Nov. 11, 2008

STORRS, Conn. - A centering pass from the corner by Mark Arcobello bounced off a defender's skate and into the back of the net with 59 seconds left to give the Yale men's hockey team a 2-1 win over Connecticut at the Mark E. Freitas Ice Forum.

Arcobello, who had both Bulldog goals and now has three on the season, was trying to put the puck in front of Connecticut goalie Beau Erickson when his pass caromed off a defenseman's skate and slipped through the goalie's legs.

"There wasn't a lot of time left so I was just throwing it to the net," said Arcobello. "It hit a defenseman's skate and went between the goalie's legs."

In the first-ever meeting at Storrs between the state rivals, Erickson stole the show with 32 saves but Yale sophomore Ryan Rondeau earned the win with 18 stops. Yale (3-1-0) outshot the home team 34-19 but was just 1-for-8 on the power play.

"It was great for him [Ryan Rondeau] to get his feet wet on the road in a tight game. I was pleased with the way he played the puck. He played very well tonight," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey.

UConn (2-6) was scoreless on eight man-advantages on a night with 23 penalties and 60 minutes of box time.

A fast, scoreless first period included Yale outshooting UConn 9-8, but most of the grade-A scoring chances came in front of Erickson, who stopped both Bulldog man-advantages and kept Arcobello from converting a few nifty moves. Rondeau faced three power plays but did not see the quality chances that occurred at the other end.

The Huskies came out flying in the second period and took advantage of a 4-on-4. After a near miss for Chris Ochoa on a clear path to the Yale goal and a Rondeau save, Justin Hernandez got his first of the year with a low slap shot past the Yale goalie's glove at 4:33.

Freshman blueliner Nick Jaskowiak was the victim of a dangerous elbowing by Pat Mcauley at 7:13 of the second that brought a five-minute power play for the Bulldogs. After trying to get up from the shot to his head, the Eli rookie fell to the ice and was taken off the ice on a stretcher five minutes later.

UConn did a good job of killing off the man-advantage but could not handle the 5-on-3 that occurred in the middle of the major penalty. Arcobello one-timed a pretty crossing feed in the low slot from Denny Kearney at 10:16 to even the score. It was Arcobello's second goal of the year and 19th career.

The Bulldogs had the edge (13-8) in shots during the messy middle frame that featured 11 penalties for 25 minutes.

The Huskies had more penalty-killing work to do early in the third and the Elis could ot solve Erickson, even with nearly two minutes more of 5-on-3 play. Yale had three or four great opportunities to take the lead.

After killing off three straight calls, UConn got a long advantage of its own when Yale rookie Kevin Limbert was called for a major and disqualified from the game.

The Elis nearly stole the lead shorthanded with 10:28 left when Kearney one-timed a wrap-around feed by Broc Little on the doorstep. Erickson gloved that 12-foot wrister and then snared another a minute later off another Bulldogs' stick.

"UConn made us work for everything tonight," said Allain. "We found a way to get it done. We had so many grade-A chances that didn't go in. It figures that's the way [fluke GWG goal] it happened."

Yale is next in action Saturday night with Brown coming to Ingalls Rink for the home opener.

Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director