It was a successful weekend for the North Country schools as Clarkson and St. Lawrence earned series sweeps of Yale and Brown. The four-point weekends helped the two teams entrench their position within the top four of the ECAC Hockey standings.
Sam Vigneault's fifth goal of the season was the only score the Golden Knights would need as they held on for a 1-0 win over Yale. It was the second shutout of the weekend for Casey Jones' team. Junior goaltender Greg Lewis stopped 25 shots to earn his second shutout in a row. He made 52 saves on the weekend. Saturday's win came a night after a 6-0 thumping of Brown.
A night after thrilling come from behind 3-2 overtime victory against Yale, life was much easier for Greg Carvel's team on Saturday. Five different players scored a goal each and defenseman Eric Sweetman assisted on three of them as the Saints defeated Brown, 5-2. Freshman goaltender Kyle Hayton kicked aside 29 shots. The win helped St. Lawrence hold pace with Harvard and stay in a tie for second place in the ECAC Hockey standings.
Harvard bounced back from a tough 3-2 loss against archrival Cornell with a 6-1 win over Colgate. Linemates Kyle Criscuolo and Jimmy Vesey each registered two goals and two assists to pace the Crimson offense. Freshman Eddie Ellis scored for a second consecutive night after entering the weekend without a goal in his collegiate career.
Eric Neiley had two goals and two assists as Dartmouth skated past Cornell, 5-2. Grant Opperman, Brandon McNally and Eric Robinson also scored for the Big Green that earned three of four possible points on the weekend. Charles Grant made 22 stops for his second victory of the season.
As the pair have done so many times this season, Daniel Ciampini and Mike Vecchione combined for a huge offensive night as Union College won the Mayor's Cup with an 8-3 victory over rival RPI. Ciampini had a hat trick and added two assists while Vecchione had a pair of goals and two helpers. The third member of the line, Matt Wilkins, had four assists. Senior goaltender Colin Stevens was only forced to make 10 saves as the Dutchmen outshot the Engineers, 31-13.
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Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on Twitter @JeffCoxSports.