The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
O’Neil scores twice as Yale holds on, tops rival Harvard
NEW HAVEN — Kevin O’Neil scored twice, including the game-winner with 3 minutes, 16 seconds remaining to lift Yale to a 2-1 victory over Harvard before a sellout crowd of 3,500 on Saturday night at Ingalls Rink.
O’Neil, a freshman forward, made a pretty move to shake a Harvard defenseman through the crease before slipping a shot through the pads of Crimson goalie Merrick Madsen.
The victory clinched home ice in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs for Yale (15-13-1, 1011-1), which finished the regular season in eighth place. Quinnipiac, a 4-2 loser at Clarkson on Saturday, is the ninth-place team and will visit Ingalls Rink for a best-of-3 series starting Friday at Ingalls.
It was a markedly improved defensive effort for Yale. A night earlier it allowed a season-high six goals in a loss to Dartmouth, struggling to defend for long stretches of the first two periods.
On Saturday, led by sophomore goalie Corbin Kaczperski, Yale neutralized a dangerous Harvard attack with its own speed and creativity in both zones. That included allowing little room to work for Ryan Donato.
The Crimson’s junior forward, expected to be a contender for the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player, is coming off a brilliant performance at the Olympics. He led the U.S. Olympic team — a
team assisted by Yale coach Keith Allain — with five goals scored.
Fatigue may have been a factor for Donato, who played three games in South Korea before returning to Boston Friday after 20 hours in transit. He had a goal and an assist on an astounding 12 shots on net during a Friday night loss at Brown which likely cost Harvard it chances for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. But he was mostly contained by the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Yale took a 1-0 lead with 2:21 to play in the first period and just seconds after killing off a Harvard power play. Kevin O’Neil chased down a loose puck in the Crimson zone and went in wide on goalie Merrick Madsen. He had little angle on the initial shot, which was stopped, but he flipped the rebound over Madsen’s shoulder and scored.
Joe Snively assisted on the goal, his 17th, giving him a team-best 36 points this season.
Chances on goal were limited for both sides in the second period, and the score remained 1-0 heading into the third period.
Harvard tied the score at 4:30 of the third period on a goal by Henry Bowlby.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of the night was a malfunctioning scoreboard. It flickered in and out toward the end of the second period, and was dead for much of the third. Mark Ryba, the Yale public address announcer, called out the time remaining every 60 seconds, including on power plays.
The final minutes proved especially bizarre. Yale killed off a late power-play, with Madsen pulled for an extra skater, without knowing the time because of the blank scoreboard.
Kaczperski was outstanding in the final minutes, making several saves including a rocket off the stick of Donato. Ryba called out the time left every 10 seconds in the final minute, with the sellout crowd counting down the final five seconds with him to ignite a celebration.