Nov. 22, 2008

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Sean Backman (Cos Cob, Conn.) had two goals and three teammates had a goal and an assist as the Yale men's hockey team skated past Alabama-Huntsville 6-2 before 2,019 at Ingalls Rink.

The Bulldogs (5-2-0) erased an early deficit with six straight scores to gain the weekend split with UAH (2-5-1). Yale was able to win its fourth game in five tries by outshooting the visitors 36-22.

Mark Arcobello, Broc Little and Tom Dignard each had a goal and a helper on a night where five different teammates hit the net.

Senior goalie Alec Richards (Robbinsdale, Minn.) stopped 20 of 22 shots, including 17 over the last 40 minutes. The only two that got past him came with a man-advantage.

UAH, from College Hockey America, used Blake MacNichol (16 saves, 4 goals) for the first 30 minutes before Cameron Talbot, who shut out the Elis on Friday, closed it out with 14 saves.

It didn't take long for the Chargers to capitalize on a man advantage. Five seconds into Arcobello's penalty Matt Sweazey one-timed a perfect crossing, lead pass by the stick of Richards

After going scoreless the night before against UAH, the Bulldogs finally broke through midway through the first when sophomore New Hampshire natives Denny Kearney (Hanover) and Little (Rindge) hooked up on a pretty give-and-go goal down a man. Little skated in over the blueline and dropped for Kearney, who gave the puck back to his right wing. Little (2nd goal) skated through the low slot and held the puck before slipping it under MacNicol, who had slid across the crease.

The shorthanded goal, the Elis' first of the year, was revenge for UAH's lone goal last night with Yale on the power play in the third period of a scoreless game. It was the first man-down tally the Chargers had faced this season.

Yale, which outshot the visitors 13-4 in the first, made it two straight with a power-play score on its first opportunity. Sean Backman (5th), who took a feed from Little, snapped off a shot from the point that whizzed over MacNichol's left shoulder at 15:22 of the first.

Arcobello atoned for his early infraction by giving the Blue a two-goal lead early in the second. The junior forward from Milford, Conn., stole a pass in the visitor's end and went in alone on the goal. Arcobello deked and then flipped a soft backhander top shelf at 1:32.

"We played a good game and created many offensive opportunities. We showed more determination to finish off those chances than we did last night," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "This was a good test for our team after having a disappointing loss last night."

Yale kept putting the pressure on and made it 4-1 at 10:12 when senior forward Patrick Brosnihan (Worcester, Mass.) converted a pass from Jeff Anderson (Port Coquitlam, BC) by blasting a long wrister over MacNicol's shoulder from the top of the right circle.

A little more than two minutes later, a Bulldog defenseman got in the scoring act with a nifty move from Dignard (Reading, Mass.). The junior skated in through the left circle and was waiting for the defensive pressure before dishing, but that pressure never came. Dignard kept skating before slipping the puck off the goalie's skate and inside the far post at 12:27 for his first tally of the season.

The home team made it six straight goals when Backman notched his second of the night on a scramble in the low slot.

The shot disparity in the second was comparable to the opening frame, but the Chargers did get one goal back on their 12th shot of the night. Scott Kalinchuk's slap shot from the right circle beat Richards with UAH up a man late in the period to cut the margin to 6-2.

"Our overall intensity level was much better tonight. We were upset about last night's loss," said Backman, who had his third multiple-goal night of the season and leads the Elis with six this year.

Recap filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director

Video by David Dikranian