In this weekend's ECAC hockey action, the Golden Knights of Clarkson improved their perfect league record with 7-1 and 4-1 home wins over RPI and Union, respectively. This allowed them to pull even with one frontrunner, Cornell, who could only manage three out of four points at home, downing Yale 6-2 before tying Princeton at 5. Clarkson went a point up on the other leader, Vermont, who blanked their travel partner Dartmouth 5-0 in their only league contest this weekend. Also posting home sweeps were Colgate, who joined the leaders by edging Princeton 3-2 and demolishing Yale 8-1, and St. Lawrence, who defeated Union 6-3 and nipped Rensselaer 2-1 in the final minute. Finally, Harvard completed a season sweep of Brown, downing the Bears 4-2. In non-conference play, the Crimson were 2-1 overtime losers to Boston College, the Brown Bears fell 4-2 to the Maine Black Bears, and Vermont handled Ottawa 9-2.
At this early stage of play, the ECAC standings are taking on a decidedly bimodal character, with two points seperating the top six teams and three points the bottom six. Three schools lead with ten points: Clarkson have amassed the total in five games, Cornell in six and Colgate in seven. Fighting for the #4 spot with nine points are Vermont with five games played and Harvard with six. St. Lawrence round out the upper division with eight points in five games. Then there's the big drop to Brown and Princeton in seventh place with three points, the Bears in five games and the Tigers in seven. Three teams have two points: Union in four games, RPI in five and Yale in seven. Finally, Dartmouth's record is a mirror image of Clarkson's, with a perfect five losses in five games.
Once again, the big ECAC action looks to be in the North Country, as Harvard and Brown visit St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Cornell and Colgate travel to the capital district looking to gain some ground in the meantime; on Saturday, Cornell visit RPI in the battle of the Big Reds while the Red Raiders are at Union, who in turn host Cornell on Sunday. In the other ECAC game, Princeton look for some revenge at Yale. Those two squads also face non-conference foes, with Princeton hosting Army and Yale entertaining UMass-Amherst. Vermont also face Massacheusetts next weekend, taking the Interstate south to Amherst.
With the ECAC hockey report, this is Joe P------k, Mr. Squishy sports.