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Epilogue:
Maybe I should yield to Bill Fenwick for these picks, or maybe Bill just looked
at mine and picked the opposite (usually a good choice). There are some really
intriguing matchups this weekend (not as intriguing if my picks would have won
:-( ). Here's the scoop:
#10 Yale (10-17-3, 6-14-2 ECAC) at #1 Clarkson (24-8-0, 17-5-0 ECAC)
How They Got Here: Yale def. Colgate Tuesday at Colgate, Clarkson earned
preliminary bye
Season Series: Yale def. Clarkson 5-2 at Clarkson, Clarkson def. Yale 2-0 at
Yale
All Time Series: Clarkson leads 49-21-3 including 6 of the last 7 meetings.
Coach Morris vs. Yale: 16-3-1
Coach Taylor vs. Clarkson: 11-23-1
Summaries:
Clarkson lost to Yale in November, ending a 5 game winning streak. Freshman
Christian Marois made his first collegiate start and gave up three goals before
yielding to Dan Murphy in a 5-2 loss (the last goal was in the empty net).
Clarkson definitely came out flat for this game, being outshot for the first of
what would only be four times in the regular season by a margin of 33-31. It
seems evident that Clarkson looked past this game, both the players and
coaches. Their second meeting in February was a hard-fought defensive battle
with both Westlund and Murphy hanging tough until Ben Maidment scored at the
14:03 mark of the third. Clarkson added a second goal and Dan Murphy earned
his second shutout of the season.
Prediction:
Clarkson has outgrown their early season troubles (15-1 in their last 16) and
should be victorious over Yale in 2, but I would expect both games to be
close. Yale proved that against Colgate. Clarkson has a tremendous
quarterfinal record a Cheel (if only a little of the good luck would follow
them to Placid). They have defeated their opponents in 2 that past 4 seasons.
#8 Harvard (11-17-2, 9-11-2 ECAC) at #2 Cornell (17-8-4, 14-6-2 ECAC)
How they got here: Harvard def. SLU Tuesday at Home, Cornell earned
preliminary bye
Season Series: Cornell def. Harvard 3-2 at Bright, Cornell def. Harvard 2-1 at
home
Prediction:
Cornell will win the series, but it won't happen in two games. Despite
Harvard's up and down season, they are a very real threat and I wouldn't at all
be suprised to see them go into Lynah and beat the Big Red on Friday.
#6 Princeton (16-9-4, 11-8-3 ECAC) at #3 Vermont (21-8-3, 13-6-3 ECAC)
How they got here: both teams earned preliminary byes
Season Series: Vermont def. Princeton 3-2 at Princeton, Princeton def. Vermont
2-0 at Vermont
Prediction:
As much as I hate to agree with the Vermont fans who think that Perrin and St.
Louis are actually a huge threat, I think you'll see glimpses of the Perrin and
St. Louis of old in the playoffs (no, they still don't deserve to be considered
for the Hobey Baker). Princeton has little experience in the playoffs, and
Vermont has got to have the "been there, done that" perspective. I think
Vermont's #1 line will have enough to lift them over Princeton, but not much
further (we'll discuss that next week). Princeton might grab a tie, but I
still see the series ending in two.
#5 Union (18-11-3, 11-8-3 ECAC) at #4 Rensellaer (17-11-4, 12-7-3 ECAC)
How they got here: both teams earned preliminary byes
Season Series: Union def. RPI 2-0 at Knick, RPI def. Union 5-2 at home, tied
3-3 at Union
Prediction (commentary):
Wow! What a treat for the Capital District, especially those Union fans who
have always had to settle for second best to RPI, even after becoming division
I. This is going to be a great battle and hopefully I'll see a game or two.
From what I've seen, RPI is an undisciplined team and Union could take
advantage of that easily. Union is too strong defensively and over a three
game series with Koenig's goaltending, Union will prevail.
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