Friday, February 19, 2010

Mid-weekend Reset

Men

The Engineers defeated Quinnipiac on Friday night, 5-3. Yale defeated St. Lawrence 7-5, placing RPI alone in 4th place, the final bye position, by two points. The Engineers have regained control of their destiny for the bye with three games remaining (Saturday vs. Princeton, next Friday at Colgate, next Saturday at Cornell).

RPI has officially clinched at least home ice for the first round by virtue of their win and Princeton's 4-1 loss to Union. They can finish no lower than 8th. With a win over Princeton on Saturday, the Engineers can guarantee themselves of a finish no lower than 6th.

Cornell (defeated Harvard, 3-0) and Yale remain tied for first place with 28 points, 6 points ahead of the Engineers. Both teams would have to lose their remaining games and RPI would have to win all of their remaining games to tie either team. Each team needs only 1 point in the next three games to officially clinch byes.

Union is in 3rd place with 26 points, 4 points ahead of the Engineers. They have clinched a first roudn bye. The Engineers will not be able to catch Union if they defeat Quinnipiac on Saturday, due to the Dutchmen controlling the tiebreaker.

St. Lawrence at Colgate (tied Dartmouth, 6-6) are tied for 5th place with 20 points each. The Saints are at Brown on Saturday, while the Raiders are at Harvard.

Quinnipiac is in 7th place with 18 points. The Engineers clinched the tiebreaker with the Bobcats on Friday by completing the series sweep.

Harvard is in 8th place with 17 points.

In the best case after Saturday's games, the Engineers would sit 4 points ahead of Colgate, St. Lawrence, and Quinnipiac for 4th place, and 2 points (really, 3 points) behind Union for 3rd place.

Best case results:
RPI over Princeton
Quinnipiac over Union
Brown over St. Lawrence
Harvard over Colgates

Women

The Engineers lost to Cornell on Friday night, 2-1. Harvard defeated St. Lawrence 2-1, and Quinnipiac defeated Yale 1-0. This places RPI in 5th place, two points behind 3rd place Harvard and one point behind 4th place Quinnipiac. The Engineers have lost control of their destiny for home ice with one game remaining (Saturday at Colgate).

RPI can finish no lower than 5th, their current position. Princeton trails the Engineers by two points, but even if RPI loses and Princeton wins on Saturday, the Engineers will win the 3rd tiebreaker with the Tigers - points against Top 4 teams, 9-8.

The Engineers can claim home ice in the playoffs with a win AND a Harvard loss (at Clarkson) OR a Quinnipiac loss or tie (vs. Brown). They can also take home ice with a tie AND a Quinnipiac loss.

A win coupled with a Harvard loss AND a Quinnipiac loss or tie would give the Engineers third place.

A win coupled with a just a Quinnipiac loss or tie would give the Engineers fourth place.

A tie coupled with a Quinnipiac loss would also give the Engineers fourth place.

Any other result leaves the Engineers in fifth place, traveling to either Harvard or Quinnipiac.

Cornell is likely to earn the regular season championship, as Clarkson fell two points behind first place after losing to Dartmouth 4-1, and the Big Red face Union tomorrow afternoon. Clarkson would win a tiebreaker with the Big Red, however, if they win and Cornell loses. (but... come on. Ed.) They will be the first and second seeds, at any rate.

Harvard, Quinnipiac, and RPI will be the third through fifth seeds, with the order being determined on Saturday.

Princeton and St. Lawrence will be the 6th and 7th seeds, with the order depending on the outcome of Saturday's games.

Yale was officially eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night. They can tie Dartmouth or Dartmouth AND Colgate for 8th, but cannot win either tiebreaker. They sit in 10th place, two points behind Dartmouth, one point behind Colgate.

Dartmouth or Colgate will be the 8th seed and will likely face Cornell next weekend. The Big Green lead the Raiders by one point. Colgate wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with Dartmouth, but loses a three-way tiebreaker with Dartmouth and Yale.

A Colgate victory over RPI tomorrow ensures that they will not finish in a tie with Yale. The Raiders would then earn the 8th seed with a Dartmouth loss or tie (at St. Lawrence). Thus, the Engineers have an opponent tomorrow with as much to play for as they do.

Best case resulst:
RPI over Colgate
Clarkson over Harvard
Brown over Quinnipiac OR Brown ties Quinnipiac

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