ECAC Regular Season Comes to a Close for Men; Women Begin Playoffs

[1]One weekend of regular-season competition is all that remains to determine the final playoff positions heading into the men’s 2008 ECAC postseason. After a weekend sweep of Yale, 6-1, and Brown, 2-1, Harvard joined Clarkson and Princeton in the national polls as the No. 20 ranked team. The No. 12 Tigers pulled within one point of the No. 9 Golden Knights in the league standings after defeating Colgate 7-2 and Cornell 2-1 this weekend.

Clarkson skated to a 3-3 tie against Union Friday night and bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Rensselaer Saturday evening. Clarkson and Princeton are the only two teams to have secured a first-round bye at this juncture in the season.

Union’s tie at home against Clarkson and 3-1 win over St. Lawrence coupled with Cornell’s 2-1 loss to Princeton Saturday night, moves the Dutchmen into a fourth-place tie with the Red.

On the women’s side, the ECAC quarterfinals kick off tomorrow night. Harvard (26-1-0, 22-0-0 ECAC Hockey) clinched a perfect ECAC record with a weekend sweep over Colgate, 3-2, Friday night and Cornell, 4-2, Saturday afternoon.

Yale swiped the No. 7 seed from Cornell with two victories over Union and Rensselaer, while Cornell secured the eighth and final seed for the postseason despite two losses this weekend. Rensselaer dropped its final two contests to Brown, 2-1, Friday night and Yale, 3-2, Saturday afternoon, failing to make the playoffs. [2]