College Hockey Update:  Last week presented a top twelve matchup as Minnesota edged up to #4 in the poll after sweeping Penn State, which knocked Penn State down two spots to #11.  Elsewhere, Denver edged up to #1 after they convincingly swept Miami of Ohio, also on Minnesota-Duluth’s weekend which edged them down to #2 after they managed a win but then settled on a tie with Colorado College.  Harvard held at #3 on it’s wins over Brown and Yale, as well as on its Beanpot win on Monday, February 13 over Boston University, after the Feb. 13 poll came out, and UMass-Lowell edged up to #5 after beating UMass-Amherst.  Boston University dropped down two notches to #6 after settling on a tie and a win against New Hampshire, as well as on its Beanpot loss to Harvard on February 13th; Union College held at #7 on its wins over Quinnipiac and Princeton; and Western Michigan held at #8 after sweeping North Dakota.  Cornell jumped up three slots to #9 after beating St. Lawrence and managing a tie with Clarkson, Providence held at #10 after splitting with Notre Dame, and Ohio State moved up two spots and re-entered the top twelve at #12 after they swept Michigan State.

Last weekend Cornell had huge help from its freshman forward Mitch Vanderlaan, of Hanwell, New Brunswick, who scored a goal in his team’s 4-2 win over St. Lawrence Friday night, and scored a goal and added an assist in his team’s 3-3 tie with Clarkson Saturday night.  The 5′ 7″ 178lb forward is first on his team in goals scored, with twelve, and is tied for third in assists, with eleven.  Cornell is on a seven game unbeaten streak, during which they’ve gone 5-0-2, and they are 9-2-3 in their last fourteen games.  With the results of last weekend, Cornell is now assured of a top four finish in the ECAC conference, and therefore a bye in next weekend’s first round of the ECAC Tournament, which involves the bottom eight teams.  Cornell is 17-6-4,  is ranked #9 in the poll, and will finish its regular season ECAC schedule this weekend when they host RPI Friday night, and host #7 Union College Saturday night.

Last Friday night at Appleton Arena on the St. Lawrence campus in Canton, NY, it looked like a Cornell blowout as they came to life in the last seven minutes of the first period when Matt Buckles scored to put Cornell up 1-0.  Just a minute later, Beau Starrett scored to make it 2-0, and then with only four seconds remaining in the period, a Mitch Vanderlaan goal made it 3-0.  The first half of the second was scoreless (as had been the first half of the first), and then St. Lawrence made a game of it with a goal at the midway point, and then again, converting on a power play opportunity just two minutes later, and in a bit more than a blink, it was a 3-2 game.  But the last eight minutes of the second were scoreless, and three minutes into the third, a goal by Jake Weidner made it 4-2, Cornell, for the final score of the game.

Saturday night at Cheel Arena on the Clarkson campus in Potsdam, NY, Jake Wiedner scored (assist by Mitch Vanderlaan) nine minutes into the first period to put Cornell up 1-0, but Clarkson responded five minutes later to tie it at one apiece.  In the second, Clarkson scored four minutes into the period to take the 2-1 lead, and it stayed that way for the remainder of the second, and the first thirteen minutes of the third, when Mitch Vanderlaan scored to tie it at two apiece.  Four minutes later Matthew Nuttle put Cornell up 3-2, but only a minute later a Clarkson goal tied it at three apiece, where it stood to the end of regulation and to the end of the OT period as well, each team taking home a tie.

This weekend is the last weekend of regular season play for Atlantic Hockey, the ECAC, Hockey East, and the WCHA.  In the Atlantic, Canisius, Air Force, and Army are assured of first round byes, and four other teams are eligible for the other two bye spots.  In the ECAC, Harvard, Union, and Cornell are assured of first round byes, and three other teams are eligible for the remaining bye spot.  Hockey East, is a mess and only BC is assured of a first round bye, while five other teams are eligible for the other three bye spots.  In the WCHA, the top eight of the ten teams will advance to the tournament with no bye round, and all ten teams are eligible to be in the top eight.  Next weekend is the last weekend of regular season play for the NCHC, and the opening round of tournaments for conferences already done with their regular seasons.  In the NCHC, all eight teams are in the tournament with no byes.  And the following weekend is the last weekend of regular season play for the Big Ten/Six, with all others in tournament play.  In the Big Ten/Six, all six teams are in the tournament with the top two teams getting a bye in the opening round night of this three-nights-in-a-row tournament; Minnesota is assured of a first-night bye, and three other teams are eligible for the remaining bye spot.

This weekend presents the top-twelve matchup mentioned above of #7 Union College traveling to play one game Saturday night at #9 Cornell University.

This provides the top twelve teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=148 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom