Union 5, Clarkson 1

Wow a sweep in the North Country! The Dutch just proved many people, including myself, very wrong.

The fourth line were the stars as each Buote, Shaffer, and Lareau all picked up points in the victory. Nice to see Kinkaid play another solid game in between the pipes and Zajac and Mario extending the scoring streaks.

There are two questions that come out of this weekend: 1) Should Kinkaid should become the starting goaltender? and 2) Was moving Prez onto the Simpson line a really good idea?

When it comes to the goaltending question I'd first say that it's great that Kinkaid is able to play solid in ECAC games, especially on the road. I would definitely give him at least one start in the RPI Thanksgiving Tournament, but you cannot just forget about Milan. It's only one weekend and Corey should still get more chances to prove himself. I have a feeling that this could turn into a platoon like the Mrazek-Milan tandem from two years ago. But, either way this is a huge step for Kinkaid and he will definitely get more opportunities to prove himself because of this weekend.

With the Prez-Simpsons situation I feel that something has to be changed. I have questioned this move since it happened, and as of this moment I seem to be right. In the four games since the change neither Prez, John, or Wayne have scored a goal. During the two weekend span Prez has 4 assists (3 of which were on the PP), and each Wayne and John have just one assist. When your best player and your two hottest scorers from the beginning of the season have a combined no goals and 3 non-PP assists there is a problem. All 3 of these guys were lighting up the score sheet early, but now they seem pretty invisible. I hope this changes because it would give the Dutch 3 high-flying offensive lines. But on the contrary, ever since Yanovitch switched to Zajac's line, Kelly has been a goal scoring machine. Maybe it's Yanovitch who is lighting the spark and the other guys are reaping the benefits. We will all see what happens soon enough.

Note: St. Lawrence beat RPI tonight 2-1... Union is tied for 3rd place in the ECAC with Cornell and RPI... Quinnipiac is in first after starting the ECAC season 4-0-0 and Colgate is in second having gone 3-0-1

Here's Ken Schott's thoughts on the game:
http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/14/union-clarkson-postgame-report/
Here's the recap from UnionAthletics.com:
http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/11/14/MICE_1114094319.aspx

Here's freelance writer Cap Carey's recap of the game courtesy of the Times Union:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=865975&category=SPORTS