Lyon Gets SHO With 31 Saves

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The power play jump started the Yale men's hockey team's offense in a win over an Ancient Eight and ECAC rival before a sellout crowd at Ingalls Rink. Four different Bulldogs scored – including a pair on the advantage – and Alex Lyon stopped all 31 shots in a 4-0 win over Princeton.

The Elis (12-6-2, 7-5-1 ECAC) outshot the Tigers 40-31 and got two-point nights from Frankie DiChiara and Nate Repensky.  Lyon made 13 saves in the first and a dozen in the third to notch his sixth collegiate shutout, which ties the school's career record.

"The team defense was incredible. They've been outstanding all year and just keep playing well," said Lyon, who has three of his six shutouts this year.

The Yale head coach was impressed with his play but more moved by the overall team performance.

"It was a total team effort tonight," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. "We had four different goal scorers, we scored on the power play, we didn't give up anything on the penalty-kill and our goaltending was spectacular."

Thanks to DiChiara's five shots – including a pair of grade-A chances - the Blue had a 17-13 edge in a scoreless first period also highlighted by the face-off strength of Carson Cooper, who won all 10 attempts. He went on to win an amazing 23 of 26 draws.

"It was a great night for Carson [Cooper]. It's great because he got on the score sheet. He's so good for us night in and night out, and you don't always see that on the score sheet. It's really nice to see him get some numbers tonight. He had a solid game and he's been solid most of the year," said Allain.

DiChiara's sixth shot of the night found the net. After Tucker Brockett was tossed from the game with a five-minute major from the first period that carried over, the Yale sophomore jumped all over a shot by Repensky that bounced off the boards and out to the left side of the cage.

"You have to play every game like it's going to be your last one, and I think I lacked that instinct the past couple weeks," said DiChiara. "I just wanted to do the best I can and move my feet and create chances for my teammates. I was fortunate enough to put one in the back of the net."

DiChiara banged home his third of the year 37 seconds into the second, which sparked a four-goal Bulldog outburst.

"Frankie [DiChiara] had a different bounce to his step tonight. He got an early breakaway, but didn't score and he had five shots in the first period. With that kind of focus and determination I thought it was just a matter of time before he scored," said Allain.

Yale continued to apply the power-play heat and got a second late in the advantage after a great pass from DiChiara. Tommy Fallen started the play with a long pass up the ice to DiChiara, who backhanded a short lead feed for Stu Wilson streaking down the center of the ice. The junior center slipped between two defenders, made a body fake and then slipped it past Colton Phinney's blocker at 2:07.

The Blue made it 3-0 on a nifty re-direction by Cooper. Cody Learned passed from the left corner to the right point for Repensky who quickly turned it around with a shot toward the crease. Cooper swooped in and got his stick on it before it sailed into the back of the net.

A Mike Doherty backhander at 18:17 capped Yale's most productive period of the season. He got the puck off the left side of the goal after a behind-the-back Hitchcock pass from the boards.

The Tigers had a huge opportunity to get back in the game in the third with nearly seven straight minutes of power play. Lyon stopped six shots on the advantages and the Elis kept Princeton off the board for the first time since 1971.

"It was a real nice shutout for Lyon. It was a 30-save shutout and 13 of those were in the first period," said Allain. "Sometimes you just need to get your legs underneath you and set the tempo of the game... and he was very, very good. He was also good handling the puck. They fore-check aggressively and he got to a lot of dumps. That doesn't show up in the stats either, but it's very important."

BULLDOG BITES: Senior forward Trent Ruffolo was back in the lineup after missing last weekend's games with an injury… Ryan Hitchcock won 16 of 19 face-offs as Yale took 56 of 78 overall… The Bulldogs take on Quinnipiac Saturday night at 7; the game is sold out and can be seen on the Ivy League Digital Network.

Filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director

photo: Stu Wilson's 2nd period goal by Steve Musco