HAMILTON, N.Y. – A hot start by the Yale women's ice hockey team -- two goals in the first four minutes of the game -- was not enough to propel the Bulldogs to victory Saturday afternoon against Colgate at Starr Rink. The Raiders scored the next three goals of the game to go ahead 3-2. After Yale tied the game 3-3 heading into the third thanks to a goal by freshman forward Jordan Chancellor, Colgate got the game-winner with just 1:33 left in regulation. Freshman goalkeeper Kyra O'Brien, making her first career start, made 22 saves for the Bulldogs.  

Yale (5-13-1, 4-7-1 ECAC Hockey) was looking to bounce back from a tough 6-4 loss at Cornell Friday, a game in which the Bulldogs had rallied back from a 3-0 deficit only to lose on a pair of late goals.

Senior forward Janelle Ferrara, Yale's captain, got the Bulldogs off to a good start Saturday by taking a pass at center ice from senior defenseman Kate Martini in the defensive zone, skating through a pair of defenders, and backhanding in her team-leading seventh goal of the season just 3:11 into the game.

The Raiders were called for a penalty on that play, so just 47 seconds later, the Bulldogs used a power play and struck again. This time it was freshman defenseman Julia Yetman, who teed off on a slap shot from the right point and snuck it past the glove of Raiders netminder Julia Vandyk. Sophomore forward Courtney Pensavalle and senior forward Hanna Åström assisted on the play.

Vandyk settled down after that, however, and she came up with a big kick save on sophomore forward Brittany Wheeler with eight minutes left in the period. Shortly after that, the Raiders got on the scoreboard when a fluttering shot from the left wing by forward Bailey Larson snuck past O'Brien's right elbow at 16:35. The Bulldogs' lead was down to 2-1 heading into the second period.

Colgate (14-4-6, 6-2-4 ECAC Hockey) had a golden opportunity to tie the game midway through the second with a 5-on-3 for more than a minute. The Bulldogs sent out a penalty killing unit laden with veterans -- Åström, Martini and junior forward Krista Yip-Chuck -- and they got the job done, with help from a pair of saves by O'Brien. Martini's clear with 14 seconds left in the 5-on-3 effectively ended that kill, and shortly after that Yale even got a shorthanded chance -- but Vandyk was able to deny a backhander from sophomore forward Emily Monaghan.

Another penalty on Yale enabled Colgate to tie the game, though, as forward Olivia Zafuto carried the puck out of her own zone, then scored from the left circle at 10:36 of the second on the power play.

The Raiders briefly went ahead 3-2 thanks to a goal by forward Annika Zalewski off a turnover in the Yale zone at 14:27. But the Bulldogs answered 90 seconds later. Chancellor -- who had helped keep the puck in the Colgate zone by poking it away from a Raider earlier in the sequence -- was perfectly positioned at the far post to one-time a pass from sophomore defenseman Kara Drexler. Sophomore forward Eden Murray also assisted on the play.

O'Brien finished the second off with a series of saves on a flurry by Colgate, and the teams went into the third tied 3-3.

Yale created some sustained pressure on a power play five minutes into the third, keeping the puck in Colgate's zone for the first minute. But a pair of saves by Vandyk kept the game tied.

A Colgate redirection hit off the pipe with 7:42 to play, adding to the drama of the final minutes. O'Brien then made a pair of huge saves with less than three minutes to go, first denying a backhander by forward Jessie Eldridge on a breakaway and then using her blocker to deflect away a shot by defenseman Cat Quirion.  But Colgate finally got one past her with 1:33 left, as Eldridge fed forward Megan Sullivan for a shot from the edge of the left circle that eluded O'Brien.

Yale pulled O'Brien for an extra skater shortly after Yip-Chuck won the ensuing faceoff, but Vandyk made a pair of saves and Zalewski blocked a last-second attempt by Yetman. Vandyk finished with 25 saves as Colgate improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine games.  

Yale hosts Union next Friday.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity