The two North Country visitors are also eyeing the NCAA tournament, though their road is far rougher and rockier.
Sixth-place St. Lawrence is pursuing third or fourth in the league and the accompanying home-ice bid for the playoffs.
Its only chance of making the NCAAs is by winning the conference tournament, which would be far easier if the Saints open the ECAC playoffs in cozy Appleton Arena.
The Saints used to feature one of the most high-powered offenses in the nation, but have stumbled this year. Greg Carvel's 28 points (7 goals, 21 assists) have been the lone highlight. On defense, goalie Brady Giroux, who splits time with Paul Spagnoletti (whom Harvard shelled in a 10-4 win in January), is a rock. He posts a 2.87 goals-against-average, and .908 save percentage as the fifth best netminder in the league.
Golden Knights Surge
Clarkson is also making a late-season push to sneak into the tournament, though its chance to secure an at-large bid (rather than the automatic one that comes with the ECAC tournament title) are considerably greater than St. Lawrence's. The Golden Knights recently reappeared in the national rankings, having won nine of 10 since January 23.
Clarkson is certainly itching to prove itself to the national pollsters who ranked it highly in the pre-season, and the Golden Knights have the talent to back it up.
Strong senior (Steve Dubinsky and Hugo Belanger) and sophomore (Marko Tuomainen, Craig Marchant, Patrice Robitaille) classes have made this team the top offense in the ECAC with 91 total goals.
Consistency Needed
For Harvard, the biggest challenge will be playing with the consistency it showed before these past two weekends.
Last week, Tomassoni shuffled his lines after several below-par team performances to send the message to Harvard that talent without hard work will not win games.
He bumped junior Brian Farrell from the first to third line and seniors Steve Flomenhoft and Matt Mallgrave from second to fourth--a move which produced a convincing 3-1 win over Vermont.
Even though Tomassoni hasn't decided to what the lines will be for tonight's game, he trusts his message has been received.
"I want our kids focused on the games," Tomassoni said. "We need to play with a lot of intensity and emotion. If we do those two things, we're going to be fine."
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Ticket Announcement: Student tickets for the ECAC playoff games at Bright Hockey Center will go on sale Monday, March 8, at 9 a.m.
Tickets are six dollars each, and the initial limit is two tickets per student coupon. The applicable coupons are #27, #28 and #29 for the March 12, 13 and 14 games, respectively.
If no game is played on Sunday, students can return tickets for a refund.