Box Score Bulldogs Grab Third Place With Sweep
TROY, NY – The Yale men's hockey team moved into sole possession of third place with two weekends left in the regular season after four Bulldogs found the net and Alex Lyon stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 4-1 win over Rensselaer. The Elis, who earned four points this weekend, are now 4-1-1 over their last six outings.
"Our team defense was as stellar as usual," said Lyon, who allowed one goal on the weekend. "It felt like a business trip. Our mindset was to get four points. We did the job and got out."
The Blue (15-7-3, 10-6-2 ECAC) got on the board first with a pretty power-play tally just 3:13 into the game. Defenseman Nate Repensky moved the puck across the point to Mike Doherty, who hit Carson Cooper headed for the net. The junior forward one-timed the feed inside the left post for his fourth of the season.
Nearly three minutes later, the Bulldogs made it 2-0. Freshman John Baiocco, in the lineup for John Hayden, took a feed from Dan O'Keefe at mid ice, carried over the blueline, zipped around a defender in the left circle and flicked a rising backhander over the shoulder of the RPI netminder that tickled the top of the net at 5:32. Baiocco's second goal began from a Charles Orzetti pass out of his own corner.
The Engineers, who had a 7-6 edge in shots, converted one of two advantages in the opening frame to make it 2-1 at the intermission.
Yale came out buzzing in the second, and its aggressive fore-check and back-check produced more opportunities. One resulted in a Doherty even-strength goal and another in a Frankie DiChiara power-play tally.
Repensky, who got the puck from Chis Izmirlian, found Doherty on the inner edge of the left circle with some space to shoot. The sophomore fired low on the off-angle for his 11th of the year just 1:31 in.
The Elis' second power-play goal of the night came off a perfect feed from blueliner Rob O'Gara, who got the puck from Repensky on his third assist of the game. The end result was a sniper, one-timer from DiChiara (4th goal) from the right circle at 6:16.
"We knew they'd put pressure on us with our power play," said Repensky, who entered the game with seven points and now has 10. "So we were focused on moving the puck and finding open guys."
A blanketing Bulldog team defensive effort kept the "Big Red Freakout" packed house quiet for most of the night. The visitors blocked shots all night and got sticks in the passing lanes to limit looks at the Yale net. The most noise from the crowd came during the home team's alumni championship celebrations during both intermissions.
Lyon, also responsible for the lack of fan excitement, made some challenging saves in the third while handling the puck with intelligence.
"It's really been about understanding our situation," said Tommy Fallen explaining Yale's current success. "We are going after one of the top four spots in the ECAC, and we've really come together over the last two weeks to try and achieve that."
BULLDOG BITES
The Bulldogs, who wore white jerseys for the second night in a row, are on the road next weekend, facing Quinnipiac and Princeton… Dan O'Keefe earned his first collegiate point… Yale has registered shutouts the last four Friday nights… Seventeen years ago, the Elis clinched a 1997-98 ECAC regular season championship at RPI with a win on the final night… The last time Yale assistant coach Jason Guerriero stepped into Houston Fieldhouse, he led his Northeastern squad to a 2003 holiday tournament title while being named MVP.
filed by Steven Conn, Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director
