A 2-1 loss at Harvard capped off the regular season for the Clarkson University Hockey team on Saturday night in Cambridge, MA. The Golden Knights, who finished in eighth place in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL) standings, will return home to Cheel Arena this coming weekend to battle Princeton in the opening round of the conference playoffs.
ECACHL TICKET INFORMATION
Clarkson, which closed out the 2005-06 regular season with just three wins on the road and just one win in ECACHL action away from Potsdam, owns a 16-15-3 overall record and a 9-11-2 conference mark. The Knights are 12-2-2 at Cheel Arena.
At Bright Hockey Center, Harvard scored just 38 seconds into the regular season final en route to handing Clarkson its 11th straight loss on the road. The Crimson controlled play in the second period, out shooting the Green and Gold 19-4, and went on top 2-0 with a power-play marker at 18:43 of the middle stanza.
Clarkson, which was shut out in Cambridge last year, finally got on the scoreboard against Harvard on its home ice when sophomore Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY) tallied with the man advantage early in the third. Zalewski, who has scored all eight of his goals on the power play this season, a team-high, connected in front off a pass from behind the net from classmate David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) at 4:12 to give the Knights life.
Clarkson continued to pressure over the final minutes, with a 13-11 shot advantage in the stanza, but was not able get the equalizer, despite pulling sophomore goaltender David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) for the extra attacker with 82 seconds remaining.
Harvard held a 39-23 shot margin, including a 28-10 advantage through the first 40 minutes. Making his sixth straight start in the Knights’ goal, Leggio posted 37 saves, including 18 in the second period, matching a career-high for saves in a period.
Both teams were 1-of-6 on the power play.
ECACHL PLAYOFFS SET
The final games of the regular season have concluded, and the playoff field is now se for the upcoming ECAC Hockey League Men's Championship. Dartmouth, Colgate, Cornell and Harvard have all earned first-round byes, while St. Lawrence, Rensselaer, Union and Clarkson will host the opening series.
Dartmouth and Colgate tied for the regular season title, claiming a share of the William J. Cleary Cup, however the Big Green won the tiebreakers and enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The Raiders have the No. 2 spot, followed by Cornell at No. 3 and Harvard at No. 4. The top four seeds receive byes for the first round.
St. Lawrence finished fifth in the standings and will play host to No. 12 Brown next weekend. Rensselaer and Union tied for sixth place in the standings, however the Dutchmen hold the tiebreaker and take the No. 6 seed. The Engineers will be the No. 7 seed, while Clarkson has the No. 8 spot.
The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-three series played at the home arena of the higher seed. The winners will advance to the quarterfinals (also a best-of-three series), March 10-12, taking on the top four teams in the league.
Here's a look at the first round matchups:
No. 12 Brown at No. 5 St. Lawrence
No. 11 Yale at No. 6 Union
No. 10 Quinnipiac at No. 7 Rensselaer
No. 9 Princeton at No. 8 Clarkson
The championship round takes place March 17-18 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y. The semifinals will take place the 17th, while the third-place and championship final is played the 18th.
