Box Score Staenz Scores Second Goal of Weekend
STORRS, Conn. - In Saturday afternoon's consolation game at the 11th annual Nutmeg Classic tournament, the Yale women's ice hockey team ran into a UConn team that had pushed No. 5 Clarkson to overtime in the semifinals the day before. The Huskies were playing at home in the Freitas Ice Forum and had a goalie that was on a roll, as Elaine Chuli had made 51 saves Friday. Chuli ultimately helped tip Saturday's game in the Huskies' favor, as she made 32 saves and led UConn to a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs despite Yale's 33-21 shot advantage.
UConn (4-10-5, 0-5-2 Hockey East) had seen a 1-0 lead slip away with less than seven minutes to play in the third period against Clarkson Friday night, and the Huskies ultimately fell 2-1 on a goal three minutes into overtime. Yale (4-6-1, 1-3-0 ECAC Hockey) had fallen to No. 4 Quinnipiac 5-2 earlier in the day, setting up the consolation game matchup.
Both teams had shots hit the pipes in the first seven minutes, so the game was scoreless when Yale went on a power play after senior forward Jackie Raines drew a tripping call at 9:06.
It did not take long for the Yale offense to strike with the man advantage. Freshman forward Eden Murray and sophomore defenseman Taylor Marchin worked the puck around the perimeter before Marchin fed sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz low in the right circle. Staenz then rifled a one-timer past Chuli for a 1-0 Yale lead at 9:18. It was her second goal of the tournament, and she was named to the All-Tournament Team later in the day.
Sophomore goaltender Hanna Mandl made one of her toughest saves of the night on a point-blank chance for forward Emily Snodgrass midway through the period. But shortly after that, the Huskies tied things up on a goal by forward Kelly Harris at 11:09.
UConn then grabbed a 2-1 lead on a turnover in the Yale zone 7:04 into the second. Forward Madison Badeau took the puck off the boards on the right side, skated in alone on Mandl and wristed in her first career goal.
A power play for the Bulldogs later in the second did not result in a goal, but it did help swing offensive momentum squarely in Yale's favor. Shots on goal were even (14-14) shortly before the penalty, but Yale went on to outshoot UConn 10-3 over the final 11 minutes of the period. Chuli made a huge save with four minutes left, getting her pads together to smother a shot by freshman forward Courtney Pensavalle on a breakaway.
After a slow start to the third period by both offenses, a glove save by Chuli on a shot by freshman defenseman Mallory Souliotis with five minutes to play was the precursor to a frantic finish. Staenz sent a hard wrister high with 2:30 left, then got denied by Chuli on a shot from right in front of the net after a nice centering pass from Raines. With 2:19 to play the Bulldogs called timeout and pulled Mandl, who finished with 18 saves.
Yale won that faceoff but the puck went all the way out of the UConn zone, forcing the Bulldogs to regroup. After an icing call on the Huskies with 1:19 to play, UConn called timeout. The Huskies were able to clear the zone once again, but Yale quickly got the puck back in. With a minute to play, Marchin sent a shot wide. The Bulldogs continued to control the puck in the UConn zone, and a delayed penalty call on the Huskies added to the drama. With 32 seconds to play Yale went on a power play, giving the Bulldogs a two-skater advantage. Senior defenseman Aurora Kennedy sent a slap shot wide, though, and Chuli gloved a shot by Raines with 19.7 seconds left. Shortly after that, Snodgrass got possession of the puck and sent it from deep in her own zone all the way into the empty net at the other end of the ice, sealing the 3-1 win with six seconds to play. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Huskies.
Quinnipiac beat Clarkson Saturday night for the Nutmeg Classic championship. Yale returns to ECAC Hockey play next weekend, visiting Union Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Nutmeg Classic All-Tournament Team:
Goalie - Elaine Chuli, UConn
Defense - Erin Ambrose, Clarkson
Defense - Cydney Roesler, Quinnipiac
Forward - Phoebe Staenz, Yale
Forward - Morgan Fitz-Ward, Quinnipiac
Forward - Shannon MacAulay, Clarkson
Most Valuable Goaltender: Chelsea Laden, Quinnipiac
Tournament MVP: Emma Woods, Quinnipiac
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
