Late Goal Earns Bulldogs Tie with Harvard
NEW HAVEN, CT. - Freshman forward Denny Kearney's goal with 1:09 left in regulation enabled the Yale men's hockey team to skate to a 3-3 overtime tie with No. 15 Harvard in ECAC action before 3,312 at Ingalls Rink.
The game was billed as a showdown between the No. 1 and No. 4 goalies in the nation. Harvard's Kyle Richter (0.99 GAA), who has the top spot, made 33 saves while Billy Blase (1.60) stopped 23 in a thrilling contest that lived up to the billing despite six goals.
Freshman winger Michael Biega scored the first three goals of his collegiate career to put the Crimson, who were outshot 36-26, in position to take the two points.
Both goalies made impressive saves in a wild first period that had great flow and end-to-end action. The Bulldogs (3-3-3, 2-2-3 ECAC) outshot the Crimson 14-7 in the frame and had two of the three best opportunities to notch the first goal. Richter, who ranks first in the nation in goals-against average, proved his position by coming up with at least five above-average stops and halting the only two power-play chances in the period.
Harvard (5-2-1, 4-2-1), which swept Yale in the conference playoff last March at Boston, cashed in on a 3-on-1 rush over the Bulldogs' blueline early in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Eli defenseman Ken Trentowski got caught diving in for a puck at the red line and the visitors jumped all over it.
Biega took a feed from Nick Coskren and came through the slot on Blase. Biega faked left and went to the right when the Eli netminder took the bait. He had an easy backhanded flip into an open side of the net at 4:47 for his first career goal.
That goal turned out to be one of the few quality scoring chances of a middle period that had the Crimson outshooting Yale 7-6.
"There was up and down action all night," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "We did a good job of coming back and facing adversity. That is a great sign for our team."
The Bulldogs finally took advantage of a grade-A scoring chance, and it came early in the third period. Freshman defenseman Mike Matczask's shot was stopped by Richter but the Cantab netminder could not control the puck.
The rebound bounced out to the low slot where Bulldog captain Will Engasser was ready to bang it home with a low shot. Engasser's first goal of the year evened the score at 1-1 just 1:20 into the third.
The first power-play goal of the night was a big one for the Crimson and Biega, who made it two goals on the night he tallied his first collegiate score. Biega followed up on a rebound from a Jon Pelle shot and rather easily flipped it into the back of the net from the lower right slot to make it 2-1 at 9:40.
Putting the puck on the net can create opportunities, and that's what the Bulldogs did 38 seconds later to tie it up again with a fluke goal off the stick of sophomore forward Mark Arcobello. Engasser gave it to Arcobello before the center sent a rising wrist shot toward Richter who seemed to be caught off guard as the puck whizzed over his shoulder at 10:18.
Once again the Blue could not hold the line and Biega notched the hat trick with an easy put-back from the side of the crease at 15:05 to put the Crimson up 3-2. Blase stopped two shots while on his back before the puck landed in the back of the net.
Yale, which outshot Harvard in the third 14-12, never gave up and continued to fight for loose pucks with the same ferocity. The Blue sent Blasé off the ice for the extra skater during a timeout with 1:39 left and the plan worked well. Kearney, who notched his second career goal, slapped home a loose puck in the low slot with 1:09 left to force the overtime. Yale defenseman Tom Dignard, along the boards, started the play by sending a pass toward Sean Backman (3 assists) in the slot. That's when the puck bounced free.
"The puck was just sitting there," said Kearney. "Their goalie was out of position because he was playing the pass. It would have been very disappointing if we didn't come out with at least a point."
The underdog Bulldogs had the only shots on goal in the extra session but could not get it past Richter.
"They (Yale) showed a lot. A winning team has to have character. This is a pretty good way to develop it," said Allain.
