Crimson Stays in Second Place In ECACs

Harvard men's hockey suffered a down-to-the-wire overtime loss against fourth-ranked Boston College on Saturday.

The Crimson (4-2-1, 3-1-1 ECAC) did not slip in the conference standings after the non-league loss, however. Harvard still occupies second place in the conference, trailing No. 15 Vermont, who dropped two non-conference games to inferior teams over the extended holiday weekend.

Maine 1, Dartmouth 2

The weekend saw some other exciting upsets, beginning with Dartmouth's 2-1 victory over Maine.

Dartmouth (2-5, 1-3) shocked the No. 11 Black Bears Saturday night, netting a goal in the final minutes of overtime to pull out the upset.

The goal came with 1:20 left in the sudden death period, as a pair of sophomore defenseman connected to sink Maine (5-4-3, 2-1-1 Hockey East). Pete Summerfelt took a blue line pass from Trevor Byrne, and then stepped up to rip a 35-foot game winner past Maine junior Mike Morrison for the victory.

Morrison made 36 saves on the night, but Big Green sophomore Nick Boucher got the win, making 31 saves, 12 coming in the third period.

Maine 6, Brown 2

Before its stunning loss to Dartmouth, Maine tore through another ECAC cellar dweller, beating Brown 6-2 in a Friday night contest that ended differently for the Black Bears.

The Bears (1-6, 0-5) were no match for non-conference Maine, as the Black Bears scored at 14:45 in the first period and unleashed 16 shots in the second period. Maine's Matt Yeats allowed two goals out of the 17 shots he faced.

Maine junior Nick Dimitrakos scored two goals in that period, one less than the amount of shots Brown was allowed to get off in the stanza.

UM-Mankato 7, Vermont 5

While the bottom of the ECAC was battling Maine, the top of the conference hosted the Sheraton/Howard Bank Hockey Classic.

Vermont was beaten in the opening round of the Classic on its own ice Saturday night, falling by a score of 7-5 to the University of Minnesota- Mankato (6-7-0, 5-7-0 WCHA).

The Mavericks snapped the Catamounts 5-game winning streak, outscoring Vermont 4-2 in the third period.

Maverick senior forward Ryan Severson scored twice in the final period, and got some help from nationally acclaimed freshman forward Tim Jackman to put MSU ahead for good.

Jackman stuffed in a rebound off of Cats goalie Andrew Allen to seal the victory for MSU, sending Vermont off to face Mavericks' conference rival Minnesota-Duluth (2-10, 1-7 WCHA).

Minnesota-Duluth 7, Vermont 3

The Cats fared no better against Duluth with a 7-3 loss to Minnesota-Duluth for their second loss in as many nights to a WCHA foe.

The Bulldogs from the Midwest took control of a back and forth game early in the second period as senior center Mark Gunderson settled a loose puck off of Allen and put it in the net for a 4-2 lead that the Bulldogs would not relinquish.

Upstart Duluth would go on to claim second place in the tournament, eventually losing to No. 5 New Hampshire in the championship game.

Despite Vermont's two disappointing non-conference losses, the Cats still possess a narrow one-point lead over the Crimson.

Harvard, in turn, leads three teams by the same margin.

Yale 1, Princeton 3

Two of those teams faced each other on Saturday, as No. 14 Yale fell to Princeton, 3-1, at home. The other team, Union, had the weekend off.

The Tigers (3-2-3, 2-2-2) claimed revenge for the Bulldogs' 4-3 victory earlier in the week.

Princeton scored first, beating screened Eli goalie Dan Lombard minutes before the end of the first stanza. The Tigers' game-winner came on a power play at the close of the second, when senior forward Chris Corrinet banged home a rebound just

outside the crease with 2:40 left.

The Tigers' junior goalie Dave Stathos made 31 saves in the contest, with the only mishap coming on a one-timer from Eli Jeff Hamilton, as Yale began the third period on a power play.

Mercyhurst 0, RPI 5

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) took out Mercyhurst College, 5-0, on Saturday, registering second shutout of the year.

The Engineers (5-3-0, 1-2-0) are tied for ninth in the ECAC, but appeared to be on the move against the Lakers (5-2-2, 5-0-1 MAAC).

Freshman goalie Nathan Marsters posted his second shutout of the young season for RPI, stopping 22 saves in the win.

Sophomore forward Mark Cavoise provided all the offense RPI would need, assisting on the Engineers' first goal and scoring the second. Cavoise put a rebound past the Lakers' goalie late in the second period, shooting the puck from his stomach to earn the tally.

Niagara 4, Colgate 2

Tied with RPI at the ninth spot in the ECAC is Colgate, who fell to Niagara, 4-2, in the first round of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

The Red Raiders had 73 shot attempts, but still fell short, as Niagara's freshman goalie Rob Bonk made 36 saves to secure the win for the Purple Eagles.

Niagara's freshman forward Nick Karmanyos netted the eventual game-winner at 4:59 of the third period, just minutes after Colgate drew within one.