ECAC First Round Capsules

It's crunch time again as the ECAC Playoffs get underway on Friday. The first round beckons, and it has been the land of upsets in recent years - three road teams won their first round series last year, and all three at least pushed their quarterfinal round to three games. In each of the last three seasons, at least two of the road teams have managed to advance to the quarterfinals, and in both of the last two playoff seasons, one of them advanced to the semifinals - so nothing can really be taken for granted this weekend.

The action's all pretty centralized - two series in southern Connecticut, two series in the North Country. In an interesting twist, three of the series feature matchups which took place in the final weekend of the season. Perhaps less than coincidentally, the higher ranked team won all three games.

Without further ado, the capsules:


#12 Brown at #5 Quinnipiac
* Bobcats won season series 3-1: tied 2-2 in Providence on Jan. 7; won 4-1 in Hamden on Feb. 24
* Last playoff meeting: 2011 First Round: Quinnipiac 2, Brown 0 (Best-of-three, Hamden, CT)
* BU in February: 0-6-2
* QU in February: 4-3-1

This is the lone rematch from last year's first round, which was the only matchup to end with the home team advancing. The Bobcats squashed the Bears with back-to-back 4-0 shutouts, torching Mike Clemente for 7 goals on 36 shots.

Taking a look at this year's series, it's hard to imagine that much is going to change, especially given the Bears' putrid record of late, having gone winless in 10 straight games to finish the season - they haven't won since completing the improbable season sweep of Union on Jan. 21, a win that had them back to .500 at 8-8-3. Since then, they are 0-8-2. They tied Princeton 2-2 on the last day of the regular season, that notably snapped a nine-game streak of giving up at least three goals per game, which underscores Brown's problems.

Quinnipiac, meanwhile, produced a strong finish and nearly nabbed themselves the first round bye for the first time since joining the league in 2005-06. They instead had to settle for a 4th-place tie and the #5 seed for the second time (which they also did in 2007, the only other ECAC team never to earn the bye, RPI, has also done that twice). The Bobcats haven't had a problem scoring goals, picking up at least two per game in 12 straight contests.

The Bobcats put 48 pucks on net against the Bears this past Friday, and put the game away with a 3-for-4 showing on the power play in the 3rd period (including a pair of 5-on-3 goals after Brendan Whittet showed Chip McDonald who was number one). They outshine Brown in every facet of the game, and unless the Bears can stay out of the box and get some good bounces, this could be a short weekend down I-95. Quinnipiac does look to have a very favorable path to Atlantic City, given that Colgate (who backed into the bye with four straight losses) would beckon next.



#11 Princeton at #6 Yale
* Bulldogs swept season series: won 6-2 in New Haven on Jan. 7; won 5-2 in Princeton on Feb. 24; teams tied 2-2 in a non-conference game in Hanover, NH on Oct. 28
* Last playoff meeting: 2008 Quarterfinals: Princeton 2, Yale 1 (Best-of-three, Princeton, NJ)
* PU in February: 1-4-2
* YU in February: 4-3-1

The former travel partners and eternal Ivy League rivals have been in some lopsided affairs recently and they've all been in Yale's favor. The Tigers haven't picked up a victory over the Bulldogs since February 21, 2009, and they haven't won in New Haven since January 11, 2008 - and bear in mind that Princeton has had at least a couple of decent seasons since then. Since their last win, Princeton has been outscored 34-17 in games against Yale.

Anyone who saw Princeton's demolition of RPI on Senior Night in Troy two weeks ago could be excused for thinking that the Tigers were an OK, if not overly stellar team, but the truth is that was by far their best game since returning from January exams. After raising eyebrows with a 3-point home weekend against Colgate and Cornell, Princeton has done practically nothing since.

On the home bench, Yale was in the middle of an awful season after dropping their fourth straight game on January 27th, but they have done rather well since, clawing back into things with five wins in their last nine games, riding into the playoffs on a four-game unbeaten streak. In each of their last five wins, the Bulldogs have scored at least five goals per game, which is very impressive. When their defense isn't up to snuff, however, things have been difficult. That's a big change from the early part of the year, when the Yale defense was airtight and the offense sometimes struggled.

The Tigers are going to have to come loaded for bear if they are to shake off their recent struggles against Yale. They came close last Friday, answering the bell twice to score tying goals in the first and second periods and even weathering a 23-shot barrage in the second period to reach the final 20 down just a goal. If the Bulldogs don't come out strong, especially on defense, a concerted effort by Princeton could put them in this series, but they are still definite underdogs.



#10 RPI at #7 Clarkson
* Golden Knights swept season series: won 4-1 in Potsdam on Nov. 4; won 3-2 in Troy on Jan. 28)
* Last playoff meeting: 2002 Consolation Game: RPI 4, Clarkson 3 (Lake Placid, NY)
* RPI in February: 3-3-2
* CU in Feburary: 3-4-1

This is an interesting matchup of teams whose fans are certainly tired, at this point, of first round exits in the playoffs. RPI has famously dropped two straight first round matchups at home and has just one playoff series win since 2004 (at Dartmouth in 2009), but Clarkson has lost four consecutive playoff series (two of which were at home, another of which was down the road at St. Lawrence) since winning the ECAC title in 2007. Something will have to give this weekend in Potsdam, where the long-time rivals meet for only the second time in a playoff series, and the first time ever in a best-of-three.

These teams couldn't have possibly finished the season any differently. The Engineers picked up the only road weekend sweep at Colgate and Cornell in the league this season to pull themselves up to the #10 seed, while Clarkson was looking at a weekend off and fell twice at Dartmouth and Harvard. They did pick up three wins in February, but all three were against teams in freefall - Brown, Princeton, and Colgate (winless in four straight).

That said, the Engineers have been hard-pressed to put together solid back-to-back weekends all year. They came closest in mid-January, sweeping Brown and Yale on the road and then beating St. Lawrence at home, but Clarkson won a hard-fought game on the second Saturday to force a home split and start RPI on 4-game winless streak.

Of all the road teams in the first round, RPI is arguably playing the best hockey overall right now. The question really is which RPI team will show up. If it's the one that swept the toughest road weekend in the league last weekend, Clarkson is in for a serious battle, especially given the closeness of these teams' last meeting. If it's the RPI that was embarrassed at Freakout and Senior Night, it's going to be a short series.



#9 Dartmouth at #8 St. Lawrence
*Season series split: Big Green won 3-1 in Canton on Nov. 18; Saints won 3-1 in Hanover on Feb. 25; teams tied 2-2 with Saints winning shootout 3-2 in a non-conference game in Hanover on Dec. 31
* Last playoff meeting: 2007 Consolation Game: St. Lawrence 5, Dartmouth 3 (Albany, NY)
* DC in February: 2-5-1
* SLU in Feburary: 6-2-0

The other matchup in the North Country promises a pretty solid amount of intrigue as well. A couple of teams that seemed to pass each other frequently in the standings going in opposite directions met on the final day of the regular season with the winner poised to host the loser in the first round in most scenarios, and that's exactly what happened after St. Lawrence's 3-1 win (with an empty netter) in Hanover this past Saturday.

St. Lawrence resurrected their season on three occasions, which speaks to their resilience. After a horrifying October against some difficult competition, the Saints came back in November with five wins in six games, then dropped four straight. That was followed up with a stretch in which St. Lawrence was unbeaten in six of seven, then they dropped four straight again, including a horrible weekend in the Capital District that saw the Saints outscored 10-0. Since then, however, they've been a tough team all around, winning six of their last eight games, dropping only a pair against two bye teams, Cornell and Harvard.

Dartmouth, meanwhile, has spent much of the season trying to keep their heads above water. After sweeping the first weekend of the regular season at home against Quinnipiac and Princeton, the Big Green have picked up at least one loss in every subsequent league weekend. They were only swept twice, however (both times at home), which kept them in the hunt for home ice up until the very last gasp. Since an overtime win over Colgate, Dartmouth has just three wins - two against last place Brown, one against Clarkson.

If one looks at the three games these teams played this year, they were all very close, so Dartmouth clearly has some hope in this series, especially if St. Lawrence takes a fourth turn for the worse and the Big Green can pick up some defense, which has been sparse of late. Momentum-wise, however, the home team looks to have a big advantage.

Men's Hockey - at Colgate & Cornell (24/25 Feb)

Road warriors indeed. For the fifth and sixth straight time away from Houston Field House, the Engineers picked up ECAC points, this time completing just their second weekend sweep of the season (the other was also on the road) with a 4-2 victory over Colgate and a 2-1 overtime win at Cornell. The surprise sweep, coming against the travel partner pairing with the most combined points on the year, followed a dismal Senior Night low, and the 4 points brought the Engineers' total in the last six road games to 11, a full 65% of their final total for the season.

Colgate

Lee/McGowan/Schroeder

Cullen/Higgs/Tinordi

Neal/Laliberte/Haggerty

Angers-Goulet/Malchuk/Rogic

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Dolan

Diebold

Marty O'Grady was sidelined all weekend after picking up an upper-body injury - Seth Appert said he would have played had it been a playoff week, but was kept out to heal in time for the playoffs instead.

Penalties were the name of the game in the first period, with referees refusing to allow either team to get into a groove, calling nine minor penalties during the first 20 minutes including four which were coincidental (and another two close enough that they were almost coincidental), creating a lot of four-on-four action. Colgate's high-flying offense unleashed 18 shots in the first period alone, but Scott Diebold turned all of them away. The Engineers, meanwhile, managed just six in the first.

Johnny Rogic picked up a kneeing penalty five minutes into the second period to give Colgate their fourth power play of the game, but it was RPI who found the back of the net with Rogic in the penalty box. Just 16 seconds after the call, Mark McGowan scored a shorthanded goal, his second goal of the year, putting RPI up 1-0.

The Engineers maintained that lead for over 10 minutes, but a bad clearance attempt by Rogic put the puck on a Colgate player's stick right in front of the net, and just like that things were even again. Things got even worse 10 seconds later when Brock Higgs was called for elbowing, and a boarding call just over a minute into the ensuing power play against Mike Bergin gave Colgate a 5-on-3 advantage, and they capitalized with goal on that extra bonus, putting the Raiders up 2-1.

Colgate took a hitting from behind penalty with just six ticks left on the clock in the second period, which looked to give the Engineers a power play to start the third period on fresh ice with plenty of time to work with. Instead, Jacob Laliberte won the faceoff in the Colgate zone, sending it back to Nick Bailen who immediately blasted a shot that was redirected in front by Laliberte to the back of the net with two seconds left in the second period. It was Laliberte's fourth goal of the season, tying the game at two and giving RPI the momentum heading into the third.

That momentum powered the Engineers off the opening faceoff of the third, as just 15 seconds into the period - technically, 17 seconds removed from the tying goal - C.J. Lee scored his team leading seventh goal of the year to give RPI the lead.

From there, it was largely the Scott Diebold show. The freshman netminder stood on his head in the third period, making a total of 19 saves on 19 shots in the final frame to give him a total of 49 for the contest to power the Engineers to victory. McGowan would pick up an insurance goal just seconds after a late RPI timeout, his third point of the game and second goal of the night to put the Engineers up 4-2 with two minutes to play.

After years of failing to win at Starr Rink, the win was the second straight for the Engineers in Hamilton.

Cornell

Lee/McGowan/Schroeder

Cullen/Higgs/Tinordi

Neal/Laliberte/Haggerty

Rogic/Malchuk/Burgdoerfer

Leonard/Bergin
Leboeuf/Bailen

Curadi/Koudys

Merriam

Despite - or possibly, because of - Diebold's amazing effort on Friday, junior Bryce Merriam returned between the pipes on Saturday for the final game of the regular season, a game Cornell needed to win in order to guarantee themselves the #1 seed in the ECAC Tournament. Size, as is always the case with Cornell, was also valued in the RPI lineup, as Pat Koudys and Greg Burgdoerfer also made return appearances.

As one would expect with a game at Cornell, the Engineers were the recipients of the only two penalties of the first period, but the Big Red were unable to get anywhere with them. Cornell looked fairly lost during the first 20 minutes, but RPI was unable to take advantage of the forecheck-induced possession advantage, pulling only a 6-5 shot edge out of the first period and nothing more.

The second period also ended with no pucks ending up in the back of the net, and unlike Friday's game, it was hardly a goaltender's duel. Merriam and Andy Iles combined for just 20 saves (10 each) in the first two periods, just two more than Diebold nabbed alone in the first period on Friday. Both teams had one power play chance in the second period, but there was still no scoring.

Cornell just missed scoring about six minutes into the period during a power play caused by a boarding call on Nick Bailen, but after a lengthy review the initial call of "no goal" was upheld. This was made moot, however, about two minutes later when the Big Red finally broke onto the scoreboard with a goal that came with 12 minutes left in regulation.

From there, Cornell was served up an additional two power plays (they had six against RPI's one on the evening), but the Big Red could not find the insurance tally and still led 1-0 as time began to get tight in the third period.

With just over two minutes left to play, the Engineers tied things up on a redirect in front by Matt Tinordi, scoring his fourth goal of the season by tipping a blast from Patrick Cullen to create the late tie for RPI.

The game went into overtime, and the Engineers took complete control during the extra period. Despite the much shorter length of the overtime period, the Engineers put an amazing seven shots on goal, which was more than either team had done in any one period all night long. In the end, good forechecking by the Engineers kept the puck in the Cornell zone late, and Patrick Cullen blasted home a Tinordi rebound into an open net to give the Engineers a 2-1 victory, their first in the regular season at Lynah Rink since the 2003-o4 season.

The victory deprived Cornell of the #1 seed, which went to Union thanks in part to the Dutchmen's victory over Colgate minutes before.

The win, coupled with Princeton's 1-1 tie against Brown that afternoon, pushed the Engineers past the Tigers into sole possession of 10th place in the final reckoning. That draws them against 7th place Clarkson, who were in 4th place coming into the week but were swept by Harvard and Dartmouth in the final weekend to drop them down. In typical ECAC fashion, only 4 points separated 3rd place (Harvard) from 8th place (St. Lawrence).

Other junk - After two weeks on top, Ferris State fell out of the #1 slot this week, falling two places to #3 (with one first place vote). Other RPI opponents ranked this week are #7 Union (up one), #8 UMass-Lowell (down one), #13 Cornell (down two), #18 Notre Dame (no change), and #19 Colorado College (down three). Also receiving votes were Quinnipiac (26), Harvard (25), and Colgate (ex-#20, 12).

The Engineers were the only team in the ECAC to pick up four points on the road against Colgate and Cornell this season.

Defense has played a huge role in RPI's success on the road. In the last six road contests, the Engineers have given up just seven goals, one less than they gave up in the Freakout! loss to Colgate alone. On the flip side, RPI has scored 15 markers of their own outside of the Capital District in 2012.

The weekend sweep guaranteed RPI its 30th consecutive season of 10 wins or more. The Engineers nabbed only 9 wins in 1981-82, and reached double digits by the slimmest of margins - exactly 10 - in 1995-96, 2006-07, and 2008-09. The team could technically still notch its second straight 20-win season, but it would require winning the national championship, and would still result in a losing overall record.

This will be Seth Appert's fourth losing season behind the bench for RPI - Dan Fridgen and Mike Addesa also had four losing seasons.

Believe it or not, RPI and Clarkson have met only once before in a playoff series. The #5 Golden Knights won a two game series in Troy over the #4 Engineers  3-1 and 6-4 to end the defending national champions' season. On the flip side, however, Clarkson is 0-2 (0-4 in games) as the #7 seed hosting the #10 seed.  Clarkson fell 3-2 and 6-1 to Vermont in 2003 and lost 2-1 and 6-4 to Harvard in 2011.

RPI was a Dartmouth loss (to Clarkson, on Friday) away from skating away with their best possible result coming into the weekend. That result would have put the Engineers in a tie with the Big Green, which they would have won based on a better record against the Top 4 teams (which would have seen Clarkson as #4) thanks to RPI's win over Cornell. That would have had the #9 Engineers playing at #8 St. Lawrence rather than at Clarkson.

Final ECAC Standings

1. Union - 32 pts (14-4-4)
2. Cornell - 30 pts (12-4-6)
3. Harvard - 25 pts (8-5-9)

4. Colgate - 23 pts (11-10-1)

5. Quinnipiac - 23 pts (9-8-5)
6. Yale - 22 pts (10-10-2)

7. Clarkson - 22 pts (9-9-4)

8. St. Lawrence - 21 pts (10-11-1)

9. Dartmouth - 19 pts (8-11-3)

10. RPI - 17 pts (7-12-3)

11. Princeton - 16 pts (6-12-4)

12. Brown - 14 pts (5-13-4)

RPI at #20 Colgate
ECAC Game - Starr Rink (Hamilton, NY)
2/24/12- 7:00pm
RESULT: RPI 4, Colgate 2

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Albany Times Union

RECORD: 9-21-3 (6-12-3 ECAC, 15 pts)

RPI at #11 Cornell
ECAC Game - Lynah Rink  (Ithaca, NY)
2/25/12 - 7:00pm
RESULT:  RPI 2, Cornell 1 (OT)

BOX SCORES

College Hockey Stats

USCHO

RECAPS

RPI

Troy Record

Ithaca Journal

Cornell Daily Sun

RECORD: 10-21-3 (7-12-3 ECAC, 17 pts)

Upcoming games

02 Mar - at Clarkson (ECAC First Round, Game 1)

03 Mar - at Clarkson (ECAC First Round, Game 2)

04 Mar - at Clarkson (ECAC First Round, Game 3, if necessary)

09 Mar - at #7 Union, #13 Cornell, or Harvard (ECAC Quarterfinals, Game 1, if qualified)

10 Mar - at #7 Union, #13 Cornell, or Harvard (ECAC Quarterfinals, Game 2, if qualified)

2012 Playoff Matchups

With the seeds and first round playoff matchups set, here's a quick look at the first round pairings and potential second round matchups based on each possible outcome next weekend.

The Bloody End

The ECAC regular season is over.

RPI (7-12-3) finishes alone in 10th place. They will travel to #7 Clarkson for the first round of the ECAC playoffs.

Union (14-4-4) wins the top seed for the second consecutive season thanks to the combination of their 5-3 win over Colgate and RPI's 2-1 win over Cornell.

Union, Cornell, Harvard, and Colgate are the top seeds and have a bye to the quarterfinals in two weeks.

First round matchups:
#12 Brown at #5 Quinnipiac (QU won season series, 3-1)
#11 Princeton at #6 Yale (YU swept season series)
#10 RPI at #7 Clarkson (CU swept season series)
#9 Dartmouth at #8 St. Lawrence (SLU won season series, 3-1)

Where We Stand

There is one game remaining in the ECAC schedule.

RPI (6-12-3) is tied with Princeton (6-12-3) for 10th place in the ECAC, but sit as the 11th seed at present due to Princeton's head-to-head sweep this season.

The Engineers will finish as either the 10th seed or the 11th seed, and it comes down to tomorrow's games (RPI at Cornell, Brown at Princeton). If the RPI picks up more points than the Tigers, they are the 10th seed. If not, they are the 11th seed. This is because the Engineers cannot lose a tiebreaker with Brown (5-13-3).

Brown would become the 11th seed with a win over Princeton and an RPI win or tie over Cornell, due to a guarantee of having more points against the Top 4 no matter who they are (6 points already against the only guaranteed Top 4 teams, Union and Cornell). That would leave Princeton as the 12th seed.

RPI could potentially travel to any of Colgate, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Harvard, Yale, or St. Lawrence for the first round. Yes, that is half the league, but those are the teams that could potentially finish in the 6th or 7th position, which are the places the Engineers would end up. They cannot potentially travel to St. Lawrence without being the 10th seed, and could not travel to Colgate or Harvard as the 10th seed. Anything else is possible.

Cornell (12-3-6) and Union (13-4-4) are tied for first place. The Big Red win the tiebreaker with three points against the Dutchmen this season. Cornell can clinch the #1 seed with a win over RPI. Union can clinch it with a win over Colgate AND a Cornell loss or tie, OR a tie with Colgate AND a Cornell loss.

There is a big mess for 3rd through 7th, with all teams involved holding between 21 and 23 points.

The final two byes will go to two out of Colgate, Harvard, Clarkson, and Quinnipiac. Yale (10-10-1) cannot earn a first round bye because Clarkson and Harvard play each other tomorrow and they cannot win a head to head tie with Colgate for 4th.

St. Lawrence (9-11-1) wins a head-to-head tiebreaker with Yale and would be the 7th seed with a win and a Yale loss. Dartmouth (8-10-3) loses a head-to-head tiebreaker with Yale, and therefore will be either the 8th seed or the 9th seed. As the 8th seed, they would host St. Lawrence. As the 9th seed, they would travel to either St. Lawrence or Yale.

A Dartmouth win or tie tomorrow against St. Lawrence would make Dartmouth the 8th seed and St. Lawrence the 9th seed - which means the Saints and Big Green would play at least three and possibly four consecutive games against each other at Thompson Arena.

The Beginning of the End

It's safe to say that this is a really, really forgettable year. The women are already done until September (although for the last month or so, this weekend was probably as far as they were going to go since beating Cornell twice was always kind of a dicey proposition anyway), while the men are drawing dead with two games left to play - they will be on the road in the first round regardless of what happens this weekend, although they can influence whether they play a tougher first round opponent or a comparatively easier one.

As of now, the Engineers could potentially travel to any of Colgate, Clarkson, Harvard, Quinnipiac, Yale, or St. Lawrence next weekend. Does it really matter? Probably not. Clarkson and Quinnipiac swept RPI, Colgate (tonight's opponent) left them a bloody mess at Freakout, Harvard ties everyone, St. Lawrence is this year's Jekyll and Hyde, and RPI always seems to give Yale a good game.

This has been a most frustrating season - and I'll write about it a little more next week - but the end is in sight, good or bad.

Get pumped up, if you can.

Tough Crowd

Really not much to add today. As a quick note for those not following us on Twitter (and really, if you're not following us on Twitter... why not?), the Engineers added a pair of recruits this week, which we expect should finish out recruiting for 2012-13 with the possible exception of another potential forward. Here's what the Class of 2012 looks like, with the one question mark on 2012 or 2013 in italics. We've linked to Reilly Hamilton's stat-shot of the two new recruits as well, you can find the rest at our yearly pipeline piece that we did last month.

Forwards
Mike Zalewski (Vernon, BCHL)
Mark Miller (Omaha, USHL)
Riley Bourbonnais (Cedar Rapids, USHL)
Travis Fulton (Vaughan, OJHL)
Milos Bubela (Dubuque, USHL)

Defensemen
Chris Bradley (Youngstown, USHL)
Craig Bokenfohr (Camrose, AJHL)

Goaltenders
Jason Kasdorf (Des Moines, USHL)

That's about it for today. As a parting gift, please, enjoy this... thing. Consider it an early pumpup present.