ECAC History is Long, Exciting

A look at ECAC Tournament history shows just how exciting and unforgettable the last 26 years have been.

A brief glance at some past highlights:

. St. Lawrence defeated Clarkson, 5-2, in the first-ever ECAC championship game in 1962. Since then, Clarkson has participated in every ECAC Tournament.

. Harvard captured its first championship the next year with a 4-3 overtime victory over Boston College, the tournament's only overtime title time until Cornell's 1986 title victory over Clarkson.

. The Big Red captured four straight crowns from 1967 to 1970 under Coach Ned Harkness and the goaltending of Ken Dryden. Harkness leads all ECAC coaches with a 14-3 (.824) tournament record. Cornell's 12-2 1967 semifinal victory over B.C. still stands as a record for most team goals in a tournament game.

. During Cornell's reign, the league moved the semifinals and finals to Boston Garden. The Final Four has played there since 1968.

. Boston University equalled the Big Red's feat with four straight titles of its own from 1974 to 1977. Coach Jack Parker's Terriers were led by Rick and Terry Meagher.

. Since B.U.'s domination in the mid-70's, Cornell, Harvard and RPI have captured two titles each. The Crimson's 1986 6-3 victory over St. Lawrence in the title raised Coach Bill Cleary's playoff record to 22-11-1 (.662), best among active coaches.

. Harvard's Lane MacDonald set a new tournament scoring record last year with 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in leading Harvard to its fourth title, three titles behind Cornell. MacDonald also became Harvard's fourth ECAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.

. Other notable ECAC Tournament records include St. Lawrence's 21 penalties in a 1985 quarterfinal loss to Clarkson and Harvard forward Jack Turco's five goals in a quarterfinal victory over B.C. in 1970. George McManama, Turco's teammate, established the assist record in that game with seven.

. In another outstanding performance, Cornell goalie Doug Dads-well made a record 57 saves in a 3-2 overtime semifinal victory over Yale in 1986.

. Overall, there have been 14 shutouts, with Harvard's Godfrey Wood recording the first one in a 1962 consolation game over Colby.