Box Score Lyon Stops All 23 Shots
SCHENECTADY, NY – The team with the nation's top ranked defense served up the only shutout of the season for the defending national champions. Alex Lyon stopped 23 shots and Mike Doherty found the net late in the first period as Yale knocked off Union, 2-0, before a packed Messa Rink in the battle of the last two Frozen Four champs.
Lyon, who notched his school-best eighth career shutout, stopped a pair of Union advantages while he and the Bulldog defense limited one of the nation's top scorers, Daniel Ciampini, to one shot on goal. The shutout was the first suffered by the Dutchmen in 98 games (Nov. 30, 2012).
"We played a terrific team defense all three periods," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach. "That is becoming one of the trademarks of our hockey team. We defend from the inside out and try to keep teams on the perimeter.
Every time the Dutchmen created any space with an eye toward the net, the Bulldogs closed the shooting and passing lanes with sticks and bodies. If the opening remained, turning into a grade-A scoring opportunity, the sophomore goalie closed the deal. That didn't happen often.
The win kept the Blue in a three-way tie for third place in the ECAC with Dartmouth and Harvard with five games left in the regular season. The Elis also moved into No. 16 in the Pairwise Rankings.
Most of the action in the first period was in the Union end as Yale outshot the home team 17-4. One of those 17 shots went in the net, and it came a few feet off the edge of the crease. The Elis got the game-winner when Ryan Hitchcock passed from the right circle to the point for Mitch Witek, who skated into the circle and fired just wide. The puck hit the boards and kicked out to Doherty on the side of the cage. The sophomore, who seemed to come from nowhere to win the race to the puck, deposited his 10th goal of the season at 16:16.
"The puck just popped out there to me," said Doherty, who smacked it home before the goalie could dive over to the side. "I'm not sure where I shot it."
The Dutchmen, who had a slight edge in face-offs, had the frame's only advantage, but the visitor's penalty-kill did not allow a shot on goal. That had a lot to do with Yale blocking shots all night. Defenseman Ryan Obuchowski, who had four, helped the Elis register 15 blocks on the night.
The middle period featured much more neutral ice activity and fewer (8-6 Union) shots on target. The Blue got its first power-play chance with 5:45 left in the second and moved the puck well while shopping for openings but could not cash out.
The Bulldogs (14-7-3, 9-6-2) continued to put pressure on the Union defense in the third while keeping Dutchmen scoring threats at a minimum. Lyon, who is tied with two others as the national leader with five shutouts this year, remained steady, handling dump-ins and other puck-handling opportunities with skill and ease. He faced 11 shots in the final 20 minutes, but there weren't many close calls.
"Alex [Lyon] was strong all game," said Allain, a former Yale goalie who was asked to qualify his 23-save performance. "There are no easy shutouts."
Union finally pulled goalie Colin Stevens for an extra skater, but his squad quickly took a penalty and lost any chance of catching up. He was pulled again once the puck entered the Yale end, but that resulted in an empty-netter.
Witek, who had two points in the contest, passed out of the zone to Trent Ruffolo, who moved it over to John Hayden for the blueline wrist shot that clinched it.
BULLDOG BITES
Ten years ago this March, the Bulldogs and Dutchmen played what was then the longest NCAA men's game ever. The five-overtime, 3-2 Yale win, covered over 141 minutes and ended early the following day with a David Meckler goal at Messa Rink. That was game two of a best-of-three series in which Yale took the opener in OT… Trent Ruffolo hit the 100-game mark last weekend… Both games this weekend are televised by New York's Time Warner Cable… Saturday's 7:08 puck drop is part of RPI's "Big Red Freakout." The Bulldogs wore their home white jerseys tonight and will do the same at Houston Field House Saturday.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director
Yale Video Highlights (courtesy of Union Athletics)
