Mandl Makes 17 Saves

HAMDEN, Conn. -- When the Yale women's ice hockey team faced No. 5 Quinnipiac earlier this season in the first round of the Nutmeg Classic, the Bulldogs were able to hold the Bobcats' freshman sensation Taylar Cianfarano in check -- she was scoreless on three shots. But on Saturday afternoon Cianfarano was the difference in a 4-1 Quinnipiac win, registering her first career hat trick. The Bulldogs got 17 saves in relief by sophomore goalie Hanna Mandl but could not come back from a 3-1 first period deficit that was fueled by a pair of Cianfarano goals.

The Bobcats' first goal came on a nice move from Cianfarano, who entered the game as the team's leading goal scorer and was tied for the national lead in game-winning goals (five). She took a pass from forward Nicole Connery low in the right circle, stickhandled around a defender, and backhanded a low shot past Yale senior goalie Jaimie Leonoff at 3:01.

Yale (7-9-1, 4-6-0 ECAC Hockey) answered immediately. From behind the net, senior forward Stephanie Mock sent the puck into the crease to freshman forward Eden Murray, who knocked it past Quinnipiac's Chelsea Laden at 3:59. Freshman forward Courtney Pensavalle also assisted on the play.

The Bulldogs incurred the game's first penalty, for too many players on the ice, halfway through the first. That enabled Cianfarano to score again at 10:44. After a hard shot by defenseman Kristen Tamberg hit the pipe and bounced off behind Leonoff, Cianfarano was positioned just to the side of the net and poked the loose puck in. That was just the second power play goal Yale has allowed in the last 10 games.

Quinnipiac (18-1-3, 11-1-2 ECAC Hockey) extended the lead to 3-1 when forward Erica Udén Johansson, who played on a line with junior forward Hanna Åström for Sweden at the 4 Nations Tournament last month, one-timed a rebound past Leonoff at 16:55.

The story of the second period was Mandl, who came on in relief of Leonoff (nine saves) and immediately set the tone by stuffing a shot from Udén Johansson at point-blank range four minutes in. Mandl -- playing in her fifth game of the season -- made eight saves for the frame, helping keep her team in the game, but the Bulldogs were unable to get any more past Laden and the nation's top-ranked scoring defense (0.76 goals allowed per game entering Saturday). Mandl made a quick kick save on Udén Johansson with a minute left to keep the Yale deficit at just two goals heading into the third period.

Shortly after a Quinnipiac timeout Mandl once again denied Udén Johansson four minutes into the third -- this time after the Swede got behind the Yale defense by a stride -- and Mandl also stopped a follow-up attempt by forward Nicole Kosta. But Cianfarano got her hat trick by roofing one in at 10:01 of the third, putting the game out of reach.

Laden finished with 17 saves. With the win first-place Quinnipiac, which has won five games in a row, keeps its lead in the ECAC Hockey standings with a total of 24 points.

Yale hosts No. 10 Cornell Friday afternoon at Ingalls Rink.

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