Last season, the race for first place in the ECAC was pretty much devoid of
any suspense, as Colgate took control early and ran away from the rest of
the pack. This season, however, the situation appears to be a little
different. Harvard looked like they had the upper hand going into the new
year, with their high-powered offense (7.4 goals per game in the ECAC before
the weekend), but they went 0 for the North Country and dropped to second.
This, combined with a couple of improbable comebacks by Cornell and a sweep
by this year's surprise team, the Yale Elis, has left the top six teams in
the league all within four points of each other.
ECAC scores from the first weekend of 1991:
Friday, 1/4:
BROWN 5, Army 3
CLARKSON 5, Dartmouth 0
Cornell 6, VERMONT 4
RPI 5, Colgate 2
ST. LAWRENCE 5, Harvard 4
YALE 6, Princeton 3
Saturday, 1/5:
BROWN 6, Princeton 1
CLARKSON 7, Harvard 5
Cornell 5, RPI 4
ST. LAWRENCE 4, Dartmouth 3
VERMONT 4, Colgate 3 (OT)
YALE 4, Army 2
ECAC Standings as of 1/7/91:
League Overall
Team W L T Pts GF GA W L T Pts GF GA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Lawrence 8 2 1 17 50 42 11 5 1 23 75 61
Harvard 8 4 0 16 83 45 8 6 0 16 84 51
Cornell 7 1 2 16 48 33 8 3 2 18 61 43
Clarkson 7 3 1 15 54 43 12 4 1 25 97 63
RPI 7 3 0 14 55 38 11 6 0 22 98 72
Yale 6 3 1 13 43 36 7 4 1 15 51 47
Vermont 5 4 1 11 36 37 7 8 1 15 59 68
Brown 3 6 1 7 31 48 3 9 2 8 46 74
Colgate 2 6 2 6 36 47 8 7 2 18 72 71
Princeton 3 8 0 6 45 52 4 11 0 8 56 70
Army 1 8 2 4 28 46 4 9 3 11 56 60
Dartmouth 0 9 1 1 19 61 1 12 1 3 32 85
Some notes on a few of the games:
Brown 5, Army 3
A three-goal outburst in the second period helped the Bears get by the
Cadets for the victory. A 6-1 defeat of Princeton on Saturday night
gave Brown its first weekend sweep since last January, when they also
defeated both Princeton and Army.
Vermont 4, Colgate 3 (OT)
Vermont's Scott Jagod notched the game-winning goal with just two
seconds left in overtime, handing Colgate its seventh loss -- more than
the Red Raiders had all of last season. Mike Millham had 31 saves for
the Catamounts.
Cornell 6, Vermont 4
You might say that the fans at the newly-renovated Gutterson Field
House saw two Cornell teams for the price of one -- the sluggish squad
that mounted hardly any offensive threat for most of the game, and the
fired-up team that exploded for one of the biggest and most unbeliev-
able rallies by the Big Red in many years. Dan Ratushny was back from
playing in the Isvestia and Spengler Cup tournaments, and it was a good
thing for Cornell that he was, because several other Big Red players
were hit hard by the flu and were not skating very well or very long.
(Cornell head coach Brian McCutcheon could sympathize with them, as he
also was ill with the flu, missing the morning practice) The Cata-
mounts may also have been fighting off a flu bug -- they dressed only
five defensemen. Obligatory comment on the officiating: Marty
McDonough is known as a referee who doesn't call anything unless it
happens less than three feet in front of him, and he did nothing to
damage that reputation Friday night, whistling only four penalties and
letting a lot of rough play go.
Vermont struck first, with a power-play goal at 7:53 of the first
period. David Browne set up behind the Cornell net, and as goaltender
Corrie D'Alessio went to the right side to pick him up, Browne passed
to Joe McCarthy on the left side, who pushed the puck into the open
net. The Big Red was having trouble digging the puck out of the
corners in the Vermont zone, but they were able to pick up the fore-
checking pressure later in the period, and it paid off at the 13:29
mark. Trent Andison knocked the puck away from a Vermont player; Doug
Derraugh picked it up and centered to Ryan Hughes, who beat a screened
Mike Millham from between the faceoff circles.
The Catamounts made it 2-1 with about two minutes left in the first
period on a weak goal by Ricker Love. He took a soft shot from near
the blue line that bounced off D'Alessio's left shoulder, hit the
crossbar, and dropped down behind the goal line. Despite some
increased forechecking by Cornell, the score remained the same through
two periods. D'Alessio made some excellent glove saves in the second
period. Millham was also holding his own at the other end of the ice,
but he really was not very sharp and was having some trouble con-
trolling rebounds. Millham has a history of slumping later in games,
and at this point it was clear that the Big Red players could beat him
if they picked up the pressure on offense, but they weren't able to do
so. On their two power plays, late in the second period and early in
the third, Cornell not only did not score, they failed even to get a
shot on goal.
Two Vermont goals within two minutes appeared to seal the fate of the
Big Red. At 11:01 of the third, Jim Larkin sent an apparently harmless
shot toward the Cornell goal; however, the puck rolled up D'Alessio's
arm, off his shoulder, and into the net. Then Toby Kearney punched
home a rebound of a Corey Machanic shot to give the Cats a 4-1
advantage with 7:10 left in the game.
Cornell called timeout after Kearney's goal, and I'll bet McCutcheon
could make quite a bit of money if he published a coaches' handbook
containing whatever he said to his players, because the Big Red roared
back to score five goals in the final six and a half minutes. (What he
probably said was, "Shoot the bleeping puck on the bleeping goal!")
Doug Derraugh got the ball (puck, whatever) rolling when he took a feed
from Ryan Hughes, broke down the right side, and unleashed a slap shot
from the top of the circle that got by Millham on the stick side. Just
32 seconds later, Bruce Frauley brought the Big Red to within one when
he wristed the puck through Millham's pads. Karl Williams tied the
score at the 16:08 mark off a 2-on-0 break with Phil Nobel, and with
1:02 left, Trent Andison put Cornell up 5-4. During a scramble in
front of the Catamount goal, Millham blocked a shot by Tim Vanini, but
he lost track of the rebound, and Andison flipped home the loose puck.
Ryan Hughes iced the game with 36 seconds left on a great individual
effort. He got behind the Vermont defense and came in on Millham with
the puck on his backhand side, faked a shot, then pulled the puck to
his forehand and stuffed it around the goalie.
The Cornell radio announcers made a comparison between this game and
the Vermont-Princeton game last February, in which Vermont came back
from a 7-1 deficit with eight goals in six minutes in the third period.
They said something to the effect of "now Vermont knows how Princeton
felt." That may or may not be true, but considering how ineffective
the Big Red was for the first 53 minutes of the game, it was an
incredible comeback -- or an incredible collapse, depending on who you
root for. Millham wound up with 29 saves, while D'Alessio, who played
exceptionally well despite allowing four goals, turned away 22 shots.
Cornell 5, RPI 4
Another one of those games where Cornell fans curse their team for most
of the night, then say "I knew it all the time" after it's over. (Who,
me?) The RPI team is known for its fireworks on offense, what with
players like Joe Juneau, Bruce Coles, and Derek DeCosty in their
lineup, but they have also unfortunately acquired a reputation for
cheap shots and dirty play. This game did not disappoint, as several
Engineer players were grabbing sticks and jerseys, hooking, tripping,
and the like. There were even a couple of spears (uncalled) thrown in.
RPI is a very talented team, and they certainly don't need to resort to
this kind of thing -- the problem, of course, is that it works.
Cornell was drawn into a pushing and shoving type of game for a while,
and they got hit with several dumb penalties for retaliation (RPI was
whistled a number of times as well, so maybe it all evens out).
Referee John Gallagher's whistle got a good workout, as he called 21
penalties, 19 of them in the first two periods.
For the first time since the Brown game back on December 8, Cornell
scored the first goal, which came at 5:02 of period one. Tim Vanini
unleashed a shot from the point that deflected off an RPI player, hit
goaltender Sean Kennedy, and dribbled into the net. The Engineers put
a lot of pressure on in the Cornell end, but were unable to score for
the rest of the opening period, as Corrie D'Alessio came through with
several great glove saves.
The RPI offensive machine was just beginning to click, however, and the
Engineers struck for three straight goals in the second period. The
first, scored by DeCosty at the 2:58 mark, was somewhat controversial.
DeCosty ran into D'Alessio and knocked the puck off its moorings
apparently before the puck crossed the line, but Gallagher allowed the
goal to stand, and Cornell did not offer much of a protest (not that it
would have done any good). Three minutes later, Coles put the
Engineers up 2-1 when he corralled a loose puck near the right side of
the Cornell net and stuffed it in between D'Alessio's legs. Gary
Woolford then notched a power-play goal at 11:10 of the second, as Tim
Vanini dove to block his shot and wound up redirecting it behind
D'Alessio into the net.
Rough play was prevalent in the second period, and at 16:38, Coles and
Cornell's Doug Derraugh got tangled up in a little skirmish, for which
they both received ten-minute misconducts. With 1:18 left in the
second, Joe Dragon brought the Big Red back to within one on a high
shot that found the back of the net over a sprawled Kennedy. RPI was
able to regain its two-goal advantage at 3:25 of the third period.
Juneau got by the Cornell defense and shovelled the puck out in front
of the net, where Francois Cadoret one-timed it by D'Alessio. But just
1:09 later, the Big Red closed to within 4-3, as Trent Andison re-
directed Vanini's shot past Kennedy. Andison may have been in the
crease at the time, but the goal was allowed to stand.
Phil Nobel got the equalizer with 6:03 left on a terrific one-man rush
up the ice, beating the RPI defense around right wing and flipping the
puck over Kennedy's shoulder. Just over three minutes later, Andison
picked up his second goal of the game and his second game-winner in as
many nights. He had a lot of help on this one from Derraugh, who drew
the defense to the right side, then passed the puck to Ryan Hughes.
Hughes slid it to a wide-open Andison, and he stuffed it into the net.
There were some tense moments left for the Big Red, as they were called
for holding with 1:49 left, but Cornell successfully killed it off.
D'Alessio was again superb between the pipes, coming up with 27 saves,
while Kennedy (who was no slouch either) posted 26.
This weekend's games are pretty evenly split between ECAC and non-ECAC
contests, as Clarkson, RPI, and St. Lawrence all invade the Hockey East turf
while Vermont makes a trip west. The schedule:
Jan. 11
Colgate at Army
Cornell at Princeton
Dartmouth at Yale
Harvard at Brown
Clarkson at Boston University (NLG)
St. Lawrence at Boston College (NLG)
Vermont at Air Force (NLG)
Jan. 12
Colgate at Princeton
Cornell at Army
Dartmouth at Brown
Harvard at Yale
Clarkson at Boston College (NLG)
RPI at Lowell (NLG)
St. Lawrence at Boston University (NLG)
Vermont at Air Force (NLG)
Just a minor correction to what Mike Zak posted (OK, *very* minor):
>Next weekend Clarkson and SLU travel to Boston to play BU and BC. These will
>be very important games for the ECAC teams in trying to get an NCAA bid.
>Last year in the North Country Clarkson beat BU and tied BC while SLU lost
>both.
It was actually St. Lawrence who beat BU and tied BC last year, while Clark-
son beat BC and lost to BU. (All of these games, except for the tie, were
one-goal affairs) Mike's point is well made, however. Clarkson's 5-1
record against non-league Division I teams was a big factor in the NCAA's
selecting them for the post-season last year over RPI (2-5 against non-
league Division I competition) and Cornell (1-2). Usually, however, ECAC
teams don't make the NCAA's unless they win either the regular season title
or the ECAC tournament (Colgate won both last year, helping to open the door
for the Golden Knights). I think I heard somewhere that the NCAA had
abolished the automatic bid for independents this year. If so, that would
make another slot available -- possibly for some ECAC team, if they are
impressive enough against other Division I competition.
Another game to watch is the Harvard-Yale matchup. Of the top six teams,
Yale is the one that most observers don't give much of a chance to finish in
first place, despite their impressive sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence a
month ago. Beating Harvard would be a big step for the Elis, but the
Crimson has already thumped them this season by a 7-1 score.
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
David Brenner's definition of paranoia, slightly modified for hockey fans:
Picture yourself at Boston Garden for the ECAC Tournament championship game,
which is being played by bitter rivals Cornell and Harvard. Thousands of
screaming maniacs have been cheering their respective teams on all night.
Harvard leads by one goal with less than a minute left in regulation. Cornell
calls timeout, the players huddle around the bench, and you are sitting up in
the stands *convinced* that those guys on the ice are talking about YOU.
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