NEW HAVEN, Conn. – For the ninth time in the tournament's 12 year history, the Yale women's ice hockey team has advanced to the Nutmeg Classic championship game. The Bulldogs did so this time by topping Merrimack 3-1 Friday afternoon at Ingalls Rink in the first round. Three different players -- sophomore defenseman Mallory Souliotis, junior forward Phoebe Staenz and freshman defenseman Julia Yetman -- scored goals for Yale, and junior goalie Hanna Mandl made 21 saves.

Yale (2-6-1, 1-2-1 ECAC Hockey) controlled play for most of the first period, but Merrimack wound up with a 6-4 shot advantage. The game was scoreless heading into the first intermission, though, shortly after the Bulldogs killed off the lone penalty of the period.

Staenz gave Yale the lead after grabbing the puck in the right circle, where freshman forward Jordan Chancellor had worked to take it away from Merrimack and sophomore forward Eden Murray had helped get it off the boards. Staenz skated the puck into the slot and then wristed it past Warriors netminder Chaislyn Burgio at 2:19 of the second.

Senior forward Jamie Haddad hit the pipe with a shot 90 seconds later, and shortly after a Yale power play ended later in the period Mandl denied a chance on a 2-on-1 for the Warriors to keep Yale's lead intact. Chancellor and Murray then set up another goal at 14:58, with Murray taking the puck off the right boards and skating it over to the left side, where Yetman chipped it in for her first career goal.

"Julia really helped initiate that play," said Joakim Flygh, Yale's Susan Cavanagh Head Coach of Women's Ice Hockey. "It's great to see her get involved offensively."

With two assists Friday, Murray is now tied for the team lead in that category with six. She is also tied for the team lead in goals, and leads the team in points (4-6-10).

"Eden's always going to play hard, every shift, and in every zone -- she's playing a 200-foot game," said Flygh.

Mandl then helped kill off a penalty by starting the PK off with a glove save, and shortly after that Merrimack forward Allison Sexton hit the post with a wrister. Yale kept a 2-0 lead heading into the third.

Merrimack (2-13-0, 1-7-0 Hockey East), a first-year program that has 16 freshmen on the roster, momentarily got closer on a power play early in the third, as  defenseman Paige Sorensen fired a shot over Mandl's shoulder at 4:52. But the Bulldogs responded immediately, as junior forward Krista Yip-Chuck sent a pass from deep in Merrimack's zone up towards the high slot.  Haddad got a piece of it, and it eventually got to Souliotis for a wrister from the point that eluded Burgio for a 3-1 Yale lead at 5:49.

"Scoring that power play goal could have really given Merrimack some momentum," said Flygh. "Answering with a goal was the best way to break that momentum."

A penalty on the Bulldogs with 2:51 left in the game enabled Merrimack to pull Burgio and have two extra skaters, but Mandl got some help to keep the game from getting any closer. After a save by Mandl with two minutes left, junior defenseman Taylor Marchin got into the crease to block the rebound attempt, and the Bulldogs were eventually able to cover the puck. They sealed the win moments later.

In the championship game on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., Yale will play the winner of Saturday night's game between No. 5 Quinnipiac and UConn.

Report by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity