Jan. 22, 2005

Photo Gallery

Brad Mills notched the first hat trick of his career and Matt Modelski stopped 28 of 30 shots as the Yale men's hockey team skated past Connecticut 6-2 before 2,619 at Ingalls Rink.

Mills, a sophomore who leads the Bulldogs with nine goals and 20 points, lit the lamp all three times on special teams and with perfect feeds from teammates, including a pair of spectacular passes from junior forward Christian Jensen. Both of Jensen's helpers resulted in shorthanded goals while Mills also tallied on the powerplay.

Modelski earned his third win of the season by stopping six of eight power-play chances and making 11 saves in the second period.

Yale (3-15-1), playing its last non-league game of the year, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half of the opening frame with goals by Mills and freshman Jean-Francois Boucher. Mills one-timed a 10-foot shot on a Jeff Hristovski feed from behind the net at 4:39 and then Boucher grabbed a rebound that slipped behind UConn goalie Scott Tomes (28 saves) and slid it into the back of the net for his first collegiate score at 12:07.

The Huskies (6-16-2), outshot 38-30 overall and 20-9 in the first period, got an easy put-back goal on the man-advantage at 18:18 by Aaron Kakepetum. UConn's last goal - another rebound, power-play score by Matt Scherer early in the second, followed a long shot from Bulldog blueliner Shawn Mole that gave him his first collegiate goal.

That made it 3-2 Yale and the Elis, who were 2-for-5 on the powerplay, finished off the scoring with three highlight-type plays. First, defenseman Bill LeClerc, who had two assists, led Nate Jackson in the slot and the junior center banged home the puck at 11:54 of the second. Mills and Jensen then thrilled the fans who braved the start of the New England blizzard with a pair of shorthanded goals to close out the game.

Jensen, who is second on the squad with eight goals and 15 points, showcased his skills with two of the better connections of the year. First he picked off a long pass at the UConn blueline and flipped a perfect feed to Mills, who then deked Tomes before tucking a backhander in the net at 13:32 of the second.

Midway through the third, Jensen and Mills broke in two-on-one and Jensen faked a shot that moved the goalie out of position from the far post where his linemate was heading. The puck landed on Mills' stick and the sophomore center one-timed it at 11:46.

Freshman forward Blair Yaworski also added two assists to the Bulldog attack, while the final goal ended the day for Tomes who was replaced by Brad Smith (4 saves) in the UConn net.

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director