On the Fly
Friday, November 26
Dartmouth 8 at Harvard 2
Junior Nick Walsh scored his first career hat trick and rookie Eric Robinson scored with two assists in his NCAA debut in the Big Green romp. Fellow freshman Matt Lindblad, sophomore Dustin Walsh, junior Doug Jones and senior Scott Fleming also lit the lamp for Dartmouth, which exploded for eight against Harvard for the first time since the 1975-76 season. Junior goalie James Mello stopped 23 of 25 for his fourth win in six games (4-1-1) this year, while Harvard’s three netminders (seniors Kyle Richter and Ryan Carroll, and freshman Raphael Girard) combined for 37 saves. Sophs Marshall Everson and Conor Morrison scored power-play goals for Harvard; Morrison – with a goal and assist – was the Crimson’s only even +/- player.
Clarkson 1 vs. Air Force 2 Denver Cup; Denver, Colo.
The Golden Knights couldn’t solve AFA goaltender Jason Torf (36 saves), as junior Nick Tremblay’s short-handed second-period equalizer was all she wrote for ‘Tech offensively. Sophomore Cody Rosen made 32 saves in his first appearance of the year, and Clarkson played more than half the game without the services of soph Nik Pokulok, who took a major and game-misconduct penalty for a 25th-minute hit-from-behind.
Connecticut 5 at Rensselaer 6 Rensselaer Holiday Tournament
Senior Chase Polacek’s second goal of the night with 3:27 to play put RPI over the top in a wild, 76-shot, nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long contest. Classmates Bryan Brutlag and Tyler Helfrich scored for the Engineers as well, and junior Alex Angers-Goulet matched Polacek’s feat with two scores in support of sophomore Bryce Merriam (30 saves). RPI came back from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits, but also blew a 5-4 lead with only 243 seconds remaining. On a darker note, ‘Tute sophomore forward C.J. Lee was taken off the ice on a stretcher following ten minutes of on-ice diagnostics after he was inadvertently kicked in the back of the head by junior teammate Patrick Cullen in the UConn crease. He was ultimately found to have sustained a concussion, but fortunately no other neck or spinal injuries. His timetable to return is as-of-yet unknown.
Saturday, November 27
Harvard 2 at Dartmouth 5
The Big Green scored four goals in 5:36 late in the first period to set the tone in Game 2, sweeping the season series with the Crimson and extending Harvard’s losing streak to five games. Fleming, Lindblad, and Nick Walsh scored again, joined this time by seniors Adam Estoclet and Evan Stephens. Mello stopped 31 of 33, while Harvard counterpart Carroll saved 37 of 42… including 20 of 24 in the critical first frame. The sweep was Dartmouth’s first of Ivy foe Harvard since the ’95-96 campaign; Harvard’s losing slide is its fourth winless skid of at least five games in the last four seasons.
Cornell 4 vs. Colgate 3 Prudential Center; Newark, N.J.
Colgate’s 3-1 third-period lead fell in a 2:26 flash, and Cornell junior Sean Collins’ power-play goal in the game’s 52nd minute ensured that the Raiders’ losing streak would reach seven games. Sophomores Nick D’Agostino and John Esposito and senior Tyler Roeszler also scored for the Big Red, which snapped its own three-game losing slide. Freshman Andy Iles was called upon for 16 saves in his second win. Freshman Chris Wagner, sophomore Jeremy Price and senior Austin Mayer scored for Colgate, while junior Alex Evin made 21 saves. The 2-9-1 Raiders are now on the verge of some infamous history, sitting only one loss shy of tying a 50-year-old program-record eight-game losing slump (1958-60).
Clarkson 2 vs. Lake Superior State 1 Denver Cup; Denver, Colo.
Junior Paul Karpowich improved his record to 7-4-2 with a 30-save, one-goal win against LSSU Saturday night. Classmate Jake Morley’s short-handed goal opened the scoring in the second period, and rookie Allan McPherson’s power-play planting closed it with under seven and a half minutes to play. The PPG was Clarkson’s first since a 4-4 home tie against Colgate on November 5, which was also ‘Tech’s only other game this season in which the power-play unit lit the lamp (1/4 Saturday, now 4/54 this season).
Brown 4 at Boston University 4 (ot)
The Bears extended an impressive unbeaten streak to four games (2-0-2) with a second straight road tie against a top-10 team from Hockey East. Seniors David Brownschidle, Jesse Fratkin and Harry Zolnierczyk joined junior Jack Maclellan as Bruno’s goal-scorers, while junior Mike Clemente made 38 saves. Only four days following a promising but ultimately unsatisfying 5-5 draw at UNH in which Brown held a late 5-3 lead, it was a similar story at BU as the Bears let early 2-0 and late 4-3 leads slip away to the second-ranked Terriers. The biggest blow came when captain and leading goal-scorer Zolnierczyk took a 10-minute unsportsmanlike misconduct penalty in the game’s 19th minute, then got himself thrown out only moments after his third-period return for a ruthless open-ice knee-check on BU freshman Adam Clendening. He will miss Friday’s home game against Union while serving a mandatory one-game suspension for his game disqualification penalty.
Bowling Green 2 at Rensselaer 3 (ot) Rensselaer Holiday Tournament Championship
RPI won its first host tournament since 2001 as Brutlag billowed Bowling Green’s twine 20 seconds into overtime. Helfrich and freshman Nick Bailen helped establish a 2-0 RPI lead five minutes into the second period, but the Falcons scored a power-play goal late in the frame and an extra-attacker goal with 10 seconds to play in regulation to force extra hockey. Junior Allen York stopped 24 shots in the victory, the Engineers’ 17th title in 60 years of hosting their eponymous holiday tournament.
Quinnipiac 2 at Massachusetts 5
The Minutemen raced out to a 4-0 lead before the game’s midway point, and the bulk of QU’s 10 minor penalties prevented the Bobcats from ever making it a game again in the lopsided defeat. Quinnipiac’s leading scorer and freshman Connor Jones added a goal and assist to his stats, and junior Scott Zurevinski accounted for QU’s other tally of the night. Sophomore Eric Hartzell was replaced after the first period after allowing two goals on nine shots, while junior Dan Clarke didn’t fare much better with 13 saves on 16 shots against.
In retrospect…
Prediction precision: 6-2-1 (.722) last week, 45-23-10 (.641) overall.
Guest guessers: 32-28-6 (.530)
Still seeking new challengers to my prognostication prowess… email me at ECACWriter@USCHO.com with five good (or bad) reasons why you should be selected as a guest-guesser!
