Box Score Tigers Take 4-2 Decision
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Patrick Spano stopped 27 of 30 shots substituting for an injured Alex Lyon, but Princeton grabbed a 4-2 win over Yale at Ingalls Rink in ECAC Hockey action.
Spano, making his first start since last November, got the late call when the junior All-American got hurt in warmups.
"That's a tough spot to come in," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of his backup goalie. "He handled it well. I have nothing but respect for him."
Spano threw his body and equipment around the crease all night preventing the Tigers from making a two-goal lead bigger. His teammates eventually caught up to the visitors and made this a very interesting contest.
Yale outshot Princeton 39-31 and had plenty of chances to erase an early deficit much sooner than they did.
The Elis, who put plenty of quality shots on Colton Phinney (37 saves), had a 13-8 edge in first-period shots but found themselves down 2-0 at intermission.
It was 14-11 in favor of the home team over the next 20 minutes with neither team hitting the net. However, many of the 25 shots on target were excellent chances with some very nice saves.
Spano made a tough blocker stop on Max Becker midway through the second and later came up with three straight saves on a flurry off the edge of the crease to keep it 2-0 at the second break.
Yale had numerous looks at open sides of the net after rebounds but each time something prevented a puck from finding the net. John Hayden had four of the 14 shots on goal in the frame, but Ryan Hitchcock's blast from the right circle with five minutes left may have been the best opportunity to cut the lead in half.
Mitch Witek fired a shot off Phinney's pads and it bounced out to the opposite side for Hitchcock, who one-timed it back toward the net with an open side to aim for. Phinney dove back and the puck hit him in the face before caroming off the pipe and over the net.
Spano also had to face a 38-second five-on-three that resulted in one nice save. He made multiple glove saves on blasts from all over the place, but the best may have come with 15:07 left when Eric Robinson one-timed a slap shot from a draw and sent it for the upper right corner. The junior netminder had little time to react but was on it like a football player blocking a punt.
"I'm always ready to go. I pretend that I'm playing every night," said Spano. "I thought I have my team a chance to win."
Anthony Walsh's first career goal could not have come at a better time. His shot from the point at 9:14 of the third sailed through traffic and over Phinney's shoulder. The freshman defenseman grabbed a Princeton clearing attempt with his glove and put the puck down to shoot.
The Elis got six more shots on target in the game, one coming from rookie forward Andrew Gaus coming in alone on the right side. That type of surge led to a Princeton penalty and a power-play equalizer by John Hayden.
Freshman Joe Snively grabbed the puck in the offensive zone and hit the junior with a perfect pass in the slot. Hayden whizzed it past Phinney at 11:20 of the third to make it 2-2.
"We had the momentum," said Allain.
But a confluence of problems led to the winner at 16:25. "We didn't get the puck in the zone and had a sloppy line change," said the Yale coach explaining how the winner materialized.
Ryan Siiro went in to the low slot a step ahead of a defender and slipped the puck under Spano's pad.
Yale pulled its goalie with 56 seconds left but couldn't get any shots on target. The Tigers hit the empty net with 18 seconds left.
BULLDOG BITES
Tonight was the 100th career game for both Mitch Witek and Carson Cooper… Hayden scored his fourth goal of the season… The Elis take on Boston University Friday night at 7 pm in a game that airs on ESPN3 and the ILDN.
Filed by Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director – steven.conn@yale.edu
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