Dogged Yale finally gains ECAC final
- |
In 1896, Yale participated in what is believed to be the first college hockey game played in the United States, taking on Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
More than a century later, Yale hockey players will experience another first. Tonight in Albany, N.Y., they'll play for the ECAC championship for the first time.
Mark Arcobello tied the score with 1:28 to play and goalie Alec Richards pulled for an extra attacker, and Matt Nelson netted the winner off a two-on-one 22 seconds later as the seventh-ranked Bulldogs upended No. 14 St. Lawrence, 4-3, yesterday.
Yale will face Cornell, which also tied its semifinal late in the third period, then toppled Princeton, 4-3, in double overtime.
In the 42 years of ECAC postseason play, Yale made it to the semifinals on just three previous occasions, falling to Cornell in 1986, St. Lawrence in 1987, and Princeton in 1998.
Richards made 17 of his 35 saves in the third period for regular-season conference champ Yale (23-7-2), which took a 2-1 lead early in the second on goals by Broc Little and Ken Trentowski.
The Saints (21-12-4) pulled in front later in the second on goals by Zach Miskovic and Kevin DeVergilio.
On Yale's tying goal, Arcobello won a faceoff, took a feed from Little at the side of the net, and sent the puck past Alex Petizian (27 saves).
Off the ensuing faceoff, Nelson broke in with Brendan Mason and deflected Mason's pass just under the crossbar for the winner.
For Cornell (21-8-4), which is seeking its 12th ECAC title, Colin Greening set up Riley Nash's tying goal with 25 seconds to play in the third period then scored the winner at 9:54 of the second OT.
Atlantic Hockey semifinals - Setting a school record for Division 1 victories and advancing to the conference semifinals for the third time will have to suffice for Bentley. The Falcons (19-17-2) received 23 saves from Kyle Rank, but Matt Fairchild scored two goals for top-seeded Air Force (26-10-2), which ended Bentley's season with a 3-0 victory in Rochester, N.Y. In tonight's final, Air Force will play Mercyhurst (22-14-3), which beat RIT, 5-4, on Chris Risi's overtime goal.
CCHA semifinals - Ben Ryan scored the winner with a minute to play, 23 seconds after Northern Michigan's Nick Sirota tied the score, and Notre Dame avoided an upset and edged the Wildcats, 2-1, in Detroit. In tonight's final, the top-ranked Irish (30-5-3) will take on third-ranked Michigan (29-10-0), which got a goal and two assists from Louie Caporusso in a 3-1 victory over Alaska.
WCHA semifinals - Marc Cheverie stopped 42 shots, Brian Gifford's unassisted goal in the first period was the winner, and Bruins first-round draft pick Joe Colborne added an assist for fourth-ranked Denver, which blanked No. 16 Wisconsin, 3-0, in St. Paul. The Pioneers (23-10-5) will shoot for their 16th conference title tonight against No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth (20-12-8), which got 31 saves from Alex Stalock in a 3-0 victory over No. 6 North Dakota.
