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The Yale women’s hockey team defeated Union and Rensselaer at Ingalls Rink this past weekend to snag two more conference wins.
“The group was very happy to get back to home to Ingalls and getting four points in conference play is extremely important, even though it’s early in the season,” head coach Mark Bolding said.
The Bulldogs immediately took control of their Union matchup, firing off five shots within just the first three minutes. In the first period, Yale outshot the Dutchwomen 17–6. The squad grabbed its first goal of the match with just 15 seconds left, as forward Grace Lee ’23 received a pass from forward Greta Skarzynski ’21 right in front of the goal and slipped the puck past the Union goaltender.
Returning for the second frame, the Elis continued to put pressure on their opponents, grabbing their second tally in the sixth minute. Again, Lee was assisted by Skarzynski, picking up her pass and sending a quick shot to the back of the net. Yale continued to dominate the ice, outshooting its opponents 15–4 and ending the second period leading 2–0.
The Bulldogs found three more goals in the final frame. Taking advantage of a power play, defender Emma Seitz ’22 slid the puck to forward Claire Dalton ’22, who shot hard, but the puck was deflected. Forward Elle Hartje ’23 picked up the rebound to score the third goal of the match and her fifth of the season. On another power play four minutes later, Seitz picked up a pass from defender Saroya Tinker ’20 and nailed the puck past several Union defenders into the corner of the goal. Lee grabbed her third goal of the contest in the 15th minute when a pass from forward Charlotte Welch ’22 allowed her a clear shot from right in front of the goal. This closed out the scoring with a final tally of 5–0.
“I was getting into open space, and my teammates were really moving the puck well,” Lee said.
Yale wasted little time getting into the groove of things against the Engineers. Forward Sophie Veronneau ’20 found the back of the net less than 40 seconds in, and the Bulldogs never looked back. Later that period, the puck found its way into the Engineers’ net once again as Dalton tipped in a shot from Seitz. Hartje assisted on the play, picking up her second apple of the game.
Just two minutes into the second period, Seitz went top shelf to extend Yale’s lead to 3–0. The Bulldogs held onto this commanding lead, despite taking a couple of penalties and giving RPI a two-player advantage with under a minute to play.
“It’s always easy to get cold, just standing there,” Hofmann said after facing just 15 shots over the course of the game.
However, Hofmann stayed focused and made the saves when they mattered most.
After her third consecutive shutout, Hofmann was awarded ECAC Goalie of the Week honors. Hofmann has stopped 52 straight shots, 32 of which came this past weekend. No matter how hard RPI and Union tried, they simply could not find the back of Yale’s net, a product of both Yale’s stellar defense and Hofmann’s performances between the pipes.
Lee earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors after notching her first hat-trick as a Bulldog against the Dutchwomen. She picked up one goal in each period and collected an assist on Seitz’s goal. Lee also assisted on Seitz’s goal against RPI, ending the weekend with five points.
The Elis will travel to the Walter Brown Arena to take on the Boston University Terriers this Tuesday night for a non-conference matchup.
Akshar Agarwal | akshar.agarwal@yale.edu
Alessa Kim-Panero | alessa.kim-panero@yale.edu