Things to think about after the first weekend of ECAC Hockey play:
1. Colgate is having a rough start
After splitting a two-game series with Mercyhurst last weekend, Colgate continued its slide Saturday against Northeastern — a 2-1 loss that puts it at 1-2 early this season.
Junior goaltender Charlie Finn stopped 41 shots in the loss, only the second time in his career that he’s been called for such a heavy workload. But offense has been Colgate’s bread and butter, and the weird thing is that it seems to be working — Tyson Spink leads the ECAC with six goals and five assists this season. But somehow that isn’t translating into wins.
Colgate was 0-for-5 on the power play, while Northeastern held a 43-17 shot advantage. For an unranked team against Colgate’s highly touted offensive prowess, Saturday’s contest looked like a mismatch. Then again, maybe not.
2. Clarkson, St. Lawrence find ways to score
A traditionally defense-first, grind-it-out type of team, Clarkson seems to be finding its offensive groove early and often this season, with two wins against RIT and Niagara to start the year 2-0.
But what’s more impressive is the way the Golden Knights are winning games. Through two games, they have accumulated a 10-1 goal differential, including four power-play goals to lead the ECAC early this season. A.J. Fossen leads Clarkson with two goals and one assist, while Brett Gervais has one goal and three assists.
After a 6-0 victory (vs. RIT) and a 4-1 victory on Saturday (vs. Niagara), Clarkson looks like it has found some offense that can, perhaps, carry it to the next level.
St. Lawrence has similarly found its offense, scoring 10 goals this weekend from nine different players in two victories vs. Niagara (5-2 on Friday) and RIT (5-1 on Saturday).
3. Union splits on weekend
After playing to a 1-1 tie against Sacred Heart on Friday, Union mustered its offense and followed goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos to a 5-3 victory over No. 3 ranked Boston University — scoring three times in the third period to secure the win.
It was Union coach Rick Bennett’s 100th career victory, which was even more impressive in that it came against such a highly ranked opponent. The Dutchmen handed BU a loss on its season opener, powered by Nick DeSimone, Sebastian Vidmar and Eli Lichtenwald, who put Union ahead just three minutes into the third period. If the win Saturday was a sign of things to come, this Union team may be one to watch down the road.
