The
likes of John Zeiler have provided St. Lawrence with
plenty of offense.
When examining the St. Lawrence results so
far this year, one can’t help but notice some contradictions.
A win at Wisconsin is offset by a loss at RIT. Applause
for the Saints’ first-place standing in the ECAC Hockey
League could possibly be countered by mentioning the strength
of the other teams that they’ve played so far.
This weekend’s games are a measuring
stick for St. Lawrence and also give them an opportunity
to show how good they really are. The Saints are 6-1-0 in
their last seven games and 5-1-0 in ECACHL play. They host
Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday
As expected, the Saints’ scorers are
scoring. The first line of John Zeiler, T.J. Trevelyan and
Mike Zbriger is leading the way. Trevelyan leads the team
in scoring, but is doing it as a different manner from past
seasons. He has 11 assists and just two goals. Trevelyan
entered the year with 58 goals and 48 assists in his career.
Zeiler is one of the best big-game players in college hockey
and scored an overtime winner to beat Quinnipiac last weekend.
Six players have 10 or more points through the first 12
games.
Freshman Kevin DeVergilio is tied with Zeiler
for the team lead with seven goals.
An unexpected boost has come from sophomore
goaltender Justin Pesony. He earned the starting job when
grad student Kevin Ackley was injured in the Wisconsin series
and has been solid. He has a 2.79 goals-against average
in his 10 games, and an 8-2-0 record. Ackley has returned
from injury and picked up the win over Princeton on Saturday
with 27 saves.
The Saints’ success has come despite
missing two key blueliners for extended periods this season.
Junior Drew Bagnall and freshman Matt Generous have played
a combined total of nine games this year. Generous has six
points in six games and has seen time on the number-one
power play unit.
Great Weekend Getaway
Dartmouth/Harvard
at St. Lawrence/Clarkson We love the travel partner system when it
produces weekends like these. The North Country teams
are at the top of the ECACHL standings and face their
most challenging league games thus far. Dartmouth
and Harvard have momentum on their side, and will
look to get some road points against teams ahead of
them in the pecking order.
While You’re There: Make a
double-header of things on Friday by checking out
the opening game of the Primelink Shootout on Friday
afternoon. This annual event for the Division III
men is somewhat similar to the College Hockey Showcase.
The 4 p.m. game Friday features Middlebury and Norwich,
combined owners of the last three Division III National
Championships.
Stick
Salute
Kudos to
college hockey in Rochester, N.Y.
Longtime Division III power RIT joined the Division
I ranks this season and will be a member of Atlantic
Hockey next year. Rochester has also produced a number
of outstanding college players. Saturday’s game
between Niagara and Cornell is another chance to expose
the city to the college game, and the city will embrace
the NCAA East Regional in 2007.
Bench
Minor
If it happens
once or twice it’s not worth noting, but Harvard
has been struggling in the third period of
games it has led. The trend started with the Cornell
game on Nov. 11, when the Big Red scored the tying
and winning goals in the last 5:04 of regulation.
In the five games since then, Harvard has been outscored
7-2, and one of the two goals was an empty-netter
to seal a win over BC.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• Weeknight action in the league saw
Quinnipiac beat Princeton 3-2 as freshman Chris Walsh scored
the game-winner with 1:06 remaining in the game. The Bobcats
snapped a four-game losing streak.
• Yale picked up its first win of the
season with a 6-3 decision over Mercyhurst. The game was
tied 3-3 in the third period but Nate Jackson scored about
halfway through and Matt Nelson and David Meckler scored
their first goals of the year late in the game to seal the
victory.
• Princeton goalie Thomas Sychterz got
his first career start against Clarkson on Friday and made
27 saves in an overtime loss to Clarkson. Sychterz is a
freshman from Lachine, Quebec and had been reduced to a
reserved role behind Eric Leroux and B.J. Sklapsky.
• Mike Ouellette was named INCH Player
of the Week after recording seven points in two games last
week. He has nine points in the last three games, leading
the Big Green to a three-game winning streak.
• RPI’s Holiday Hockey Tournament
is this weekend and the Engineers welcome Providence, currently
first in Hockey East, and Holy Cross, currently second in
Atlantic Hockey. Nebraska-Omaha rounds out the field.
• Brown has two wins in six league games,
but those wins have come against St. Lawrence and Clarkson,
the top two teams in the ECACHL standings.
• The scoreboard operator, goal judges,
and statisticians had better eat their Wheaties on Friday
before heading to work at Potsdam’s Cheel Arena. Harvard
and Clarkson are both averaging more than 3.5 goals-per-game
in ECACHL play and the offensive talents on each side won’t
be intimidated by the anticipated goaltending matchup between
Clarkson’s David Leggio and Harvard’s John Daigneau.
• Robin Jaycox, a longtime director
of financial aid at Colgate and current vice president of
the Silver Puck Club, was presented with the Silver Puck
Award at the organization’s banquet last week. He
is the 49th recipient of the award, which was first presented
in 1960.
• Promotions at Colgate this weekend
for the games against visiting Western Michigan include
free admission for kids in eighth-grade and younger, and
2-for-1 pricing on general admission tickets for adults.
• RPI’s Mathias Lange allowed
just one goal per game and combined to make 62 saves last
weekend against Colgate and Cornell. Both games ended as
1-1 ties.
• Union coach Nate Leaman was especially
proud of his team’s win at Lynah Rink against Cornell
because the student-athletes for the Dutchmen are also immersed
in final exams at the conclusion of the first trimester.
In future seasons, Union’s team won’t be playing
games during finals week.
• Saturday afternoon’s Princeton-Quinnipiac
game will be televised live on NESN.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report.
