Even the return of the Bulldogs’ highest-scoring forward, Jackie Raines ’14 — back on the ice after missing two games due to a concussion — could not bring salvation from bad luck and bitter defeat to the women’s hockey team this weekend.
Raines, who has scored a total of seven goals this season, scored both of Yale’s two goals this weekend. But that was not enough to earn a win for the Bulldogs (1-19-0, 1-12-0 ECAC), who lost 4-2 to RPI (6-16-4, 3-9-2 ECAC) and 2-0 to Union (4-18-4, 2-10-2 ECAC) in back-to-back away conference games.
“We’re pretty disappointed after dropping both games this weekend,” goalie Genny Ladiges ’12 said. “Going into it, we knew that we needed to play desperate hockey, and we did at times, but it’s tough when the bounces don’t go your way at either end of the ice.”
Forward Paige Decker ’14 agreed, adding that she thought the Bulldogs were the better team on Saturday against Union and should have won that game.
The Bulldogs made a season-high 34 shots on goal, and for the first time this season outshot their opponent, 34-24. But in an ironic twist of fate, senior Union goalie Kate Gallagher stopped all of Yale’s shots in her first shutout of the year.
Yale played a strong defensive game, as Union was unable to take a shot until 11 minutes into the first period. By then the Bulldogs had already racked up nine.
Head coach Joakim Flygh said that the Bulldogs carried the play for long stretches in Saturday’s game — an improvement for the team which is usually outshot by large margins.
The Dutchwomen scored their two goals early in the second period and halfway through the third period.
“It just didn’t go our way,” Decker said in an email to the News. “They capitalized on their opportunities, and we weren’t able too.”
Decker added that she felt the Bulldogs played well in the first and third periods of Friday’s game against RPI, but that they suffered a “really rough” second period.
And that’s no exaggeration on her part. Up 1-0 at the beginning of the second period, the Bulldogs fell behind 4–1 within 15-minutes during which RPI scored all of its goals. The last RPI goal came just three seconds before the end of the second period.
Raines’s third period power play goal could not pull the Elis out of their second period grave, nor could the five-on–three man advantage that Yale held for over a minute early in the final period. Yale was outshot 44–20 overall, with Ladiges making 40 saves.
“Throughout the season our second period has been our weakest period of the three, so we definitely need to focus on playing to our potential for a full 60 minutes for the remainder of the season,” Decker said.
Yale, Union, and RPI were ranked 12th, 11th and 10th respectively in the 12-team conference going into the weekend. But with one more win under its belt, RPI has jumped up to ninth place — one point out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the ECAC.
“Overall nobody was happy with how the games turned out this weekend,” Decker said. “We are still trying to stay positive and enjoy the time we have left of the season. I’m hopeful we can get a win against Brown on Tuesday, and we definitely have the potential to win some more games in the coming weeks.”
The Bulldogs will take on Brown Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in an away conference game.