ryan@fremen.DEC (02/08/85)
RPI is now pulling away from the pack in the ECAC, with Clarkson and Harvard each losing two games in the past few days. Clarkson lost a home game to arch-rival RPI for the first time in several years, 7-4, and followed that with a 3-1 loss to last-place Vermont while RPI exacted vengeance against St. Lawrence, also by a score of 7-4 (RPI has now repayed both of this season's losses). Two wins would have tied Clarkson with RPI for first place; now they're battling for third with Cornell and Yale. Meanwhile, Yale upset Harvard 6-2 - from what I heard of the game on the radio, Harvard fell behind then layed down and played dead. Some other top 10 teams had their own problems - Minnesota lost yet another game, and North Dakota dropped two. In the opening round of the Beanpot Tourney Monday night, the tradition of upsets continued, with BU beating Harvard and Northeastern beating BC. In other news, Michigan Tech has apologized to BU for forfeiting the game in Boston a little while ago - they didn't realize that they had three minutes to take the ice again without forfeiting. I don't think they apologized to the officials, though,:-) and there's probably no reason they should. By all accounts I've heard (and from what I saw of N. Dakota-RPI last year), inter-league officiating is a disgrace, and I hope the leagues take some action to improve the situation. On to the poll (Michigan State better look out - RPI is making some converts): Michigan St. (8) RPI (2) Minn-Duluth BC Minnesota Harvard BU North Dakota Wisconsin Yale/Clarkson (tie) I'm a little surprised Minnesota hasn't fallen any farther - they've been playing at about a .500 pace lately. On the other hand, no one was really in a position to move ahead of them, since Harvard, North Dakota, and Clarkson also lost last weekend, and BU has some proving to do after a bad mid-season slump. Michigan State and RPI are the only teams that are maintaining a championship pace. RPI has now won 18 in a row, and Michigan State also has a long winning streak. The championship pairing is starting to take on the inevitability of Miami-San Francisco (I hope this game's a little better than that one). Till next week, GO BIG RED!!! Mike Ryan --------------- Addendum - this note was delayed by network problems, which gives me a chance to add a little more. In the NCAA poll, Michigan State is first with all 4 1st-place votes (who votes in that poll, anyway?) and RPI and Minnesota-Duluth are tied for second. Last night I had the opportunity to see UNH and BC on TV. In the first period UNH got off to a quick two-goal lead and looked positively unbeatable. They showed great teamwork (a sign of excellent coaching), and Bruce Gillies turned aside every shot that came his way. BC, on the other hand, played sloppily and goalie (Bruce?) Gordon let himself get fooled too easily. I only saw snatches of the rest of the game, but BC apparently played and excellent second quarter (with Gordon in particular improving) and tied it up 3-3 by the end of the second period. Both teams played very well in the third period, but BC got two goals to none for UNH as Gordon played like Gillies had in the first period. Final: BC 5, UNH 3. Still, UNH looked very good, and they will have to be reckoned with in the playoffs (don't be surprised if they end up in the NCAA playoffs). In another game, 2nd-place BU tied 3rd-place Providence.