Yale Beats Red Stars

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale's return to action after the holiday break was an exciting, close finish that turned into a great show for a big crowd at Ingalls Rink. Stu Wilson found the net with five minutes left to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 exhibition victory over the Red Stars from Russia.

The Elis were coming off a 21-day break from competition and needed an immediate challenge to prepare for some important regular-season games next week. They got it from the young group of Russian professionals who were much improved from last year's all-star squad that came to the U.S.

"There was clearly some rust. We haven't played in three weeks and we had just one practice last night. It was the perfect time to play a team like this," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. "We got what we needed out of it, and it's better than practice. We can't create this tempo in practice."

They played nearly 32 minutes before a goal was scored, but there was plenty of action at both ends of the rink prior to anyone seeing a red light. The Red Stars had an 8-7 advantage in shots the opening period and then the Bulldogs had the edge, 14-9, in the second.

Alex Lyon played the first period and a half and made 14 saves before Patrick Spano came on for the rest of the game and turned aside nine shots.

Three minutes after Spano entered the game the Bulldogs broke the bubble on a scoreless game with a shorthanded tally from Mike Doherty (in photo).

The Red Stars lost control of the puck on the advantage in the Yale end and defenseman Rob O'Gara won the race to it. He flipped it up along the boards to Doherty on the right side and the sophomore winger beat all but one opponent down the ice. Doherty held with an odd-man rush and then released a snap shot from the right circle that zipped inside the far post at 12:59.

The visitors, looking for their first win against the boys from New Haven, evened things early in the third period after the Bulldogs had three or four grade-A chances to try and get up two.

The Elis had a number of great chances during the third, including a pair of power plays, but it was tough getting it past Sergei Korobov. That held true until Wilson turned a turnover in the Red Stars end into a goal with five minutes left.

A Stars defenseman tried to pass out of his own end and the puck came to Wilson at the top of the left circle. The junior center took a few steps and then sent a low wrister into the back of the net.

Both teams were flinging lots of rubber at the net. Fortunately for the home team, its goalie was also coming up with big stops. Spano made a top-notch save on a shorthanded opportunity with nine minutes left, which was really the best chance for the Russians to even the score.

The Stars, who beat the EHL All-Stars, 5-4, on Dec. 23 in Simsbury, Conn., have a six-game tour of the Northeastern part of the U.S. that includes games against Harvard (Dec. 28), Army (Dec. 30), Babson College (Dec. 31) and Princeton (Jan. 3).

Bulldog Bites

Matthew Beattie led the Blue with six shots on net; Mike Doherty was second with four… John Hayden, the Yale sophomore forward, is with Team USA at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships in Canada. His team beat Finland in a shootout on Friday and play Germany next at 8 p.m. on Sunday in Montreal… Yale is on the road Tuesday night to face Holy Cross at the Hart Center in Worcester before returning to the Whale for a Jan. 3 contest with the Vermont Catamounts… Brian O'Neill '12, who had 10 points over three games last week, leads the AHL with 38 points and was named player of the week on Dec. 22.

Filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director

Mike Doherty image by Steve Musco