Yale Surges to Victory Over Colgate

Boxscore

HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Matthew Thomey scored two goals and had an assist and Billy Blase stopped 32 of 33 shots as the Yale men's hockey team skated past Colgate 6-1 in ECAC play before 1,590 at Starr Rink.

The Raiders (9-10-4, 3-5-3 ECAC) outshot Yale 33-25 but did not cash in on many of those chances while suffering their worst loss at home since a 7-1 beating by Harvard in 2002. The teams combined for one man-advantage tally in nine chances.

"Every win in this league is a big one," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "Colgate is a really good team and that makes this win even more special. They were fast and strong and a much better team than we saw earlier this season."

Yale (9-7-3, 5-4-3) earned its first season sweep of Colgate in four seasons with five different players finding the net in its most dominating performance of the conference season. Sean Backman, Mike Matczak, Denny Kearney and Broc Little had the other Bulldog goals while Chris Cahill added three assists.

Blase, who had 15 saves in the first period, came within 4:31 of a shutout and earned first star honors with numerous quality stops. Mark Dekanich (16 saves) allowed four goals before giving way to Justin Kowalkoski (3).

Both teams had three quality scoring chances in a scoreless first period that had the Raiders outshooting the Blue 15-4. Colgate had two-and-a half power-play chances, which resulted in most of the home team's opportunities. Blase needed one of his best frames of the year to keep the visitors even. At the other end, Dekanich survived one powerplay with two close calls.

The Yale forecheck took over in the second period. After having its own troubles getting out of the defensive end, Yale put all the pressure on the Colgate breakout. That pressure resulted in numerous turnovers, great chances, three goals and maybe the best 20 minutes of Yale hockey this season.

Backman intercepted a Raider pass inside the home blueline and skated into the left circle before snapping off a rising shot that went inside the far post and past Dekanich's glove at 13:55 of the second. It was Backman's team-best 11th goal.

Thomey's effort gave the Blue a two-goal advantage when he skated along the left side and put a shot on net from the left circle that bounced off a Raider defenseman's skate at 13:26. The shot came from a distance and Dekanich had the angle, so it must have changed direction near the crease.

"I was trying to get the puck across to [Chris] Cahill who was rushing to the net," said Thomey, whose other two-goal game was against Clarkson in 2006. "I got a fortunate bounce.

The Bulldogs, who outshot Colgate 10-8 in the middle period, continued to apply the pressure and another good thing happened. Freshman defenseman Mike Matczak (2nd goal) made it 3-0 on the Yale powerplay. He took a pass from Blair Yaworski and fired a low shot from the point that found its way through traffic at 19:25.

Kearney's put-back goal at 5:13 of the third made it 4-0 and brought a Raider goalie change. Broc Little made the moves with the puck and then fired a shot on net that was stopped and left for Kearney to slam home.

A few minutes later Thomey welcomed Kowalkowski to the game by stealing the puck near mid ice and heading for a breakaway goal, his third score of the year.

"I had good backside pressure and managed to grab the puck from a defenseman," said Thomey. "I was at the end of a shift and was pretty tired. I thought someone was on my back but ended up alone on the goalie."

Cahill had the best helper of the night. He made a move with the puck to the middle of the slot and held off two defenders before sending it down low to Little, who deked Dekanich and flipped it into the back of the net for a 6-0 lead.

Bulldog Bites There were no unhealthy scratches from the Bulldog lineup tonight, the first time in over a month all Elis have been healthy... Freshman Broc Little, who was injured at Minnesota State on Dec. 30, returned to the lineup tonight... Yale practiced at Ingalls on Thursday and then headed up to Hamilton to stay at the White Eagle Conference Center's rustic cabins (temperature in the rooms was 40 degrees upon arrival and there are no phones) on a pretty, snow-filled lake... The Bulldogs drive up to Ithaca tonight in preparation for Saturday night's game at Cornell... Starr Rink, the recently renovated, 49-year-old, airplane hanger-like, home of the Raiders, holds 2,246 fans.

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director