I don't know anyone else's opinion, but for any Clarkson, SLU, Cornell, and
Colgate fans, it was one hell of a hockey weekend.  I can't remember the last
time I got to watch such emotionally riveting, hard-playing games at Cheel.
I think the crowd on both nights was the loudest I've ever heard in the new
Clarkson arena (though I was disappointed at the meager turnout for 2 such
important games).
 
Both nights for the Clarkson team were some of their toughest matches this
year with both games going into overtime.  Add to that the fact that they
were fighting for second place with SLU, and you have double the excitement.
My fiance and I drove up Friday after work and got to the game at the end of
the first.  As we listened to the game on the radio, I knew it would be a
difficult night for the Knights as they had 19 shots in the first period and
no goals to show for it.  Then, when Cornell scored first in the second,
Erik (my fiance) said it was going to be the UVM game all over again.  That's
not what I wanted to hear.  Clarkson looked horrible the second period and
I started to worry.  But, by the start of the third, the real Knights had
come back onto the ice and the endurance battles began.
 
It seemed that all through the third, there were long periods of play in the
offensive zones.  Once either side got beyond the blue line, the opposite
team had a tough time clearing the zone.  I was quite impressed with Elliot's
performance in the Cornell goal and the way the Cornell defense prevented
any of the Clarkson players from getting close to him.  It seemed like the
Knights couldn't get anything by him.  By the time the overtime goal was
scored, I think that the fans were as emotionally and physically drained as
the players.
 
The Colgate game was just as tough.  Clarkson honored its graduating seniors
and then it was on to another tough battle.  With SLU's tie the night before,
a Clarkson win or tie combined with a SLU loss would mean 2nd place.  And,
after seeing Cornell against Clarkson, I knew the Big Red would have a shot
at knocking off SLU.  The Colgate game seemed much rougher than the Cornell
one and there were several controversial calls throughout the night.  Near
the end of the third Dave Seitz lost his stick on a break away and went after
the puck using his skates.  At the same time, the Colgate goalie, Brenzavich
(sp?) skated out to the blue line to get the puck before Seitz.  The two
collided and Brenzavich flew through the air and landed fairly hard on the
ice.  The crowd went wild, as did the Colgate bench (but not in the same way).
From what I saw it was a clean play and Seitz was not intentionally going
after the goalie--they were both trying to play the puck.  The refs weren't
going to call anything (the proper call) until half the Colgate bench came
out onto the ice after Seitz and the referees.  Next thing we know, Seitz
is in the box for charging and one Colgate player receives a 10-minute
misconduct.  However, Colgate was never penalized for leaving the bench and
coming out onto the ice.
 
In another incident not too much later, Josh Bartell was checked into the
Colgate bench and the Colgate players proceeded to attack him and refuse to
let go of his stick.  Once Bartell finally broke free, he and the guy who
checked him (sorry, don't remember which player) both got matching roughing
penalties.  After a few more bad calls and a tired looking overtime, the game
ended in a tie.
 
On the upside, I think the between play updates from Appleton Arena really
helped give the Knights and the fans the incentive to hold on for a tie and
try for a win.  When the announcer gave the final score (Cornell 5, SLU 4)
the crowd went wild and the Knights knew that holding onto the tie would
give them 2nd place.  Senior Dave Seitz had a memorable last regular season
game as he scored his 100th point and got a hat trick to put the icing on
the cake.  I also had a great time as Saturday was the pep band's alumni
weekend game (or as one alumni member put it, "geriatric night at the pep
band").  It was exciting to get to see such great games and to reminisce
about the good 'ole days as well.
 
One interesting note:  Colgate is the only team in the ECAC to take more
than 2 points from Clarkson.  Boy, I sure hope we don't meet them in Placid.
;-)
 
Laura Myott
Clarkson Pep Band '94
 
LET'S GO TECH!!!
 
P.S. Congrats to UVM on winning the regular season title.  Now let's see what
you can do in post-season play. ;-)
 
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