Bulldogs' Season Comes To End
PRINCETON, NJ -- The Yale men's hockey season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to Princeton in the decisive game of the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal playoff series at Baker Rink.
Zane Kalemba stopped all 31 shots and sent the Tigers (19-13-0) to the conference championships next weekend at Albany with his second shutout in three nights.
The unprecedented sixth meeting of the season between the ancient rivals went all Princeton's way. The Tigers had the edge (32-31) in shots, had goals from four different players and notched the only power-play score.
Yale (16-14-4), 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, could not finish its chances and lost out on the opportunity to make its first ECAC Championships appearance since 1998. Sophomore goalie Billy Blase stopped 28 of 32 shots and deserved a better fate.
"I am grateful to the players for the effort they gave me all season," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "They took this program a step further along and I am proud of the guys and the season they had."
Princeton outshot Yale 73-56 combined in the first two games and the opening period of game three was no different. The Tigers had a 12-6 edge and all the grade-A scoring chances while jumping out to a 2-0 lead for the third straight night.
The Tigers were up 1-0 just five seconds into their first power-play opportunity. Off the faceoff, Taylor Fedun fired a shot on net that was stopped by Blase but the rebound trickled out to the low slot. Winger Brett Wilson (14th goal) got to the puck first with Blase trying to recover from the save and a wide open right side of the net. Wilson had time to position his forehand before flipping it into the upper part of the net at 3:27.
Princeton used its speed to turn a turnover in the neutral zone into an odd-man rush that resulted in a 2-0 lead at 14:24. Mark Magnowski carried the puck into the left circle with a defender going down to block the shot or pass. Magnowski had Cam MacIntyre sprinting down the right side and managed to avoid the fallen blueliner and another coming from the other side. MacIntyre one-timed the soft pass for his 12th goal of the year and his sixth against the Bulldogs.
Blase, who had eight saves, made some spectacular stops to keep the Blue in the game during the middle frame, but he couldn't get any support at the other end. Yale put 14 shots on Kalemba, including two semi-breakaways by Brendan Mason and Broc Little (two of Yale's goal scorers Saturday night) but couldn't break through.
The Eli netminder could only hold the levy so long, and the home team found a slight opening to take a three-goal lead with 3:34 left in the second. Kevin Kaiser had the puck in the corner and sent a perfect crossing pass to the low slot for Brandan Kushniruk (3rd), who re-directed it inside the near post.
A top-shelf, shorthanded goal at 5:41 of the third by Matt Arhontas dashed any hopes for a Yale comeback. The freshman winger stole the puck at center ice and went in alone on the Bulldog net before sending a high wrister over Blase's shoulder.
