The Yale men’s hockey team fought high-flying No. 15 St. Lawrence to a hard-earned 2–2 draw, but were left to rue throwing away a two-goal advantage. The Bulldogs have found the net first in each of their last five games, but let that initial lead dissipate every time.

Forward Ryan Hitchcock ’18 opened the scoring for Yale, before forward Frankie DiChiara ’17 doubled the advantage. Cementing the lead proved elusive however, as the Saints chipped away and converted the deficit into a tie, despite a career-high 39 saves from Eli goaltender Patrick Spano ’17.

The Bulldogs earned their third conference win of the season on Friday night with a 2–1 success against Clarkson. A talented St. Lawrence currently inhabiting second place in the ECAC posed an even higher level of opposition, especially considering that the Saints steamrolled Yale 5–2 earlier in the campaign. The Elis have improved significantly in the intervening months and provided full value for the point.

Hitchcock broke the deadlock just over eight minutes into the game. Forward Mike Doherty ’17 slid a precise pass to his linemate, who slipped a shot past Saints’ goalie Kyle Hayton at his near post. Hayton was the national goalie of the year in December and had only conceded 14 goals in 11 conference games this season. St. Lawrence outshot Yale 13–7 in the first period, but Spano’s strong goaltending preserved the Elis’ slender lead heading into the locker room.

The Saints’ dominance in the shot count continued in the second period, racking up a 17–8 advantage in the frame. But DiChiara extended the Bulldog lead to 2–0 just thirty-six seconds into the period, ripping a rocket that kissed off the post before rippling the back of the net. St. Lawrence halved the deficit at 11:39 of the second, as defender Eric Sweetman fired a laser to finally solve Spano.

Yale fought hard to maintain the 2–1 scoreline in the third period, but the Saints finally broke the Eli resistance on the power play with five minutes to play. Defender Ben Finkelstein blasted the tying tally beyond Spano on St. Lawrence’s 37th shot of the game. The equalizer spurred the Bulldogs into life, and they nearly found a winner with 10 seconds left, but forward Chris Izmirlian ’17 was denied by the pipe.

In the five-minute extra period, Yale outshot the Saints 7–1, but a winning goal remained elusive as Hayton stood strong in net. The tie keeps St. Lawrence in second place in the ECAC, while the point means the Elis remain seventh.

Next weekend the Bulldogs hit the road to play Dartmouth and Harvard.