Early Run Sends Yale Past Harvard

Photo by jjmillerdesign.com

Boxscore

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Yale scored three goals in the first half of the opening period to overcome a two-goal game by Crimson captain Jimmy Fraser and defeat the Harvard men's hockey team, 6-2, Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 2,891 at Bright Hockey Center.

Brian O'Neill scored twice to help the Bulldogs (11-4-0, 6-2-0 ECAC Hockey, 3-0-0 Ivy League) stay unbeaten in Ivy play, end a four-game unbeaten streak against the Crimson (4-11-3, 4-6-3, 1-3-2) and hand Harvard its first home conference loss in nearly a year.

Mark Arcobello had a goal and two assists for Yale, which held a 38-34 edge in shots and got 32 saves from Billy Blase. Junior John Riley made 15 stops and allowed one goal in a relief appearance for Harvard, which suffered its first home ECAC loss since a Jan. 12, 2008 defeat at the hands of eventual regular-season champion Clarkson.

Harvard took time in the first intermission to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its 1989 NCAA championship. Most of the team was on hand, including Hobey Baker winner Lane MacDonald, head coach Bill Cleary and, of course, Ted Donato, the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship and the Crimson's current head coach.

The Bulldogs jumped on top just 1:47 into the game. Jeff Anderson had the goal, sneaking a shot inside the left post after Brendan Mason slipped a pass back to him from behind the Harvard goal line.

Yale then added a pair of scores barely three minutes apart. O'Neill made it 2-0 six minutes into the first period. After Arcobello poked the puck free behind the Yale net, Kevin Peel set up O'Neill with a pass between two Harvard defensemen, and O'Neill went in on a breakaway and shot over freshman Matt Hoyle's blocker. At the 9:08 mark, after Hoyle stopped a tough-angle shot from Denny Kearney, the puck went straight up into the air and Patrick Brosnihan swatted it in out of mid-air.

Harvard controlled play for much of the rest of the period, but Blase made several good saves to keep the Crimson off the board. His last stop of the period came on a point slap shot from junior Alex Biega just before time expired. The Bulldogs outshot the Crimson, 16-13, in the first period.

Fraser got Harvard back in the game with a goal early in the second. Fellow senior Nick Coskren stole the puck from Yale defenseman and got it to Fraser in front for the finish. The Crimson could not capitalize, however, committing a penalty and falling victim to a Tom Dignard power-play goal at 12:22.

Yale added one more goal to take a 5-1 lead to the second intermission. Sean Backman caused a turnover in the Harvard zone, setting up Arcobello for a mirror image of Fraser's first goal. Yale held a 13-8 edge in second-period shots.

Neither team found the net for almost 16 minutes of the third period, thanks in part to a nice glove save by Riley on Matt Nelson. O'Neill finally added his second goal, from Arcobello, at 15:56. Fraser completed the scoring barely three minutes later, picking out the top right corner on the rush after passes from senior Steve Rolecek and junior Alex Biega. The Crimson held a 13-9 advantages in shots in the final frame.

The Crimson takes a break for first-semester exams before returning to action Jan. 25 at Dartmouth.