszler’s overtime strike – his second of the game – sent Dartmouth to a second consecutive loss for the first time since early November as freshman Andy Iles stopped 31 of 33 Big Green shots. Junior Locke Jillson also scored for Cornell, which won for the sixth time in 10 games (6-2-2). Mello’s 24 saves in the Dartmouth net were good enough to get to overtime, but Estoclet and junior Nick Walsh couldn’t find a third goal-scorer to put DC over the top.
Harvard 1 at Colgate 2
The Raiders exacted revenge on the Crimson, jumping them in the standings, and won their fourth in five games (4-1-0) with sophomore Robbie Bourdon’s late goal. Mihalik’s 27 saves were fittingly one better than Harvard senior Kyle Richter’s 26, as the visitors couldn’t hold the lead built by Danny Biega’s first-period power-play goal. Wagner drew ‘Gate even minutes later, and Bourdon’s dagger ended Harvard’s modest three-game unbeaten run (2-0-1).
Rensselaer 5 at Clarkson 1
Clarkson scored first, but RPI laughed last as the Engineers scored five straight to bury the Knights. Freshmen Guy Leboeuf and Johnny Rogic, sophs Marty O’Grady and Greg Burgdoerfer, and junior Alex Angers-Goulet disappointed the home crowd, as did York (20 saves), who earned his first win back from his injury. Senior Brandon DeFazio accounted for ‘Tech’s only goal, and Karpowich stopped 29 of 33 while RPI snapped its three-game losing skid.
Union 5 at St. Lawrence 2
Like its North Country neighbor, SLU saw an early lead promptly buried under a sea of five straight visitors’ goals. Zajac scored twice for the Dutchmen, and Wayne Simpson and Welsh also scored for the second night in a row; sophomore Kyle Bodie tallied as well as Kinkaid made 25 saves as Union won its ninth in a row. Freshman Kyle Essery and junior Jacob Drewiske tallied for St. Lawrence, while freshman Matt Weninger (18 saves) and junior Joe Spadaccini (2 saves) shared responsibility for the loss – SLU’s third in four games (1-3-0).
Sunday, February 20
Yale 5 at Princeton 4
The uppity Tigers jumped out to a quick lead, but couldn’t hold 3-0 or 4-3 leads as the Elis ground out the road victory. Rondeau stopped 36 of 40 for his 21st win of the year, while Princeton counterpart Reynolds made 27 saves in the loss. Miller and O’Neill scored again for Yale, as did freshman Kenny Agostino, junior Charles Brockett and senior Chris Cahill as the team won its third straight. Kleebaum scored three times in the game’s first 26 minutes and senior Mike Kramer also found the twine for the Tigers.
Tuesday, February 22
Harvard visits Brown tonight to bring the duo even with the rest of the league at 20 games in the bag. The Crimson hope to jump Colgate again to get out of the basement, while Brown has its eye on a first-round homestand: Bruno needs three points to catch Quinnipiac and/or Clarkson for the eighth spot, and anything short of a win will put the Bears at very long odds for that feat.
In retrospect…
Last week: 7-4-1
Season record: 128-61-21 (.660)
