Seven Different Players Get One Assist Each

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- In her brief career so far for the Yale women's ice hockey team, sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz has already proven herself to be one of the team's most dynamic scorers. But a year after leading the team with 11 goals, Staenz headed into Saturday afternoon with most of her points this season coming from assists (10 of 12). It seemed just a matter of time before she started finding the back of the net for herself more frequently, and that time arrived in Saturday's game against Colgate at Ingalls Rink -- Staenz had a season-high two goals and three points as Yale bested the Raiders 5-1. Senior goaltender Jaimie Leonoff made 25 saves for the win.

"Phoebe played really well this whole weekend," said Yale head coach Joakim Flygh. "Last weekend she might have been a little tired [after returning from playing for her native Switzerland in the Nations Cup], but it's clear she had a lot of jump this weekend. She created a lot of chances, both for herself and for her teammates."

The game started in vexing fashion for the Bulldogs, as they controlled play for a large stretch at the start of the first period but could not score. In fact, Yale had a 7-3 shot advantage when the game's first goal was scored -- by Colgate. After skating into the slot, Raiders forward Taylor Craig slid the puck along the ice with a backhand shot and got it through traffic past Leonoff at the 12:07 mark.

"We played two really good games this weekend [Yale outshot Cornell 41-31 Friday in a 2-0 loss], and after we went down early today there was no quit in us," said Flygh. "It was important for us to play well in back-to-back games. It's frustrating when you feel you control the game but don't have the lead, but the way we responded today is a testament to our ability to keep the faith."

Colgate (5-18-0, 2-9-0 ECAC Hockey) killed off a penalty late in the first, but the Bulldogs eventually evened the game with a well-executed 2-on-1. After taking a pass from junior forward Jamie Haddad, junior forward Janelle Ferrara skated in on Colgate goalie Ashlynne Rando and waited until the last second before sliding a pass across to senior forward Jackie Raines, who was wide open and put it home to tie the score 1-1 at 17:25.

"On a 2-on-1, 99 percent of the time Janelle is going to pass," said Flygh. "She threaded the needle with that pass, and made it an easy tap-in goal."

The Bulldogs took the lead at 6:12 of the second when freshman forward Courtney Pensavalle and sophomore forward Gretchen Tarrant set up senior defenseman Madi Murray for a snap shot from the right circle that beat Rando high on her glove side. That was Murray's second career goal.

"Good for her," said Flygh. "It's great to see her chipping in. Any time we get offense from the blue line, it makes us a better team."

Five minutes later, Staenz grabbed a loose puck behind the net, came out in front and stuffed it past Rando's left leg to make the score 3-1. It was her first goal since Nov. 29.

The Yale lead could have been bigger heading into the second intermission, but in the final minutes of the second Rando made a save on a hard wrist shot by Raines and also covered up a booming slap shot by junior defenseman Kate Martini. Rando ended the period with a tough save on sophomore forward Krista Yip-Chuck with Tarrant bearing down looking for the rebound.

Yale (8-10-1, 5-7-0 ECAC Hockey) killed off another penalty early in the third, then put the game out of reach with goals by junior forward Hanna Åström (assisted by Staenz and freshman forward Kaitlin Gately at 6:41) and Staenz (assisted by Yip-Chuck, on a power play, at 9:27).

The Bulldogs killed off four penalties Saturday, including one with four minutes to play to help keep the game out of reach. They have now allowed just two power play goals in the last 12 games.

Yale travels to Brown next Friday night.

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