It was a good weekend for both North Country teams, as Clarkson and St. Lawrence each posted home sweeps against Brown and Yale.
The Golden Knights tied a season high with six goals in Friday’s shutout of the Bears, and then posted another shutout with a 1-0 win over Yale Saturday. Greg Lewis made 52 saves on the weekend and hasn’t given up a goal in 147 minutes and 45 seconds.
Lewis made his first start of the season Jan. 17 against Dartmouth, but the Golden Knights have won each of his three starts to put together its first three-game winning streak of the season.
The junior got his chance after Ville Runola allowed five goals to Harvard last Friday. Starting goalie Steve Perry has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury, according to the Watertown Daily Times.
Offense had been a problem most of the season for Clarkson, but the Golden Knights have scored twelve goals during their three-game winning streak.
As for St. Lawrence, the Saints got another solid weekend from freshman goalie Kyle Hayton, who stopped 58-of-61 shots. The Saints also had another balanced scoring attack, getting eight goals from six different players.
Shots on goal totals aren’t always the be all and end all, but St. Lawrence outshot both its opponents after getting outshot in three straight games entering the weekend.
Union rallies for Mayor’s Cup win
It hasn’t been an easy season for the defending national champion Dutchmen, but Union showed flashes of last year’s quick-strike attack Saturday, scoring six third-period goals to defeat Rensselaer 8-3 in the non-conference Mayor’s Cup game at the Times Union Center. The loss snapped a three-game losing streak for the Dutchmen.
Union forward Daniel Ciampini had a hat trick, and leads the nation with 20 goals and 37 points this season. The senior also had three assists against the Engineers, as his six points tied the school record set by Jason Ralph against Colgate on Nov. 5, 1999.
The Dutchmen only have conference games remaining until the end of the regular season. Union has some work to do if it wants to avoid playing in the first round of the league playoffs for the first time since the 2008-09 season, as the Dutchmen are currently in tenth place with a 4-7-1 record in ECAC play.
Big Red strike late to beat Harvard
Their style of play couldn’t be much more different, but Cornell and Yale have one thing in common this year; both have beaten Harvard.
Eric Freschi’s third goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie with 40.5 seconds remaining Friday at a sold out Lynah Rink, giving the Big Red the win over Harvard in one of college hockey’s oldest rivalries.
Cornell couldn’t carry any momentum over to Saturday, as it allowed a season-high five goals in a loss to Dartmouth. The Big Red are one of several teams clumped in the middle of the league standings, a quagmire that should sort itself out in the coming weeks as conference play intensifies.
