The ECAC West quarterfinals were held last Tuesday night, with the higher- seeded teams hosting the games. Results: #1 Plattsburgh State 6, #8 Hobart 2 #2 Elmira 7, #7 RIT 2 #3 Mercyhurst 8, #6 Oswego State 2 #4 Fredonia State 4, #5 Geneseo State 2 Notes on the Elmira game: Elmira 7, RIT 2 Four first-period goals by the Soaring Eagles effectively put an end to RIT's playoff hopes, as Elmira outshot RIT 17-5 in the opening stanza and beat the Tigers for the fourth time this season. Jason Courte- manche got things going just 37 seconds into the game, when he stole an RIT pass and poked it home behind goaltender Derrick Barnett. Bernie Cassell followed that with a slapper under Barnett's glove just over three minutes later -- his 41st goal of the year, breaking the Elmira record set by Joe Spinelli last season. A pair of goals later in the period by Joe Caswell and Bob McGee gave the Soaring Eagles a 4-0 lead, and Spinelli wasted little time after the intermission in extending it to 5-0. Off the opening faceoff in the second period, Cassell drew the puck back to Spinelli, who raced up the ice and beat Barnett with only 11 seconds gone. Jay Murphy put RIT on the board at 6:15 of the second, and then he made it 5-2 with 2:03 to go in the period on a short-handed tally. But Cassell and Spinelli each got goals in the third period to round out the scoring. Barnett made 30 saves, while Elmira goaltender Dave Laudato stopped 27 shots in a solid performance. Elmira faces Mercyhurst Friday night in the ECAC West semifinals, while Plattsburgh will take on Fredonia in the other game -- a rematch of the SUNYAC tournament finals. Elmira has lost both games to Mercyhurst this season, but the same thing happened last year, and the Eagles dominated Mercyhurst when the two met for the ECAC West tournament championship. The site of the ECAC West Final Four (hey, don't blame me, that's what they called it in the paper!) has not been finalized as of this morning. Ordinarily, the games are all played at the arena of the highest-seeded team, in this case Plattsburgh. However, ECAC executive director Joe Bertagna has said the tournament committee is looking into the possibility of holding the games at Elmira's Murray Center because it is more centrally located. "We don't want to penalize Plattsburgh because they're the top seed," Bertagna said on Tuesday, "but if Elmira, Plattsburgh, Mercyhurst, and Fredonia make it [which is what happened], why should we make Mercyhurst and Fredonia drive 12 or 13 hours?... As of right now, we're looking at both sites. We're just saying Elmira would make a nice central location." The committee will decide the location tonight. Now, I understand that Division III teams often have a limited travel budget, and that Mercyhurst and Fredonia (and especially Elmira) would benefit from having the tournament moved to Murray Center, but if the highest seed is supposed to host the tournament, that would deprive the Plattsburgh team and their fans of a well-deserved honor. If the concern is monetary, the ECAC should select a "central" site or sites ahead of time and hold the Final Four there every year, as the Division I league does with Boston Garden. Otherwise, let Plattsburgh host it this year; they've earned it. If the tournament is moved to Elmira, it will mark the second year in a row that the Soaring Eagles have hosted the ECAC West Final Four despite being the #2 seed. Last year, Mercyhurst was seeded #1 and was supposed to host the tournament, but there was a scheduling conflict with their arena, so the tournament was moved to Elmira. The location could also make a difference in the championship results. Consider that when Elmira went to Plattsburgh early in the season, the Soaring Eagles blew a 4-0 first-period lead en route to a 9-8 loss. When Plattsburgh made the return trip to Elmira, they suffered their only loss to a Division III foe as Elmira beat them 9-6. It's likely these two will meet for the ECAC West championship. Somewhere. -- Bill Fenwick | Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to: Cornell '86 and probably '94 | [log in to unmask] LET'S GO RED!! "We actually got six inches of rain here, although men swore it was eight inches and women said four inches, tops." -- Dennis Miller, on the recent flooding in Los Angeles