Yale routs Cornell for first ECAC crown

Sean Backman scored three goals and Yale won its first ECAC Hockey championship with a 5-0 victory over Cornell last night in Albany, N.Y.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (24-7-2), ranked seventh nationally, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Yale last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1998.

Backman opened the scoring at 14:12 of the first period and added two goals in the third. The last goal, his 20th of the season, went into an empty net with 6:10 remaining. Alec Richards made 27 saves for the shutout.

Brian O'Neill had a goal and two assists, and Denny Kearney added a goal. Broc Little and Ryan Donald had two assists each.

Second-seeded Cornell (21-9-4), ranked ninth, is expected to receive one of the 10 at-large bids when the NCAA field is announced today.

In the third-place game, Dan Bartlett scored twice and Princeton's 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence earned the Tigers (22-11-1) an NCAA at-large berth.

The Saints (21-12-5), who won a shootout, 2-1, after a scoreless overtime period, were eliminated from NCAA consideration. The shootout was only for the purposes of determining the third-place finisher.

Atlantic Hockey championship - Jacques Lamoureux and Matt Fairchild scored and Andrew Volkening made 25 saves as Air Force got past Mercyhurst, 2-0, in Rochester, N.Y., earning the Falcons their third straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Lamoureux's goal 3:02 into the game was all Air Force (27-10-2) needed. Fairchild scored 1:11 into the final period.

Volkening, who shut out Bentley, 3-0, in the semifinals, extended his shutout streak at Blue Cross Arena to 150 minutes, dating to last year's double-overtime win over Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Hockey final.

CCHA championship - Top-ranked Notre Dame spotted No. 3 Michigan a 2-0 lead before scoring five unanswered goals - four in the final period - as the Irish beat the Wolverines, 5-2, to win the title in Detroit.

Luke Glendening and David Wohlberg scored for Michigan (29-11-0) before the Irish took over.

Billy Maday scored at 12:11 of the second period and the Irish (31-5-3) erupted for four in the third - two by Calle Ridderwall - to clinch the CCHA's automatic NCAA berth. Michigan will get an at-large berth.

The win gave the Irish their second CCHA title in the last three seasons.

WCHA championship - MacGregor Sharp had a hat trick and Minnesota-Duluth (21-12-8) dominated fourth-ranked Denver, 4-0, in St. Paul to win the title and lock up an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

The Pioneers (23-11-5), who will get an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, were outshot, 30-20, including 8-1 in the final period.

Division 3 championship - Kate Dennett scored her second goal at 12:22 of overtime, lifting Amherst to a 4-3 win over Elmira (24-5-1) in Middlebury, Vt., giving the Jeffs (24-5) their first national championship. Emily Vitale added a goal and an assist, forcing OT when she scored with 2:18 left.