Two Goals and an Assist for Pensavalle

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's ice hockey team showed that it can compete with one of the best teams in the country Saturday afternoon at Ingalls Rink, tying No. 6 Boston University 4-4. The Bulldogs had to fight back from a 4-3 deficit late in the game, getting the game-tying goal from freshman forward Eden Murray with 2:03 to play in regulation. Senior goaltender Jaimie Leonoff made 33 saves, and freshman forward Courtney Pensavalle had two goals and an assist.

BU (6-2-1, 3-1-0 Hockey East) grabbed an early lead with a short-handed goal by forward Rebecca Russo at 8:33 of the first. But in the second period, Yale took the lead -- twice. After junior forward Jamie Haddad tied the game with a goal 2:01 into the second -- assisted by Pensavalle and junior forward Janelle Ferrara -- a series of penalties late in the period that included a five-minute major on BU gave Yale a power play and the chance to take the lead. Pensavalle scored off an assist by sophomore defenseman Taylor Marchin at 17:35 to make it 2-1 Yale.

That was not the end of the scoring for the period, though. Still short-handed after the Pensavalle goal, BU scored another short-handed goal -- this one by forward Kayla Tutino -- with 1:19 left. And 19 seconds after that, Pensavalle scored another power play goal just before the five-minute major expired. This one was assisted by Marchin and sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz, and gave Yale a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

A power play goal by BU forward Victoria Bach tied the game early in the third, setting the stage for some late drama. BU had edged Yale 2-1 in Boston last year, and the player who got the game-winner in that game -- All-American forward Sarah Lefort -- struck again on Saturday. Her power play goal at 16:02 put the Terriers ahead for the first time since early in the second period, 4-3.

Yale (2-2-1, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) would not be denied, however. With Leonoff pulled for an extra attacker on a faceoff in the BU zone, the Bulldogs eventually got control of the puck in the neutral zone. Staenz initiated a sequence of great puck movement in the BU zone, leaving the puck in between the circles for Ferrara. Ferrara backhanded it over to sophomore forward Krista Yip-Chuck in the left circle, and Yip-Chuck immediately backhanded it across the ice to Murray all alone at the right post. Murray one-timed it in for the dramatic game-tying goal.

Leonoff took care of the rest. She made four saves in overtime to earn the tie, and finished the day all alone in third place on Yale's career saves list (2,456). BU's Erin O'Neil made 24 stops. Both teams were 2-for-7 on the power play.

Yale returns to ECAC Hockey play next weekend, visiting Colgate next Friday at 7:00 p.m.

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