Bulldogs Enjoy Southern Hospitality
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HUNTSVILLE, AL -- The Yale men's hockey team enjoyed its first game in the deep South. Billy Blase stopped 30 of 32 shots as the Bulldogs held off Alabama-Huntsville 3-2 before 2,773 at the Von Braun Center.
Blase blanked UAH on 13 shots in both the first and third periods and did not allow a score on three man-advantages to earn his eighth win of the year. He got help from three different Yale goal scorers.
Chargers' goalie Blake MacNicol made 27 saves as UAH nearly pulled off the upset with a two-goal second period.
The Bulldogs (8-6-3) used their speed to get on the scoreboard first at 4:29 of the opening period, and it was just after killing off the first penalty of the night. Michael Karwoski, who moments earlier had jumped out of the sin bin, grabbed a loose puck in the right circle in the Yale end and skated to the other end before snapping off a 15-foot wrister that MacNicol tried to squeeze. The puck trickled through his legs and over the goal line for Karwoski's third of the year.
The Yale junior forward had three other shots on net in the period, including two others of grade-A variety, but the visitors were outshot 13-9.
The Elis made it 2-0 early in the second period with some great puck movement on the powerplay. Denny Kearney sent a hard pass into the low slot toward Matthew Thomey, looking for his first goal of the season. Thomey one-timed the puck past the goalie's glove at 2:22.
Yale outshot the Chargers 13-6 in the middle frame but both teams hit the net twice in a wild 20 minutes.
The home team cut the margin in half less than two minutes later. Joe Federoff was battling a Yale defenseman for the puck behind the net and the Bulldog lost his stick before he decided to play the man without it. Federoff brought it out to the corner and then flipped a quick pass to the top of the crease. Scott Kalinchuck (1st goal) was waiting on the doorstep and re-directed the puck over Blase's shoulder at 4:01.
UAH (2-12-2) drew even with the Elis on a long shot from Joey Koudys (1st career) at 10:55. The freshman winger's shot from the left dot passed through some traffic in the low slot and caught Blase by surprise.
Jeff Anderson's first collegiate goal was the game-winner for the Bulldogs with 28 seconds left in the second. The freshman forward broke out of a mix along the left boards, picked up a loose puck in the circle and flicked a high shot in the short side of the net to make it 3-2.
The Blue had a chance to make it a two-goal cushion with 1:10 left when Kearney got a pass all alone in the low slot. He wheeled and got off a backhander that was stopped by MacNicol, who then came off with 50 seconds left.
The Chargers and Bulldogs skate again Saturday night at 8 p.m. EST in a game that can be seen live on B2 Networks.
