NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The battle for ECAC Hockey playoff positioning was in full swing at Ingalls Rink Friday night, as the Yale women's ice hockey team and No. 10 Colgate went down to the wire with both teams fighting for one of the conference's four home ice spots. The Raiders withstood an early barrage of shots from the Bulldogs, and after that the game settled into a scoreless stalemate until Colgate finally broke on top with a goal from defenseman Cat Quirion at 12:30 of the third. An empty-netter for the Raiders with 21 seconds left made the final score 2-0. Junior goalie Hanna Mandl took the loss despite making 21 saves on 22 shots.

The first two periods were a defensive battle, with both goalies making their share of spectacular stops. The Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-4 shot advantage in the first but were kept scoreless by Raiders netminder Ashlynne Rando. In the second period Colgate had the shot advantage, 12-10, but Mandl kept the Raiders off the scoreboard -- including a pair of saves on the lone Colgate power play. The two teams went into the third 0-0.

Colgate (18-6-7, 10-4-5 ECAC Hockey) went ahead when Quirion scored on a redirection off a give-and-go with forward Shae Labbe. That changed the complexion of the game's final minutes, as Colgate's defense protected the lead ferociously. With six minutes to play Quirion blocked a shot by senior forward Jamie Haddad during a 2-on-1. Right after that forward Shelby Perry blocked a shot by sophomore defenseman Mallory Souliotis, Yale's leading scorer.  

Yale (10-15-1, 9-9-1 ECAC Hockey) had a close call with 2:41 to play when a slap shot by senior defenseman Kate Martini skimmed the crossbar and deflected away into the netting.

The Bulldogs pulled Mandl for an extra skater and called timeout with 1:23 to play. But Rando got her blocker out to deflect away a slap shot by junior defenseman Taylor Marchin with 45 seconds left, and with 21 seconds left Colgate forward Jessie Eldridge stole the puck just outside the Yale zone and backhanded in an empty-net goal to put the game out of reach. Rando finished with 32 saves for the shutout.

With the win, Colgate moves into a tie for third with No. 9 Princeton and is on pace to host a quarterfinal playoff series. Yale remains in seventh place. The Bulldogs host Cornell Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

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