Cornell Moves Closer to Top Seed with Win
Dartmouth, Vermont, and Yale Sweep Weekend Games
Cornell started out strong, scoring three goals in the first 8:34 of the
game, and held on for a 4-3 win over Harvard in a battle for first place at the Bright
Hockey Center Saturday night.
The Crimson fought back hard, coming within a goal on two occasions,
but were unable to climb all the way back. Cornell's Ryan Vesce scored two goals,
including the game-winner with 57 seconds left in the second period,
while Sam Paolini added a goal and two assists. David LeNeveu recorded a
season-high 30 saves for the Big Red. Harvard's Dominic Moore recorded
assists on two second-period goals to bring Harvard back into the game.
Moore posted impressive numbers in the Crimson's two other games last
week. The senior captain picked up two goals in Harvard's 4-1 Beanpot consolation
win over Northeastern on Monday before picking up a career-high
five points (hat trick and two assists) in a 7-0 win against Colgate on Friday
night. Two of Moore's five goals were short-handed tallies.
Cornell let the Crimson come within a point in the standings following
Friday night's 2-2 tie with Brown. Bears goaltender Yann Danis stopped 44
shots, including 7 in overtime, to preserve the point. Brent Robinson scored
both goals for Brown, including the game-tying goal with 4:08 left in regulation.
Yale recorded its second straight weekend sweep, defeating Union 5-1
Friday night and Rensselaer 5-3 Saturday night on the road. Chris Higgins
had his second straight five-point weekend, notching two goals and an assist
against Union and two assists against RPI. The Bulldogs, winners of eight of
its last nine games, are now four points clear of fourth-place Brown,
Dartmouth, and Union.
Dartmouth and Vermont each swept their North Country opponents at
home. The Catamounts defeated Clarkson, 6-3, and the Big Green topped St.
Lawrence 5-3 on Friday night. Dartmouth and Vermont both won by 3-1 scorelines
on Saturday night against the Knights and Saints, respectively. Vermont
is now two points clear of ninth-place Colgate for the final home-ice spot for
the first round, and one point behind seventh-place Calrkson.
Brown made it a three-point weekend, scoring five unanswered goals in a
5-2 win over Colgate on Saturday night. Freshman Rugo Santini's first career
goal at 6:54 of the second period proved to be the game-winner for the Bears.
Union kept pace with Brown and Dartmouth in the battle for the fourth
and final first-round bye. The Dutchmen defeated Princeton, 6-2, behind twogoal
performances by Nathan Gillies and Kris Goodjohn. Princeton did pick up a
point this weekend, thanks to Matt Maglione's wrist shot at 17:42 of the third
period in Friday night's 2-2 tie with Rensselaer. The Tigers are 2-0-1 against the
Engineers this season.