The men’s hockey team is off to a strong start this season and is currently ranked second in the ECAC Hockey due to senior leadership from forwards Matt Arhontas and Mike Kramer and defender Cam Ritchie. Princeton (5-4 overall, 5-2 ECAC Hockey) will face league opponents Clarkson and St. Lawrence at home at Baker Rink this weekend. Here is a look around the league to see how the other competitors rank up this season.
No. 1 Dartmouth (6-3-1, 5-2-1)
Currently sitting in first place, the Big Green are in the middle of a significant turnaround from last year when the team finished its season near the bottom of the rankings. Dartmouth got off to a faulty 1-2-1 start but has since heated up and won five of its past six competitions. The Big Green recently defeated Princeton 3-2 at Baker Rink.
No. 3 Yale (8-1, 4-0)
Yale posted the league’s best regular-season record last year and has picked up right where it left off. The Bulldogs are undefeated in league play this season, and their overpowering offense leads the conference with 5.22 goals per game. The Bulldogs have already defeated the Tigers twice this year, once in league play and once in a non-league tournament. Forward Broc Little was recently named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and tops the league in both points and goals. Denny Kearney, tied for second in the league with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists, and Brian O’Neill have provided Little with some offensive support.
No. 4 Quinnipiac (7-6-1, 3-3-1)
Quinnipiac has had a somewhat erratic campaign this season, managing to maintain a winning record while having scored nine fewer goals than it has allowed. That statistic is in large part because the Bobcats have allowed five goals during three separate games this season.
No. 5 Union (7-2-3, 2-1-1)
Union has not had much of a chance to prove itself in conference play yet but has compiled an impressive overall record. The Dutchmen suffered a tough 4-3 overtime loss against Rensselaer recently but have dominated non-conference opponents, outscoring rivals 40-17. Union has allowed the fewest goals per game of any ECAC Hockey foe.
No. 5 Brown (3-2-3, 2-1-1)
The Bears have had the fewest competitions of any team in the league thus far. Nevertheless, the team has already put itself in a precarious position: It holds the third-highest goals-per-game average but also allows the most shots on goal per game of any team in the league. It will be interesting to see what happens when one of the best offenses in the league squares off against Union, which is also tied for fifth place and boasts one of the strongest defenses in the ECAC Hockey.
No. 7 Clarkson (7-5-2, 2-2-1)
After a slow start to the ECAC Hockey season that included a 6-1 loss to Cornell and a 7-1 loss to Dartmouth, Clarkson won its last two league games to move up from the bottom of the standings. Goalie Paul Karpowich has recorded 390 saves and a 2.55 goals-against average. On the offensive end, Clarkson has received contributions from a range of sources, though the team is currently eighth in the league in goals per game.
No. 8 Rensselaer (7-3-3, 2-2)
The Engineers have split their first four games of league play, defeating Union and league-leader Dartmouth while dropping games to Union and Harvard. Forward Chase Polacek leads Rensselaer with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists. Nick Bailen (five goals, 10 assists) and Tyler Helfrich (six goals, eight assists) have teamed with Polacek to form one of the most dominant lines in the league. In addition, goalie Alan York has provided a steadying presence in the net with a .930 save percentage.
No. 9 St. Lawrence (2-7-3, 2-3)
St. Lawrence is still searching for its first non-conference win, and it is difficult to tell from its brief ECAC Hockey play whether the Saints will be capable of once again reaching the semifinals of the ECAC tournament. St. Lawrence hopes to perform better at Baker Rink on Saturday than it did last year, when the Tigers dealt the Saints a 5-2 drubbing.
No. 10 Cornell (3-6, 2-4)
The Big Red entered the ECAC Hockey tournament as the No. 2 seed last year before going on to win the championship in convincing fashion. This season has been a different story, as the team sandwiched its only back-to-back victories with two three-game losing streaks. A confidence-boosting 4-3 victory against league cellar dweller Colgate could turn things around, though.
No. 11 Harvard (2-6, 2-6)
Harvard has fallen even further since its ninth-place finish last season and is struggling mightily. The Crimson began with a close loss to Union and rebounded nicely with consecutive wins against conference opponents Rensselaer and St. Lawrence. But the team has since dropped five straight games, including two brutal losses against Dartmouth this weekend in which the Crimson were outscored 13-4. Harvard has had trouble finding the net, scoring just 1.88 goals per game.
No. 12 Colgate (2-9-1, 0-5-1)
After dominating last year, Colgate is experiencing the biggest backslide of any ECAC Hockey team and is still after its first conference win. The Raiders are on a seven-game skid during which they have been outscored 30-16. The team has struggled with its goalkeeping and currently has the worst save percentage of any conference team.
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