ECAC Quarterfinals Still Undecided

ECAC men’s hockey doesn’t get much better than this.

Because no remaining team could string together two consecutive victories in the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinals, today’s four games pose a very clear ultimatum: win or go home.

The action begins when Harvard faces off against No. 18 Dartmouth at 4 PM. So far, the series has been tightly contested. Harvard held on to win, 3-2, on Friday night, but Dartmouth evened the series with a 2-1 overtime victory yesterday.

The Crimson’s high level of play indicates a complete turnaround from earlier this season, when beating the Big Green seemed all but impossible. The Big Green clobbered the Crimson during the year, taking both regular-season matchups, 8-2 and 5-2.

The other three ECAC quarterfinals series—Colgate vs. No. 4 Union, St. Lawrence vs. No. 3 Yale, and Quinnipiac vs. Cornell—all face off at 7 P.M.

If the Crimson can pull off another upset tonight, a Colgate or St. Lawrence victory could make Harvard’s road to the ECAC finals a lot less bumpy. The toughest team Harvard could face would be Cornell, a squad the Crimson beat, 4-3, on Feb. 18.

But if Harvard, Union, and Yale all advance, the Crimson would face the Dutchmen in the semifinals next Friday. And a victory over the fourth-best team in the nation would be a bit harder to come by.