The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Big third period helps Bulldogs even series
NEW HAVEN — As they returned to the ice for the third period Saturday night, the Yale Bulldogs needed something dramatic.
Trailing Union by a goal in Game 2 of the ECAC first-round series, Yale was facing the final 20 minutes of its season. The Bulldogs were scoreless over the first five periods of the series, despite often outplaying the Dutchmen.
Yet the tide turned in the span of 61 seconds.
Just 1 minute, two seconds in the third, Kevin O’Neil scored on a wrist shot off a 2-on-1 break. Tie game, momentum seized, brand new game.
Curtis Hall, Yale’s gifted sophomore, followed up at 2:03 of the third. His back to the goal as he stood in the right circle, Hall took control of the puck, spun and scored on a wrist shot inside the near post.
There would be goals by Hall and Phil Kemp late, and Yale skated off the Ingalls Rink ice with a 4-1 win, forcing a third and deciding game in the bestof-three series.
Game 3 will be played Sunday at 4 p.m.
Yale, which beat Union with two shutouts during the season, was gripped by a scoring drought in a 3-0 loss Friday night and through two-thirds of the action Saturday. But the problem was solved quickly and Yale (13-15-2) has renewed life.
Union (8-24-4) entered
the series winless in six games. Over the previous 14 games, the Dutchmen had one victory.
Yet in Game 1 Friday night, Union bought a sense of urgency to Ingalls. Blocking and redirecting shots, Union overcame a shot deficit to post a shutout victory.
On Saturday, it was more of the same.
Yale set the pace in the first period, carrying play and swarming the Union goal. Yet when the period ended, the Bulldogs trailed by a goal.
Union took a 1-0 5:32 into the game. Matt Allen, a freshman from Rhode Island, gathered the puck at the blue line as Yale failed to move play out of its zone. Allen skated into
the slot and whistled a wrist shot past Corbin Kaczperski.
It was just his second goal of the season and it came on Union’s second shot of the game.
Yale attacked a few minutes later, with Curtis Hall, Justin Pearson and Tyler Welsh applying steady pressure. But the shots continually sailed wide.
Midway through the period, Allen nearly made it 2-0 when he hit the post from the left circle.
Yale continued to carry the play but Union goalie Darion Hanson made saves when shots made it to the net. The Bulldogs’ best chance game with 4:20 left in the period, when a loose puck slid through the goalmouth as Hanson sprawled. Teddy Wooding controlled the puck, but his shot was wide.
That was a common theme in the period. Yale had 14 shots on goal — to Union’s five — but the Bulldogs attempted 28 shots. Eight were blocked, six missed then net, Meanwhile, Union attempted just 12 shots.
Yale had a 5-on-3 power play early in the second, but Hanson made six saves and Union killed the double penalty. And while Yale held a 15-13 shot advantage, Union had opportunities to pad the lead.
But Kaczperski came up with saves, the best on a wrist shot from the right circle by Dylan Anhorn. Kaczperski made the stop while down in front of the crease.