After two weeks of ECAC men’s ice hockey competition, three Ivy League teams occupy the top three spots in the standings.
Brown (3-0-0, 3-0-0) is in first place with six points, while Harvard (2-1-0, 2-1-0) and Cornell (3-0-0, 2-0-0) are tied for second with four points apiece. All three teams were undefeated this weekend.
Brown entered the weekend with two points after a 4-0 victory over Harvard Nov. 2 and picked up right where they left off, defeating the University of Vermont (2-4-2, 0-2-0) Nov. 8 at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, R.I.
Bears’ goaltender Yann Danis ’04 posted his second consecutive shutout and the fifth of his collegiate career, breaking Brown’s career shutout record. Winger Jason Wilson ’03 netted two goals to lead the offense.
On Nov. 3, Brown hosted Dartmouth (1-3-0, 0-2-0). The Big Green had just lost to Harvard the previous night.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-1 lead, but the Big Green tied it up in the beginning of the third period, as winger Lee Stempniak ’05 netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Brown winger Pascal Denis ’04 broke the deadlock at 12:09 of the third period off of a deflection, giving the Bears a 3-2 lead that they did not relinquish. Brown added an empty net score for a 4-2 victory. Danis finished the game with 35 saves.
Harvard, last year’s ECAC champions, rebounded from their loss to Brown on Nov. 2 with a 5-2 win over Dartmouth at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 8.
Despite falling behind in the first period 1-0, the Crimson offense erupted in the second, as Wingers Brett Nowak ’03, Tyler Kolarik ’04 and Dominic Moore ’03 each netted their first goals of the season in a six minute span.
In the third period, Dartmouth’s Stempniak brought the Big Green within one, but during four-on-four play after matching roughing penalties, Harvard put the game away with two goals in the last 18 seconds from Moore and Kolarik. Cantab goalie Dov Grumet-Morris ’05 anchored the Crimson defense with 37 saves.
On Saturday night, Cornell, who lost to Harvard in last year’s ECAC championship game, defeated a depleted Yale squad 6-2 on Friday night before shutting out Princeton (0-4-0, 0-2-0) 3-0 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Big Red goalie Dave LeNeveu ’05 stopped 16 shots to earn the shutout, while Big Red winger Ryan Vesce ’04, Cornell’s leading scorer with six points, scored twice and assisted on winger Cam Abbot’s ’06 game winner in the second period.
Cornell dominated the first period, outshooting Princeton 8-1 but was unable to put any shots past Tigers’ goalie Trevor Clay ’05, who finished the game with 26 saves.