Union ties #7 Cornell to stay undefeated in ECAC

It's not a win but I'll take a tie against the #7 team in the country any day, especially when the team tied the defending national champions the weekend before. By looking at the box score this seems to have been a very evenly matched affair, and one Union could have won. I say this because the Dutchmen had a goal called off in the first period when Nolan Julseth-White knocked the goal off its moorings before Jeremy Welsh put the puck in the net. Also, one of the goals Cornell scored was on a 5-on3 power-play. It's a little disappointing to see the Dutchmen give the Big Red a two man advantage because they had to know going into the game that if they gave their opponent a two man advantage that there is a VERY good chance that they'll take advantage of it. I'm also a little disappointed to see Union give up two one goal leads in the game. I might be looking at this a tad bit "glass half empty," but I just want to win so badly. But on the other side of the glass I'm glad to see Kinkaid have another good outing (26 saves), the defense shutting down Blake Gallagher and Colin Greening, and Wally and Mario keep up their scoring touch.
Here's the game recap from UnionAthletics.com: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/12/5/MICE_1205090107.aspx

With two-thirds of this line clicking it does bring up the question of what has happened to Adam Presizniuk? He's had his share of assists here and there, but hasn't scored since Union's 6-5 overtime loss to Sacred Heart on October 24th. I haven't been able to see the past six games, but the last games I saw (the Brown and Yale games) he looked a little invisible. Maybe he has something going on that no one knows about, but from my perspective I think this is the repercussions to moving him away from Wally and Mario and now moving him back. He hasn't been able to enhance his chemistry with Wally and Mario this season, which last seemed to be good. I've been harping on this point since the shuffling of the lineup and it looks that as of this moment I am correct. But, on the bright side others (Boileau, Zajac, Welsh, Schreiber) have picked up the slack. It's just a little odd that last year's leading scorer who posted an historic amount of points has only 4 goals on the season.

Now after this very successful weekend people have been talking about the Dutchmen being ranked in the USCHO.com national poll. Ken Schott said that they should be ranked higher than #18 while Cornell Head Coach Mike Schafer says that the Dutchmen deserve to be in the Top 15. He also said that the Dutchmen were the toughest team they played this season, and noted the fact that the Dutchmen swept Maine this season.
You can read Schott's thoughts on the game here: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/dec/05/union-cornell-postgame-report/

Personally I think these two hockey minds are going a little too far with how good the Dutchmen are compared to the rest of the country. In response to Coach Schafer's point on that it was a big feat for the Dutchmen to beat Maine, he should have noticed that Maine was playing without starting goaltender Scott Darling (suspended), and impact forward Tanner House (injury) who is second on the team with seven goals and 1.1 points per game. It was also the opening weekend for the Dutchmen and it was at home, which gives the team that extra boost of energy. Don't get wrong, Maine is an excellent team now as they are third in the Hockey East conference but they were a different team in October.

The main reason on why I don't agree with these two statements is because Union has not WON a game against a top opponent... emphasis on the word won. As of this past weeks rankings Union has played three teams in the top 20: St. Cloud State (#20), Yale (#10), and Cornell (#7). Their record against these teams is 0-1-3. Yes, they have taken three points from these teams, but I feel in order to be grouped with the best (Top 15) you have to beat the best and the Dutchmen haven't done that. It is true that they played these teams very tough (they were so close to beating Yale), but they haven't won and it's wins that take you to the next level. It is wins, not ties, that give you playoff victories and help you advance to the next round. You might argue that there isn't continuous overtime in the regular season like there is in the playoffs, but it's not like the Dutchmen have fared to well in overtime games this season. So far they have played eight overtime games and have gone 1-2-5, which is not a good overtime record when it comes to wins and losses. Union needs to prove that they can WIN against these top teams before I put them in the Top 15, and they will get their chance as they play Quinnipiac (twice, home and away), UMass, Cornell, and Yale all away from Messa Rink in 2010.

The weekend against AIC and Sacred Heart also bother me when it comes to ranking the Dutchmen in the Top 15. Even though Union pulled out the win against AIC it was still a nail-bitter, and against Sacred Heart the team basically got blown off the ice for two periods and then tied it up before not having enough to keep the Pioneers from winning the game. Currently both teams sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Hockey conference, the weakest conference (personally, since Bemidji State is in the CHA). AIC has only two wins on the season while Sacred Heart has three, one of which was against Union and the other against AIC. Is this the type of results against two of the worst teams in college hockey that you expect a Top 15 team to have. I understand it was the opening weekend for these two teams, which I said before give your team a little extra jump, but when two traditionally weak teams come into your building you better blow them off the ice. I guarantee that this would have not happened to Cornell, Yale, or Quinnipiac.

After all of this you're probably thinking what I think the Dutchmen will be ranked once the polls come out on Monday. Well I think the Dutchmen will fall anywhere from 18-21. After beating Colgate they will definitely jump over them in the rankings, and I since Michigan split their weekend with Ohio State, who is a mid-level CCHA team, I think there is a possibility that they jump over them too. #20 St. Cloud beat Alaska-Anchorage, a lower tier WCHA team, in their only game this weekend, which gives Union the chance to jump over them even though they're 0-1-1 against them this season. #19 Vermont beat #10 Yale earlier this week and then tied Boston University this weekend, so I think that Vermont will move up in the rankings considering Yale beat #4 Quinnipiac this weekend. #18 Nebraska-Omaha played #17 Ferris state in a weekend series with Ferris State taking both games, so there is a chance that UNO will drop out of the Top 20. There is also a chance that other teams could fall out of the poll. So, if I had to pick where Union will end up in the USCHO.com rankings on Monday I'd say #19.

We will all see soon enough what the Dutchmen will be ranked or if they're even ranked at all. All I know is that Quinnipiac will definitely be dropping down in the rankings after their dismal weekend (7-4 loss to Yale, and 2-1 loss to Brown).