The Times Union Center in Albany was the site of this past weekend’s men’s ECAC Championship games, featuring the Yale University Bulldogs, St. Lawrence University Saints, Cornell University Big Red, and Princeton University Tigers. On Saturday night, Yale skated off the ice as the 2009 ECAC Tournament Champions, claiming that title along with their ECAC regular-season title. This year marked the first time that Yale had ever won the conference’s postseason tournament.
Yale reached the final by first beating St. Lawrence on a stunning comeback in the semifinals. Down by a score of 3-2 late in the third period, Yale pulled goaltender Alec Richards to gain the extra attacker. From the faceoff in the St. Lawrence zone with only 1:28 to go in the game, Yale junior Mark Arcobello tipped in a rebound to tie the game. Seeking to avoid an overtime contest, Yale took a 4-3 lead only seconds after the tying goal. With St. Lawrence attacking in the Yale zone, the Bulldogs were able to break out on a two-on-one against the Saints. Taking a pass from sophomore Brendan Mason, senior Matt Nelson pushed the game-winner past St. Lawrence goalie Alex Petizian.
The evening’s second semifinal saw another last-minute comeback, this time by the Big Red at the expense of the Tigers. Princeton held the 3-1 lead entering the final three minutes of regulation play, but Cornell senior Evan Barlow went coast-to-coast on the Princeton defense after minor penalties left each side with four men on the ice. Barlow faked to his right on the breakaway before besting Princeton goalie Zane Kalemba stick-side. The game-tying tally came from Riley Nash on a scrum in front of Princeton’s net, with Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens pulled for the extra skater and only 25 seconds remaining.
The first overtime saw a defensive battle, and playoff rules dictated that the game continue in overtime until a winner was decided. That came 9:54 into the second overtime frame, as Cornell junior Colin Greening blasted a shot through traffic off a rebound that went top-shelf on Kalemba, giving Cornell the 4-3 overtime win and a spot in Saturday’s final against Yale.
The final promised to be a premier college hockey game, with two of the nation’s top goaltenders squaring off. However, only Yale showed up ready to play and with a hot offense; Richards shut down Cornell, leading to a 5-0 shutout in the title game. Yale’s Sean Backman netted a hat trick in the game and subsequently earned the ECAC Championship’s Most Outstanding Player Award.
This coming weekend opens the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament at the four regional sites. Yale enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East regional in Bridgeport, Conn., and will face the Catamounts of the University of Vermont in the first round. Cornell and Princeton had strong enough season records to earn at-large bids as No. 3 seeds in the tournament, and Cornell will draw against the Northeastern University Huskies in the Midwest regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., while Princeton has the unfortunate task of meeting the on-fire University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at the West regional in Minneapolis, Minn.
