Familiar Result for Snikeris: Shutout

Boxscore

NEW HAVEN, CT -- Freshman goaltender Jackee Snikeris made 28 saves and five different Bulldogs scored goals as Yale topped Cornell 5-0 Saturday afternoon at Ingalls Rink. Snikeris, who has not allowed a goal in her last 121:18, now has four shutouts on the year and is one shy of the school record. Freshman forward Lili Rudis' first-period goal, the first of her career, proved to be the game-winner.
 
Rudis' goal came after Cornell failed to break out of its own zone effectively. Junior forward Kristen Stupay harassed the Big Red into a pass in the neutral zone that junior forward Carry Resor grabbed and quickly sent back toward the Cornell zone. The puck hit off a Cornell player and bounced to Rudis heading down the center of the ice. She sent a speculative shot on net from 40 feet out that goalie Katie Wilson got a piece of, but it trickled past her and into the net.
 
Snikeris was truly put to the test when the Big Red went on a power play six minutes in. Karelee Overguard took a nifty backhand pass from Rebecca Johnston low in the right circle and quickly fired the puck across to Liz Zorn, who appeared to have snuck behind Snikeris on the left side. But Snikeris reacted quickly, getting her right leg back in time for a spectacular stop. She made 11 saves in the first and helped Yale survive a period in which it was outshot 11-6.
 
The Bulldogs took control of the game early in the second. Two minutes in Carry Resor got off a shot that was blocked right to sophomore defenseman Alyssa Clarke high in the slot, and she ripped off a slap shot that made it 2-0. Two minutes later, after junior forward Crysti Howser won a faceoff in the Yale zone, sophomore forward Mandi Schwartz passed the puck to freshman forward Samantha MacLean. Her long pass towards center ice was deflected, and junior forward Maggie Westfal corralled it behind the Big Red defense. She went stick side to beat Kayla Strong for a 3-0 lead.
 
The next Yale goal came from some hard work in front of the net, as Howser knocked in a rebound after Westfal threw the puck in front and Schwartz put it on Strong. A feed off the boards from Schwartz to Caroline Murphy low in the left slot gave the Bulldogs their fifth goal with three minutes left in the period.
 
That left most of the suspense for the third period centered on Snikeris, who made 11 saves in the final frame to seal the shutout. That included six on a pair of Cornell power plays.
 
Snikeris has won her last four starts, including three shutouts, stopping 95 of 97 shots (.979) in that stretch and posting a goals-against average of 0.49.
 
With the win the Bulldogs leapfrog the Big Red into sixth place in the ECAC Hockey standings. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
 
Yale travels to Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend.