Women's Hockey Team Dedicates Game to Ailing Teammate

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's ice hockey team is dedicating its game vs. RPI on Friday, Nov. 12 to Mandi Schwartz, utilizing the game as a fundraiser for Mandi in her courageous battle with cancer. The goal is to pack Ingalls Rink, with everyone wearing white, as a "White Out for Mandi" show of support. No admission will be charged, and donations for Mandi will be accepted at the door. The team is lining up pledges from donors based on the attendance total, so that every person who walks through the doors that night will count towards the final donation total. The event will also help raise awareness of the need for bone marrow donors and umbilical cord blood donors.

Special white t-shirts will be available at the game, and youth hockey teams are encouraged to come wearing white jerseys. The Bulldogs plan to honor Mandi, who is currently in Seattle recovering from a stem cell transplant after nearly two years of battling leukemia, in a special pre-game ceremony at approximately 6:45. Material about the value of stem cell donation will be available. Mandi's life-saving stem cell transplant utilized blood from two anonymous umbilical cord blood donations. Stem cells for patients with life-threatening illnesses like Mandi's can also come from bone marrow donors.

The Bulldogs hope to set the record for attendance at a women's game at Ingalls Rink. The current record is 1,539, set on Nov. 1, 2005 when Team USA played an exhibition game against the ECAC Hockey All-Stars. The capacity of Ingalls Rink is 3,500.

To make a donation or to pledge, please download the donation form here.

There will be additional fundraising activities at the game as well. Further details will be available on yalebulldogs.com at http://www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi/whiteout as they become finalized.

For further information, please contact Aleca Hughes at aleca.hughes@yale.edu.

For further information about Mandi Schwartz' battle with cancer, please visit http://www.yalebulldogs.com/mandi

If you are attending the event and are on facebook, please RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112339245495779 so that an accurate count can be kept.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity