CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — Defending Cleary Cup champions Quinnipiac finish atop the preseason coaches’ poll with eight of 12 first place votes, the league announced Wednesday. Harvard, who won the 2022 Whitelaw Cup with an overtime victory over Quinnipiac, received four first place votes and finished in second place.
In 2021-22, Quinnipiac finished the regular season with a 17-4-1 record through 22 conference games, good for first in the league. Aftera second place finish in the ECAC Tournament, the Bobcats earned an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, though their run came to an end in the Midwest Regional Finals to #1 Michigan. This coming season, the Bobcats will be strengthened by the return of Yaniv Perets and Zach Metsa, along with several promising new additions.
Harvard, whose overtime win in the 2022 ECAC Tournament Final earned them their first autobid to the national postseason since 2017, received four first place votes to narrowly beat out Clarkson for a second place finish in the preseason poll. Cornell and Colgate round out the top-5.
ECAC HOCKEY PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
|
Rank
|
Team (first place votes)
|
Points
|
|
1
|
Quinnipiac (8)
|
118
|
|
2
|
Harvard (4)
|
109
|
|
3
|
Clarkson
|
105
|
|
4
|
Cornell
|
90
|
|
5
|
Colgate
|
77
|
|
6
|
Rensselaer
|
70
|
|
7
|
St. Lawrence
|
57
|
|
8
|
Union
|
45
|
|
9
|
Dartmouth
|
43
|
|
10
|
Yale
|
32
|
|
11
|
Brown
|
26
|
|
12
|
Princeton
|
20
|
The ECAC Hockey Preseason All-League team has also been named, headlined by two pairs of forwards from Clarkson and Harvard. Sophomore Matthew Coronato finished the 2021-22 season as Ivy League Rookie of the Year and ECAC Tournament MVP after an overtime game-winner to secure Harvard’s first Whitelaw Cup since 2017. Junior forward Alex Campbell, who led both Clarkson and the league in scoring as a sophomore in 2021-22, has also been named to the preseason all-league team. 2022 ECAC Rookie of the Year Alex Laferriere and all-ECAC First Team selection Mathieu Gosselin finished tied for the third forward spot.
Harvard senior Henry Thrun and Quinnipiac graduate student Zach Metsa anchor the blue line after career seasons in 2021-22. Thrun was named a Second Team AHCA All-American, one of the highest national honors, and finished the season as one of the league and the NCAA’s top defenders. Metsa was honored with the ECAC’s Best Defensive Defenseman Award and named a First Team AHCA All-American at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
Yaniv Perets rounds out the pack as the preseason all-ECAC goalie selection after a breakout year between the pipes for the Bobcats that saw him named 2022 ECAC Player of the Year, a Second Team AHCA All-American, and Ken Dryden Award winner.
The men’s side of the ECAC will open competition on the 2022-23 season on Saturday, October 1, when Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, Clarkson, and Union face off against non-conference opponents and Colgate and Rensselaer drop the puck in Troy, N.Y.
Preseason All-ECAC Roster
G: Yaniv Perets (Jr., Quinnipiac)
D: Zach Metsa (Gr., Quinnipiac)
D: Henry Thrun (Sr., Harvard)
F: Matthew Coronato (So., Harvard)
F: Alex Campbell (Jr., Clarkson)
F: Alex Laferriere (Jr., Harvard)*
F: Mathieu Gosselin (Sr., Clarkson)*
* denotes a tie in voting
- Eligibility for All-League team requires player to have been selected to an all-league or all-rookie team at the end of last season.
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