Blase Earns Shutout for Bulldogs
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Sophomore goaltender Billy Blase stopped 18 shots and recorded his first career shutout as the Yale men's hockey team defeated Brown 2-0 in front of a crowd of 2,350 at Ingalls Rink. The shutout was the first for the Bulldogs since they defeated RPI 5-0 at Ingalls on January 21, 2006.
The victory was also Blase's first win while at Yale.
"It was a hard fought game and both teams competed very well," said Ketih Allain, Yale's Malcom G. Chase Head Coach of Hockey. "Brown kept coming at us, but a it was a good game for our young guys to learn how to play in this league."
The Bulldogs managed to pull out the victory despite going 0-5 with the man advantage. Brown was equally unsuccessful, also going 0-5.
Action was slow going at first. After a scoreless first period, both teams picked up the pace in what quickly became a hard-hitting second frame. Yet it wasn't until 16:11 into the period that the 0-0 tie was broken. With the Brown defense running around in its own zone, David Germain sent a cycling pass behind the net to Matt Nelson, who batted it to a streaking Jean-Francois Boucher. Boucher one-timed the pass on net and then picked up his own rebound just in time to hammer it past Brown's Dan Rosen.
The Bulldogs added to the lead at 8:46 of the first period when freshman Mike Matczak capitalized on a failed Brown clear by firing a quick shot on net. Rosen kicked the puck out directly to Karwoski, who was crashing the net and tipped in the rebound for his second goal of the year.
Yale went on the power play late in the third, which prevented Brown from pulling their goalie to try to even the score.
With the victory, Yale improved to 1-1-0 in the Weekend's shootout.
