Hayden, O'Gara Tally in Win Over RIT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Patrick Spano took advantage of his first start since early November last season to register his first collegiate shutout. The sophomore goalie stopped all 21 shots and three power plays to lead the Yale men's hockey team to a 2-0 win over RIT before 3,234 at Ingalls Rink.

Spano, who found out yesterday he'd be making his first start since game five last year, improved his record in net to 4-0. Ten of his 21 saves came in the third period as he registered Yale's first shutout since last March in the ECAC playoffs while helping the Bulldogs notch a second straight win and improve their record to 5-2-2 overall.

"Patrick works very hard to make himself better and that makes the team better," said Keith Allain, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace, about his goalie. "He earned the start tonight."

The Blue had a 12-4 advantage in shots on target in the first period, but it took 19 minutes and 23 seconds of it to get the first tally. After three power-play chances and many close calls, the Bulldogs broke through on a pretty passing play.

Ryan Hitchcock had the puck in the corner and moved it along the boards to the point for Ryan Obuchowski. The junior defenseman sent it to the right circle for Hitchcock, who spun and found John Hayden moving through the high slot. The sophomore forward held for a few strides and then fired a low shot that bounced off an RIT stick and went past Tigers goalie Mike Rotolo. The shot was heading low before striking the defenseman's stick and going high.

Spano had a much busier middle frame that included some quality scoring chances on a power play. The sophomore goalie turned aside five on the advantage and seven in the period as the Elis scored another late goal to take a 2-0 lead into the third.

Carson Cooper won the draw in the right circle by kicking the puck back to Charles Orzetti, who wheeled and then dropped it back for defenseman Rob O'Gara. The junior, who scored his first goal of the year in Yale's last game, snapped off a low shot inside the near post at 16:54.

Spano's night was highlighted by a save on the nation's top goal scorer, Matt Garbowsky, who hit the net 11 times.  With 13:35 left in the game, the senior center found a rebound a few feet from the cage and flicked a wrister heading for the top shelf until Spano raised his glove at the last moment to swipe it out of the air.

"They [Yale teammates] did a really good job limiting shots. Our defense did a really good job of taking away rebound opportunities, which made it pretty easy for me," said Spano, who blanked a top line that had produced 19 goals and 48 points this season. "It was a steam shutout."

Yale junior forward Stu Wilson was skating with an extra bounce in his stride tonight. His father, Wayne Wilson, is the head coach of RIT and rarely gets to see his son play. In fact, yesterday at Yale's skate Wayne saw his son practice for the first time in seven years.

"It was weird seeing my dad over there [on the bench]. I've been really excited about [the idea of playing RIT] it since freshman year when I heard about it," said Stu. I was pretty nervous about it until we got that goal in the first period."

With 1:37 left in the game and his Tigers down a pair, the Wilson pulled his goalie for an extra skater. However, the home team stepped it up a notch and did not allow a shot on goal over the last 97 seconds. The Bulldogs won the races to the loose pucks and chipped pucks out to mid-ice to run out the clock.

"We did what had to be done to win a game like this. We limited their chances and created a fair amount of chances of our own," said Allain. "I would like to get more production out of our chances."