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This weekend, the Yale women’s hockey team notched two decisive wins in New York against RPI and Union, bringing its win streak up to four.

The Bulldogs (11–8–0, 8–4–0 ECAC) faced the Engineers (0–24–1, 0–14–0) and the Dutchwomen (3–17–5, 3–7–3) for the second time this season after shutting out both teams in early November. Their eight combined goals over Saturday and Sunday mark their highest-scoring weekend since scoring 14 against LIU in late October. The Elis look to extend their win streak at home this Tuesday against Brown.

“I think we started out 2020 with a couple good games in Minnesota,” forward Laura Anderson ’20 said. “Obviously they weren’t the results we wanted, but we played well and they built up confidence to carry with us for the next games.”

The Engineers took the early lead on Friday night, with forward Maddy Peterson scoring the only RPI goal of the game 12 minutes in. But with only 20 seconds left in the first period, forward Claire Dalton ’22 tied up the game with her seventh goal of the season. After that, the Bulldogs could not be stopped — Dalton and defender Greta Skarzynski ’21 assisted forward Tess Dettling ’21 for Yale’s second goal of the contest. The goal was Dettling’s first this season.

In the final frame, the Elis grabbed two more tallies. Forward Rebecca Vanstone ’22 picked up an assist from defender Sofie Zander ’23 to slide the puck past the RPI goaltender. Forward Kirsten Nergaard ’20 closed out the scoring with her first goal of the season.

The Bulldogs carried their confidence into Saturday’s matchup, taking the lead against the Dutchwomen with a goal from defender Tabea Botthof ’22 just eight minutes in. Yale did not give up its lead throughout the entire game — forward Charlotte Welch ’22 scored again a few minutes later, with assists going to forward Grace Lee ’23 and defender Saroya Tinker ’20. Late in the first period, Yale gave up one goal to Union’s Maia Martinez, closing out the first frame 2–1. Both teams mustered up eight shots in the second period, but neither could find the back of the net.

The last period against the Dutchwomen saw a flurry of action. In the first three minutes, forward Kiersten Goode ’23 notched the first goal of her Yale career, assisted by Skarzynski and forward Elle Hartje ’23. A violation against Tinker gave Union a penalty shot, which goaltender Tera Hofmann ’20 skillfully saved. The Bulldog offense gained control once again, and Dalton scored the final Eli goal of the weekend. In the last few minutes of the game, a penalty against Zander gave the Dutchwomen a power play, and defender Emily King scored the second Union goal of the contest. But it was not enough — the Blue and White emerged victorious 4–2.

The last time the Bulldogs faced the Dutchwomen, Lee collected a hat trick in an easy win for Yale. Saturday was no different; the Elis played as a coherent unit with four different athletes collecting tallies.

“We were able to move the puck pretty well tonight and played a great team game,” Lee said of the matchup in November.

In that same game, Hofmann posted a 3–0 shutout. Although a couple of pucks slipped by her on Saturday, she posted another stellar performance. The team’s effort showed off as they were anchored in the defensive zone by impressive defense and goaltending, and showed a strong presence in the opponent’s zone which led to scattered goals across the board.

“As the team comes together and figures it out, it makes my job easier,” Hofmann told Yale Athletics in November.

Welch and Lee now lead the team in goals with nine each. The Bulldogs have scored a total of 57 goals against their opponents so far with 10 games left in the season, nearly matching their 62 total in their 2018–19 campaign. Yale invites Brown to Ingalls Rink this Tuesday for the next contest in their ECAC campaign. The Elis have defeated the Bears in their last nine meetings.

Yale and Brown are currently ranked fifth and 11th in the ECAC standings.

Akshar Agarwal | akshar.agarwal@yale.edu

Alessa Kim-Panero | alessa.kim-panero@yale.edu

AKSHAR AGARWAL
ALESSA KIM-PANERO