In Central New York, Colgate fought their way into the top four by beating Union 7-5 and RPI 3-0. Cornell cemented a playoff berth with a 2-2 tie against Renssalaer and an 8-2 drubbing of Union, but their three-point weekend wasn't quite enough to grab eighth place, as SLU squeaked out home ice in the preliminary round on the basis of the "top-four" tiebreaker.
Another victim of the ECAC's tiebreaker system was Dartmouth, who swept Yale and Princeton by 7-4 and 3-2 scores, but will still miss the postseason as Union prevailed in the battle for tenth place on the "top-eight" tiebreaker by virtue of St. Lawrence's eighth-place finish. Dartmouth's travel partner Vermont also recorded a sweep, defeating Princeton 1-0 and knocking Yale out of the playoffs and into the cellar with a 3-2 overtime win.
Last night it was on to the Preliminary playoff round. Princeton knocked off Union at home, 5-2, while Cornell travelled to Canton to end St. Lawrence's season with a 6-2 win.
This weekend we have four three-point series in the conference quarterfinals: Cornell travels to Clarkson, site of their upset win a few weeks back, Ivy League champ Brown hosts Princeton, Vermont visits Colgate, and in a battle of the last two ECAC teams to win NCAA titles, RPI plays Harvard in Cambridge. The four winners go to the tournament in Lake Placid the weekend of the 17th.
This is Joe P------k, KJUC sports.