Four of the top eight unbeaten streaks in Division I belong to ECAC Hockey teams. Clarkson extended its winning streak to 14 games last weekend, while Cornell (six), Harvard (six), and Yale (four) also kept their unbeaten streaks intact. Here are some thoughts from the past weekend.
Golden Knights keep on rolling
Clarkson goalie Nicholas Latinovich made his first career appearance Saturday against Rensselaer, giving regular starter Jake Kielly a much-needed break after the sophomore had played every minute in net for the Golden Knights to that point.
It was quite a debut for the freshman, who made 21 saves to record a shutout in a 3-0 win over the Engineers.
It’s been that kind of year for Clarkson, who hasn’t lost since Oct. 28 at Minnesota. The Golden Knights have allowed more than two goals only once during that fourteen-game stretch and have posted five shutouts.
Clarkson is allowing only 1.27 goals per game this season, a figure that is tops in Division I and nearly half a goal better than No.2 Cornell.
The Golden Knights start a four-game home stand this weekend when Harvard and Dartmouth travel to Cheel Arena.
Vaughan gets 400th win
It’s been a good season for Colgate, as the Raiders have already surpassed their win total from last year with a month-and-a half left in the regular season.
But coach Don Vaughan reached a personal milestone over the weekend, getting his 400th career win Friday night at Brown.
Vaughan, who has coached at Colgate since the 1992-93 season, is the 24th Division I hockey coach to reach the 400 win mark. All of those wins have come with the Raiders, although Vaughan stepped aside from coaching for the 2003-04 season to serve as the school’s interim athletic director.
“I was on the losing end of [former Boston University coach] Jack Parker’s 400th win in my first year,” Vaughan said. “I remember going down after the game to congratulate him, he looked at me and said, ‘You know, you’ll get there one day too, kid.’ That was the furthest thing from my mind, I never thought I’d be in this position but here it is.”
Yale continues turnaround
A five-game losing streak from mid-November to early December put the Bulldogs in a rough spot near the end of the first half. But Yale won its final two games before the semester break, and is 3-1-1 in the second half.
The Bulldogs tied No. 4 Cornell on Friday thanks to Joe Snively’s extra-attacker goal with 50 seconds left in regulation. On Saturday, Yale erupted for five goals against Colgate, who is one of the better defensive teams in the conference.
“We’ve just been putting in consistent effort every week,” junior goalie Sam Tucker said. “I think the boys have really started to come together as a team and [we’ve gotten] a lot of good synergy.”
Tucker was outstanding Friday against the Big Red, finishing with 34 saves, including several big stops on the penalty kill. On Saturday, sophomore Corbin Kaczperski stopped 19-of-20 shots for the win against the Raiders. Kaczperski made his collegiate debut Dec. 1 against Rensselaer and has .930 save percentage this season. Yale is 3-1 when he starts.
