Yale falls to Colgate in ECAC final
NEW HAVEN — When two evenly matched teams meet up, any little advantage can help, whether it’s something the referee might see or something innate.
The advantage fell the wrong way for Yale’s women’s hockey team Saturday in its first appearance in an ECAC final. Kalty Kaltounkova scored 4:45 into overtime to give defending champion Colgate a 2-1 win and the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
“We had a great run, obviously, had some close games,” Yale junior forward Charlotte Welch said. “Some good playoff experience for us at Yale, which we haven’t really had much of.
“I think we’ve all been in big games like this in our careers. We know what it’s like, the ‘one bounce can call it’ type of thing. I guess the takeaway is to bury our chances when we have them, which we always know to do, but it’s even more important in the playoffs.”
Yale (25-8-1), ranked seventh in one national poll and eighth in the other, was playing in its first conference final after breaking the school wins record that it posted two years ago before the Ivy League shut down sports last season.
Fifth-ranked Colgate (30-7-1), meanwhile, dressed 14 players from its NCAA tournament game last season, when the Raiders won their first ECAC championship.
“It’s definitely a good experience just because we were defending champion,” said Kaltounkova, named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “It definitely kept us motivated because we want to bring it home again.”
Colgate tied Saturday’s game 91 seconds into the third period, coming from behind for the second day in a row; the Raiders trailed Quinnipiac but scored two goals in the last four minutes to win Friday’s semifinal 3-2.
“We just went and played our hardest, played as a team,” Kaltounkova said. “We faced some adversity on the ice, but as we talk about a lot, it’s just about how we get back as a team, how we respond.”
Yale and Quinnipiac await Sunday night’s NCAA tournament reveal (9 p.m., ESPNews). The field expanded from eight teams to 11 this season, with seven of those teams at-large.
“We’re disappointed, but we’re not done,” Bulldogs coach Mark Bolding said. “We’re trying to use that to help soften the blow to our players, but they’re sad and disappointed. But we’re proud of them.”
Bolding was talking with the officials after the goal. He said he thought Colgate got away with a late line change, since Yale should have had the final option.
“They got away with a good change. Smart move on them. They got a double change,” Bolding said.
“There’s nothing you can review. You just tell the guys — good (officiating) crew. I’m sure they’ll ref later on — they’ve got to be sharp. That’s a four-man assignment. They’ve just got to be sharp on all the details.”
The Raiders crashed Gianna Meloni’s net on the tying goal, and the cage came off its moorings as the puck crossed the goal line.
The referees went down the home tunnel for video review, kept the initial call of a good goal, and credited it to Kaitlyn O’Donohoe.
The Bulldogs outshot Colgate 10-4 in the first, but the Raiders had edges of 11-7 and 14-11 in the second and third.
Yale struck first midway through the first period on Claire Dalton’s backhander, her second goal of the weekend. Meloni kept Yale ahead in the final seconds of the period, denying Kaltounkova on a breakaway.