Box Score

NEW HAVEN, CT -- Freshman forward Broc Little's goal at 5:40 of the third overtime ended the longest game in the history of Yale hockey in New Haven and gave the Bulldog men a 3-2 win over Rensselaer in the opening game of the best-of-three ECAC first-round playoff series.

Little's goal completed a 105 minute, 40-second game, the eighth longest in NCAA men's hockey history. It included 56 shots on goal by Yale and 29 by RPI and just eight power-play chances combined.

"The defense was trying to rim it back but Denny [Kearney] snuffed it out and sent me a perfect pass," said Little, who notched his ninth goal of the year. "I just one-timed it as I was falling down. I never saw it go in. I just saw one of our guys jumping up and down behind the net and figured it went in."

Little's goal spoiled a 53-save effort by junior goalie Mathias Lange, who had 14 of those in the opening frame.

Yale junior Alec Richards, playing in his second multiple-overtime playoff game, needed 27 saves to earn the win and give his team a chance to move on to the next round with a win on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs (14-12-4) finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage while RPI (11-22-4) was 0-for-3.

"It was a heck of a game. Both teams played so hard and had gutsy performances. I want to congratulate RPI for having such a gutsy effort tonight," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey.

After beating the Engineers last Saturday and then coming out with a 16-4 advantage in shots in the first period of the next meeting, Yale should have been sitting pretty. That was not the case here because RPI hit the net twice on those four shots and things were even after 20 minutes.

The home team buzzed like angry bees in the visitor's end and peppered Lange with pucks in the first 15 minutes. Yale sophomore forward Chris Cahill (6th goal), standing near the goal line on the side of the net sent a shot off the RPI goalie's skate at 5:42 to open the scoring.

Yale's second power play of the night resulted in a 2-0 lead nearly eight minutes later. Mike Matczak's shot from the boards, just inside the blueline, was re-directed high over Lange's right shoulder by senior forward Matthew Thomey (7th), whose quick reaction earned the tally at 13:35.

Fifteen of the first 16 shots on goal came off Yale sticks. However, the next one cut the Bulldog lead to 2-1. Garett Vassel snapped off a shot that hit the post and then bounced off Richards into the back of the net at 16:43.

RPI wasn't done in the first. Tyler Helfrich sent a lead pass to Scott Halpern in right circle. The freshman winger fired from the dot as Richards had the angle covered. The only problem was the small hole the Eli netminder left uncovered, and the puck found it easily at 19:18.

"RPI grabbed the momentum at the end of the period. We had to work very hard to get back into the flow," said Allain. "I felt if we played the same way we did for most of the period, we would be ok."

The shots were even (7-7) in the second and both goalies came up with impressive saves to keep it 2-2. Yale had the slight edge in shots (7-6) during a scoreless third but had many more grade-A scoring chances. Lange stood on his head as the Elis got opportunities from all four lines, while Richards got plenty of support from Bulldogs who threw their bodies in front of shots.

The Blue outshot the Engineers 9-5 in the first OT but both squads had excellent chances to end it. RPI center Chace Polacek nearly stunned the crowd midway through the OT when he snared a loose puck and went on a shorthanded breakaway that was thwarted by a Richards' kick save.

RPI got a power play (Jean-Francois Boucher, charging) early in the second OT but the Bulldog penalty-killers blocked all four shots and Richards never felt a thing. However, just after the successful kill, Richards fumbled a looping shot and the puck fell behind him, just a few inches from the post.

Yale had three more shots on net in the second OT but Rensselaer had the better opportunities. Two or three Engineers stood on the edge of the crease with a variety of shots that were kept out of the net.

Little's winner came off a faceoff win in the RPI end. His one-timer shot off Kearney's pass went through Lange's legs and sent most of the 2,362 fans into a frenzy.

"The faceoff-win was key. We hadn't been winning many faceoffs, but we did in the third OT," said Allain.

"It's just one game in a three-game series. You have to put it behind you and build on it for tomorrow night," said the Yale coach.

The Elis' last OT playoff game was the longest in the history of NCAA men's hockey, a 3-2 Yale win in 2006 at Union that last over 141 minutes (5th OT). That was No.2 in the first-round series with Richards in net.

Yale and RPI are back at Ingalls Saturday at 7 p.m. for game No. 2.