>> I was wondering if anyone had a listing/memory of how Div III has fared
>>against Div I in the past couple of years. Any scores would be appreciated.
>>I am most curious because Colgate is playing Plattsburgh St. this season,
>>and I wonder what the outcome will be...
>
>I'd say that over the past 5 years or so, division III teams play about .400
>hockey against division I. Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that
>only the top division III teams do this, and they play a lot of games against
>the independents who normally aren't the cream of the crop. For example, RIT
>has played Notre Dame, Air Force, Kent State, and the Alaskas in recent years
>with an occasional Clarkson or RPI thrown in. However, the division III team is
>almost always playing on the road, so that helps the division I opponent.
I went back over the last 3 years, and here's how things stack up:
YEAR DivIII vs DivI vs DivI Conf vs DivI Indep
1991-92 4-38-2 .114 0-8-0 .000 4-30-2 .139
1990-91 8-34-2 .205 0-4-0 .000 8-30-2 .225
1989-90 11-48-4 .206 3-10-1 .250 8-38-3 .194
TOT 23-120-8 .179 3-22-1 .135 20-98-7 .188
The last victory by a DivIII team over a DivI conference team came in
January, 1990, when Plattsburgh won at Lowell 7-3. Other wins that season
came from Middlebury (3-2 at Vermont) and Union (3-2 vs Brown in the RPI
Invitational consolation) and AIC tied at Merrimack, 6-6. 1989-90 was a good
year for DivIII teams by recent standards as they haven't been able to notch
a single win or tie since then against a DivI conference team. (Remember
Army was in the ECAC till 1991 and was an Independent last year.)
>I don't remember Plattsburgh playing any divsion I teams, but Colgate should
>watch out - the Cardinals are the division III champs, and I understand that
>they lost only a few players to graduation. Plattsburgh also has a reputation
>for playing a physical game, so they should match up well. One of the main
>differences that I have seen between division I and III is the size of the
>players. Both RIT and Elmira have had success recruiting players considered
> "too small " for division I.
Plattsburgh has played only one other game vs a DivI opponent in the last
three years, losing at Clarkson last year, 6-2. They will also play at Army
this coming season. I agree that they should give both Colgate and Army
good games and have a chance of winning both. Still, the size factor is a
very big one and there is quite a difference between DivI and DivIII. From
seeing the highlights of Plattsburgh's season last year, I thought they could
beat a number of DivI teams and they gave Clarkson a good game from Heather's
admittedly biased account. :-) I hope to be at the Colgate game as I have
no other obligations that weekend and Hamilton is not far from where Heather
lives. It should be interesting.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)
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