Men's hockey heads to Dartmouth and Vermont in ECAC stretch run

As the end of the men's hockey season approaches, Princeton's fate will very likely be controlled by two teams heading in opposite directions.

Second-ranked Dartmouth and last place Vermont will take on Princeton, Yale and St. Lawrence, the three teams fighting for the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Coast Athletic Conference. Points earned — or lost — in these games could mean the difference between who advances — and, of course, who doesn't.

This weekend, Princeton will face off against Dartmouth on Friday night and Vermont on Saturday night. Princeton stands in a tie for ninth place in the conference, while the top ten teams make the conference's championship tournament at the beginning of March. The final two-day road trip, could make or break the Tigers hopes.

The last time Princeton missed the ECAC tournament was in 1988-89, when the team finished a dismal 4-17-1 in-conference. The ECAC currently has 12 teams — only the bottom two teams miss the playoffs. The Tigers had stayed nearly locked in the middle of the pack coming into February, but after losing three out of five games to open up the month, it has since fallen to ninth. The Tigers are currently tied with St. Lawrence at 15 points, ahead of tenth-place Yale by just three.

Currently, the team is the master of its own destiny, and two strong weekends should be enough to secure that final spot in the tourney. However, strong, consistent play has been hard to come by for the team this season — the longest winning streak the Tigers have had all year is one. Moreover, the bottom half of the ECAC standings are a mess heading into the last two weeks of the season, and a handful of points in the last games might go a long way. Yet missed points might seal a teams fate — or its doom.

After playing Dartmouth and Vermont this weekend, the Tigers host Brown, currently seventh in the league, just three points ahead of Princeton, and Harvard, tied for third in the league. Yale finishes off its season playing the same opponents as does Princeton, while St. Lawrence plays league-leader Cornell and fifth-place Colgate before ending against none-other than Dartmouth and Vermont.

Hence, Dartmouth and Vermont could have a lot to say on who advances.

Princeton beat Vermont in mid-November, 5-4, on two goals and an assist by freshman forward Neil Stevenson-Moore, but followed up the win with a loss to Dartmouth, 5-2. Yale lost to Dartmouth by the same score, and tied Vermont, 4-4, while St. Lawrence swept its Vermont-Dartmouth weekend earlier in the year.

Harvard and Brown are also important players in the final two weeks of the season, for the two compete against Union — just two points ahead of Princeton, in the eighth spot in the league — Princeton and Yale in the final two weeks as well. Brown's spot in the playoffs, too, isn't entirely secured — they stand just three points ahead of Princeton.

And though beggars can't be choosers, Princeton — and any of the teams fighting for the final playoff spots — certainly hopes to finish any place but tenth. The tenth place team will most likely play Cornell, who stands seven points ahead of Dartmouth. Cornell, down to its last four games, needs just one win to secure the top position. The Big Red, who beat the Tigers in the first round of last year's ECAC tournament, have lost just three ECAC games this season and are the sure favorite going into the March tourney. The winner of the tournament gains an automatic berth to the national tournament held in late March.

With a potential of eight points to be won among the five teams — Brown, Union, Princeton, St. Lawrence, and Yale — and just six points separating these teams, there is a lot that could happen in the final fortnight.