When Union prepares to play in the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament next weekend, it will wonder why it didn't do a better job of getting that first-round bye and earning some time off to rest those nagging injuries that build up over the season.
But there are six games which, in my mind, stand out.
1) At Brown (Dec. 5): There is no excuse for losing to the worst team in the ECACH. The Dutchmen surrender three power-play goals, and give the Bears their first win of the season.
2 and 3) The North Country weekend (Jan. 23-24): The Dutchmen fell behind Clarkson and St. Lawrence by two goals in each game, came back to tie, but fell apart.
In the Clarkson game, the Dutchmen gave up two goals in the final minute of the first period and fell behind, 3-1. They controlled the play over the next two periods and tied the score. But in overtime, the Dutchmen played like they did in the first period — tentatively. A turnover led to the game-winning goal.
The Dutchmen overcame a 2-0 deficit at St. Lawrence the next night, but the Saints rolled to a 5-2 win. A four-point weekend went down the drain.
4) At Harvard (Jan. 30): With a chance to sweep the Crimson for the first time, the Dutchmen came out flat again. Down, 2-0, they came back to make it a one-goal game, but an empty-net goal secured a 3-1 Harvard win. A ticked off Union coach Nate Leaman said, "Catchup hockey is losing hockey." Another two points gone.
5) Vs. Yale (Feb. 13): Friday the 13th proved to be bad for the Dutchmen. Despite outshooting the league-leading Bulldogs, 36-15, the Dutchmen drop a 4-2 decision.
6) At Colgate (Friday): Union takes 1-0 lead in the first period, and could have had more if not for the outstanding play of goalie Charles Long (and a couple of goal posts). The Raiders rally to tie it with 5:48 left, Kelly Zajac gives Union the lead with 2:46 left but Austin Smith ties it again for Colgate with 39 seconds left. The Dutchmen do earn a point with a 2-2 tie, but know they should have had two.
You add it all up, and that's 11 points the Dutchmen lost. That's the difference between fighting for home ice in the first round of the tournament and clinching a first-round bye.
Home ice for the first round isn't a sure bet for the Dutchmen. Union is tied with Clarkson for the eighth place, the final home ice spot. The two teams meet in the regular-season finale Saturday at Messa Rink. First, the Dutchmen must contend with a St. Lawrence team that scored seven goals Saturday against Dartmouth.
The Dutchmen need to start off well in these games. And that will mean the seniors, who will playing in their final regular-season home games, to step up and show leadership. If they want another weekend at home next week, they need to inspire the team.
Video review
I have video interviews from Union's games over the weekend. To see them, click
here.
Daily Gazette ECAC Hockey Team of the Week — Cornell
The last time I awarded this to Cornell, the Big Red promptly went into a 2-5-1 funk, including losses in three straight heading into last weekend.
The Big Red team I saw Saturday at Lynah Rink looked like the team I saw a month earlier at Messa Rink. They were fast and aggressive. And they got the best measure of revenge against RPI a night earlier for what they perceived was a dirty hit by Engineers defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer on Big Red defenseman Taylor Davenport by scoring three first-period goals.
Injuries certainly played a role in the Big Red's woes. But they seem to be back on track now, and will be a dangerous team heading into the postseason.
Van der Bliek honored
RPI's Sonja van der Bliek was named ECAC Hockey goalie of the week Monday.
Van der Bliek led the Engineers to two wins that put them as the sixth seed heading into this weekend's ECACH tournament quarterfinals. She made 26 saves, including 14 in the second period, to lead the Engineers to a 3-1 victory over Cornell on Friday. She followed that up with a 30-save effort in a 4-1 win over Colgate on Saturday.
The Engineers travel to Princeton to face the third-seeded Tigers in the best-of-three series starting Friday.
Ex-Union player Beal coaching well
Former Union player Joel Beal is coaching the Schenectady Youth Hockey Association's Bantam A team, and he has guided them to the Northern Tier II Youth Hockey Sectional Tournament on Saturday, which will be hosted by SYHA.
The Bantam "A" team won a presectional tournament over the weekend. It's the first time a Schenectady Bantam "A" team advanced this far since 2001.
Beal's assistant coach is another former Dutchmen, Glenn Sanders. The players are Kyle Andolina, Nick Bonanza, Tom Carrigan, Chris de la Rocha, Matt DiVietro, Alex Fraser, Brock Gingell, Brandon Glasser, Clark Grabb, Aaron Hull, Jake Lahut, Nick Makarowsky, Lucas Maloney, Luke Miller, Peter Mrazik, Devon Patrick, Justin Peretti and Shane Shields.
Also, a Slap Schotts salute to SYHA's Squirt "A" team, which finished second in its presectional tournament. This is the first Schenectady Squirt A team to advance to the Sectional Tournament since 2000. The tournament will be in Glens Falls.
The players are James Blanchfield, Marisa DiVietro, Peter Galica, Zack LeBlanc, Alec Lind, Jack Lynch, Evan Maloney, Cannon Martucci, Logan Oliver, Zachary Peretti, Bobby Puleski and Mathew Russell.
The polls
The hockey polls have split on their top team.
Despite two ties against Hockey East-rival Northeastern, Boston University remains on top in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports top-20 poll. Notre Dame takes over the top spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine top-15 poll.
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week
1 Boston University (31) 23-5-4 981 1
2 Notre Dame (19) 25-5-3 968 2
3 Michigan 24-10-0 863 3
4 Northeastern 20-8-4 850 4
5 Denver 19-9-4 790 8
6 Princeton 20-7-0 673 10
7 Miami 18-9-5 666 5
8 North Dakota 20-11-3 637 9
9 Vermont 17-8-5 635 6
10 Cornell 17-6-4 540 11
11 Yale 19-6-2 532 7
12 New Hampshire 16-9-5 513 12
13 Colorado College 16-9-8 352 18
14 Minnesota-Duluth 16-9-7 336 15
15 Ohio State 19-11-4 281 16
16 Wisconsin 16-13-3 227 13
17 St. Lawrence 17-11-4 191 20
18 Minnesota 13-11-6 145 14
19 St. Cloud State 17-13-2 122 19
20 Mass.-Lowell 15-13-2 62 NR
Others receiving votes: Air Force 50, Boston College 41, Alaska 22, RIT 16, Dartmouth 7.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2008-09 Record Weeks in Top 15
1 University of Notre Dame, 494 (18) 2 25-5-3 20
2 Boston University, 492 (16) 1 23-5-4 20
3 University of Michigan, 415 3 24-10-0 20
4 Northeastern University, 409 5 20-8-4 17
5 University of Denver, 385 8 19-9-4 20
6 Princeton University, 298 10 20-7-0 19
7 University of North Dakota, 291 9 20-11-3 11
8 University of Vermont, 256 6 17-8-5 15
9 Miami (Ohio) University, 250 4 18-9-5 20
10 University of New Hampshire, 188 12 16-9-5 19
11 Cornell University, 177 11 17-6-4 14
12 Yale University, 171 7 19-6-2 4
13 Colorado College, 87 NR 16-9-8 16
14 University of Minnesota Duluth, 77 NR 16-9-7 2
15 The Ohio State University, 38 15 19-11-4 7
Others receiving votes: St. Lawrence University, 25; University of Minnesota, 13; U.S. Air Force Academy, 8; Rochester Institute of Technology, 2; St. Cloud State University, 2; University of Wisconsin, 2.
