Tough weekend ahead for w. hockey

With only four games left to play, the women’s ice hockey team has a tough weekend ahead — and two conference opponents itch from close behind.

The Bulldogs (9-10-6, 6-8-4 ECAC) will face not one but two nationally ranked teams in two days, squaring off against No. 6 St. Lawrence (21-8-1, 14-3-1) Friday night and No. 9 Clarkson (19-6-5, 10-5-3) the following afternoon. The Saints are second in the conference, with 29 points, while the Golden Knights are tied for third place, with 23.

St. Lawrence is coming off a decisive 6-2 victory over eighth-place Cornell (10-13-1, 7-10-1). With a total of 115 goals scored this season to their opponents’ 59, it is clear that the Elis — particularly their defenders — will have their work cut out for them as they seek to win a game against the Saints for the first time in the teams’ 30-game history.

And as for Clarkson, in its last endeavor against Colgate (11-12-5, 8-6-4), it skated to a 1-1 tie — and clinched a playoff slot in the process. The Bulldogs will have to hope in this case, too, that history does not repeat itself — the teams’ last meeting, in late November, resulted in a painful 6-0 loss. The Elis will have to overcome a recent string of losses and narrow ties in order to snag the points they need to keep themselves in the playoffs for these final two weeks.