Balanced team play, solid defense and a well-placed shot by junior forward Patrick Kennedy helped the men’s hockey team to a successful 2-1 victory over St. Lawrence (13-9-4, 7-4-2 ECAC) on Friday night.

“It's huge. It’s really big. It takes us one step closer to our goal. It’s the time of the year where wins are crucial. To get a win tonight at 2-1 –– it was a tough victory but a good victory and well deserved,” Kennedy said.

The No. 8 men’s hockey team will be competing against every ECAC team within the next five weeks, beginning with this weekend. The Red will face the St. Lawrence Saints tonight at 7 p.m., followed by the Clarkson Golden Knights 24 hours later, both at Lynah Rink. With the home advantage, the Red hopes to come back from its last game’s loss to North Dakota and gain two conference wins.

The women’s hockey team travels to St. Lawrence and then Clarkson this weekend for two crucial ECAC games. The Red (10-7-4 overall, 9-1-4 ECAC) currently sits in second place in the ECAC, one point behind leader Clarkson (17-5-3 overall, 11-1-1 ECAC).

The women’s hockey team, fresh off of four straight wins versus ECAC Hockey opponents, faces another test this weekend when league foes Clarkson and St. Lawrence come to town. The Red (4-2-0 overall, 4-0-0 ECACH) will play Clarkson (11-1-1, 5-0-0) tonight at 7 p.m. at Lynah Rink. The Golden Knights are currently first in the ECACH and rank No. 2 nationally.

After a tough loss to the No. 4 ranked team, St. Lawrence, on Friday, the women’s hockey team rebounded and defeated Clarkson 4-1. This decisive win, with the first three goals coming in the first eight minutes of the game, allowed Cornell (7-7-2 ECAC, 11-10-2) to move up in ECAC rankings and become tied for seventh place.

“Both games we played really well. Especially, even though we lost against St. Lawrence, we came together as a team despite them scoring in the last minute to win it, so it was disappointing there,” said sophomore Rebecca Johnston.

Show me your moves: Sophomore defender Sam Wauer clashes with a Golden Knight in the Red’s 4-1 win over Clarkson on Saturday.

At one point in the movie The Replacements, quarterback Shane Falco tries to explain why his team crumbled in a disastrous 1996 Sugar Bowl game, taking Falco’s fictional football career down with it: “You’re playing and you think everything is going fine, but then one thing goes wrong and another and another, and you try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. ’Til you can’t move, can’t breathe, cause you’re in over your head. Like quicksand.”

Though a regular season matchup with North Country rival St. Lawrence isn’t quite up to the pressure level of the Sugar Bowl, the men’s hockey team found itself in a similar predicament Friday night in Canton, N.Y. — ultimately falling to the Saints, 8-1.

After splitting last weekend’s games and dropping one spot in the rankings to No. 4 in the country, the men’s hockey team heads north this weekend to square off against St. Lawrence (12-10-2, 4-6-2 ECAC) and Clarkson (7-13-4, 5-6-1).

The Red (14-2-3, 9-1-2) will be in Canton, N.Y. tonight to take on St. Lawrence at 7 p.m. in Appleton Arena. The Saints have struggled for the most part in ECAC play and are currently ninth in the conference standings. Cornell and St. Lawrence have already met once earlier this season, with the Red registering a 1-0 victory on December 6 at Lynah Rink.

Snapping its three-game losing streak with last Sunday’s victory, the women’s hockey team (5-5-1, 2-3-1 ECAC) is trying to regain its momentum heading out on the road to face Clarkson today and St. Lawrence tomorrow.

“Every game in the league this year has been tough and this weekend is certainly no exception. St. Lawrence and Clarkson are in the top-10 right now,” said assistant coach Danielle Bilodeau ’01. “They are both teams that can beat anyone in the country; very disciplined teams with a lot of talent.”

Listening to head coach Mike Schafer ’86 speak about the Clarkson Golden Knights, you cannot tell whether he is referring to last year’s team, which finished atop the ECAC Hockey standings, or this year’s club, which currently shares a spot in the conference basement with three other squads. Nevertheless, for its final two home games of 2008, the Red will host Clarkson tonight and St. Lawrence tomorrow evening. Both games are slated for a 7 p.m. faceoff at Lynah Rink.