Tag Archive: Sports

  1. M. HOCKEY | Wisconsin beats Yale, 2-2

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    Vacation ended early for the men’s hockey team this weekend, but given their results in the Badger Hockey Showdown, they can’t be too upset.

    On Saturday, then-No. 9 Yale dismantled No. 11 Ferris State 6-1 in Madison, Wisc. The following evening, the Bulldogs lost the championship in an overtime shootout to then-No.7 Wisconsin. The shootout gave the host Badgers the championship, but officially the game will be recorded as a tie by the NCAA.

    “This is a great statement about where we are at this point in the season,” head coach Keith Allain ’80 said. “Going on the road to beat a top-15 team and tie a top-10 team in a tournament environment will pay dividends for us down the road.”

    In their first game in nearly a month, the Elis ended Ferris State’s 10-game winning streak, which, at the time, was the nation’s longest.

    After the game was tied 1-1 at the end of the first, Yale forward Sean Backman ’10 took the lead with less than a minute left in the second period. The Bulldogs, who outshot Ferris State 41-24, quickly put the game away with four consecutive goals in the third period.

    The following evening, forward Denny Kearney ’11 gave Yale the early 1-0 lead in the third minute against the host Badgers. Wisconsin forward Michael Davies, though, responded in the second period with two goals of his own to give the Badgers the 2-1 lead.

    Forward Brian O’Neill ’12 scored the equalizer with less than three minutes left in regulation, but the Badgers may have been fortunate to have only let in one goal. The Elis dominated possession in the third period, outshooting Wisconsin 18-3.

    Needing a champion, the tournament — after a scoreless overtime period — went into shootouts. Yale goaltender Nick Maricic ’13 stopped one Badger’s shot but let two other shots in, as Yale fell 2-1 in the shootout. Forwards Marc Arcobello ’10 and Andrew Miller ’13 were both blocked by Wisconsin.

    Overall, the Yale defense limited Wisconsin to 22 shots, a tally that ties Wisconsin’s lowest total this season.

    “It’s too bad that you have to decide a tournament [with a shootout],” Allain said. “But our kids fought hard to the end, and I’m very proud of the way we competed.”

    Following the tournament, the Bulldogs are now ranked sixth nationally in the USCHO.com poll. The Badgers rose to No. 4.

    Maricic was named ECAC Rookie of the Week after stopping five of the Badgers’ six man-advantages on Sunday.

    The Elis are 6-1-1 over the past eight games and will resume conference play at Dartmouth this coming Sunday.

  2. W. HOCKEY | Bulldogs split two weekend games

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    The Yale women’s hockey team split its first two games of 2010, dropping Friday’s contest against Northeastern but rallying to beat Vermont on Saturday.

    The Huskies (11–4–2, 6–3–2 Hockey East) notched a 3–0 win over Yale in the first of the weekend’s two games at Ingalls Rink.

    The Elis (4–9–2, 2–7–1 ECAC) opened the first period with nearly 17 minutes of scoreless play, but Northeastern forward Kristi Kehoe found her way past goaltender Jackee Snikeris ’11 at 16:56. Although the Bulldogs held the gap to one point in the second period, the Huskies put the puck in the net twice more in the third period to tally the final score of 3–0. Snikeris finished the day with 22 saves.

    But it didn’t take long for the Elis to rebound from their Jan. 1 loss.

    The Catamounts (5-12-1, 1-7-1 Hockey East) took an early lead in the Yale–Vermont game when forward Chelsea Furlani scored at 7:32. But the Bulldogs equalized before the first period was up as defenseman Emily DesMeules ’13 netted a shot — and her first career goal — at 19:28.

    The Bulldogs then pulled ahead in the second period. Forward Aleca Hughes ’12 scored at 12:35 to put her team up 2–1. The goal was Hughes’ sixth of the season — making her and forward Bray Ketchum ’11 tied as the team leaders in goals scored, with six apiece.

    An unassisted goal by forward Berit Johnson ’10 just three minutes into the third period gave the Elis some cushioning for the rest of the game. Goaltender Genny Ladiges ’12 totaled 19 saves against Vermont.

    The Northeastern and Vermont contests kicked off a series of four games against Hockey East opponents. The Bulldogs will face the second pair of competitors next weekend, when they travel to Boston to take on Boston University and Boston College.

  3. W. HOCKEY | Yale falls to Harvard, Dartmouth

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    Ivy foes Harvard and Dartmouth forced the Yale women’s hockey team to learn the hard way: those first few minutes matter.

    The Bulldogs (1–7–1, 1–7–0 ECAC) faced early deficits in both contests at Ingalls Rink this weekend — allowing the Crimson to notch three goals within the opening five minutes of play and the Big Green to score twice in the first 10 — and were unable to close either gap. Yale fell 5–0 to Harvard (5–3–1, 5–3–0) and 6–2 to Dartmouth (4–3–1, 4–3–1).

    “Honestly I don’t know why we don’t play well in the first period,” Yale head coach Hilary Witt said. “That killed us this weekend. You’ve got to play for 60 minutes.”

    It only took the Cantabs a 4:48 stretch to tally three goals on Friday.

    Forward Jillian Dempsey opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the first period, collecting a feed from behind the net and bypassing goaltender Jackee Snikeris ’11. Crimson defender Ashley Wheeler added another goal at 2:43, and Dempsey struck once more at 4:48 to give her team the 3-0 lead.

    “We just didn’t show up,” Eli head coach Hilary Witt said. “We didn’t come to play the first few shifts — we weren’t ready. I don’t think we started to play hockey until the second period.”

    The Bulldogs brought in goaltender Genny Ladiges ’12 to relieve Snikeris after the Crimson grabbed its early 3-0 lead. Ladiges made 12 saves during the first and second periods and allowed no goals in that time span.

    Yale seemed to regroup in the second period as defenseman Alyssa Clarke ’10 threatened Cantab goaltender Christina Kessler just 30 seconds in, but Kessler blocked the shot. Forward Bray Ketchum ’11 was also unable to capitalize on her attempt two minutes later.

    “Our team played really well in the second and third periods,” said Ladiges, who earned another four saves in the third period to total 16 for the day. “That really made a difference.”

    But capitalizing continued to be the problem for Yale. The Bulldogs outshot Harvard 11–5 in the second period, but were repeatedly denied by Kessler.

    The Harvard players had more success. They found some openings again in the third period, adding a goal at 3:20 to make the lead 4–0.

    The Crimson’s fifth and final goal came with less than two minutes remaining. All five were scored at even strength.

    Yale suffered another early setback in Saturday’s game against Dartmouth, as the Big Green notched two goals within the first 10 minutes.

    Forward Jenna Cunningham struck first for the away squad, putting an unassisted shot past Ladiges at 2:17. Cunningham added another seven minutes later to make the lead 2–0. Dartmouth outshot Yale 17–3 in the first period.

    “We’ve got to show up ready to play,” said forward Aleca Hughes ’12, who scored one of Yale’s two goals in the game. “I think if we pay attention to detail in the defensive zone, more opportunities will arise.”

    Hughes narrowed the gap during a power play in the second period, collecting her own rebound to put the puck past Dartmouth goaltender Mariel Lacina at 4:17.

    The Bulldogs have only scored on three of 41 power plays this season.

    “It wasn’t a typical power play goal,” Witt said. “We had a kid drive to the net and score a good goal instead of one scored out of a setup.”

    But it took the Big Green less than a minute to respond. Forward Kelly Foley capitalized on a Yale penalty moments after Hughes’ goal, knocking the puck into the left of the net from close range. Forward Sarah Parsons, a former member of the U.S. National Team, added another power play goal at 13:11 to make the score 4-1.

    Yale regained some momentum at 18:49 in the second period when a hard shot by forward Caroline Murphy ’10 found the back of the net, but the offensive spurt did not last and Dartmouth scored again in the sixth minute of the third period.

    The Bulldogs exchanged Ladiges for an additional attacker later that period, but Parsons capitalized on the open net at 17:21 to cap the final score at 6–2.

    “I think they just wanted to get some offense going,” Ladiges said of the decision to pull her from goal. “We didn’t really have a chance at that point, and I think we just wanted to work on our attack with an extra man.”

    The Big Green outshot Yale 37–25 overall. Ladiges closed her day with 31 saves.

    The Elis return to Ingalls Rink today to compete against Sacred Heart in the Nutmeg Classic.

  4. THE GAME 2009: Yale blows lead in final minutes

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    All season Yale’s first-year head coach, Tom Williams, has used trick plays to his team’s advantage. That changed for the Bulldogs, though, on Saturday — and in the most critical of ways.

    With Yale on its own 25-yard line and leading 10-7 with 2:25 remaining in the game, Williams opted to try a trick punt play on fourth-and-22. The run by safety John Powers ’13 gained 15 yards but was well short of the first-down marker, causing the Elis to turn the ball over on downs.

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    Crimson junior quarterback Collier Winters took advantage of the favorable field position and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Chris Lorditch with 1:32 left to play, as Harvard (7-3, 6-1 Ivy) overcame a 10-0 deficit in the fourth quarter and defeated the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-5) 14-10 at the Yale Bowl.

    The defeat marks Yale’s first losing season since 2005 and the eighth time in nine years that Harvard has defeated Yale in The Game.

    “With [2:25] on the clock left and the fact that [the Crimson] had used their last timeout, we felt that we if we had executed that play and gotten the necessary yardage, the game was over,” Williams said. “The other factor that came into mind was it seemed like they had gotten some momentum offensively. We didn’t want to give them an opportunity to get a quick score.”

    Captain and linebacker Paul Rice ’10 added: “We have a very energetic team, so when Coach Williams brought in that kind of philosophy, we all bought into it. I agree with coach: play to win football games.”

    For most of the game, the Bulldogs had the momentum — and the crowd — on their side.

    During Yale’s first drive, tailback Alex Thomas ’12 had seven runs for a total of 35 yards, but the Bulldogs were stopped on third-and-nine in the red zone, forcing a field goal try. Kicker Alex Barnes ’11 made the 26-yard kick to give Yale the early 3-0 lead.

    The drive showed a shift in the usual pass-heavy offense the Bulldogs have relied on recently. Thomas finished the game with 124 rushing yards — the first 100-yard game that an Eli tailback has had all season.

    Harvard head coach Tim Murphy said Thomas caught the Crimson by surprise.

    “We thought they would throw the ball until the cows came home,” Murphy said. “But [Yale] did a great job and took it right to us [and] ran the football well.”

    On the Cantabs’ subsequent drive, they too showed the early ability to advance the ball, moving up 40 yards in four plays. But when Winters reached forward with the ball to try to get a first down, linebacker Tim Handlon ’10 forced a fumble and cornerback Adam Money ’11 recovered the ball.

    Taking over on their 41-yard line, the Bulldogs quickly made it into the red zone after a 21-yard pass to fullback Shane Bannon ’11, a defensive pass interference call and a 15-yard run from Thomas. From there, tailback Rodney Reynolds ’10 ran for a touchdown on third-and-goal on the three-yard line to give Yale the 10-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

    The score was not only Reynolds’ first career touchdown, but it was also the Elis’ first offensive touchdown against Harvard since 2006.

    Both teams had other chances to score in the first half, but decisions to go for it on fourth down backfired on both offenses.

    At the end of the first quarter, Winters threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-11 on Yale’s 24-yard line. Toward the end of the second quarter, the Bulldogs failed to convert a fourth-and-one on Harvard’s 27-yard line.

    Harvard’s best chance to score came early in the second half when the Crimson were looking to attempt a 35-yard field goal. The play turned out to be a fake, but junior holder Matt Simpson’s five-yard pass was not long enough to gain the first down.

    The Bulldogs too had their own desperation play when kicker Tom Mante ’10 missed a 62-yard field goal attempt short and wide left as the first half came to a close with the Bulldogs leading 10-0.

    “We were relieved we weren’t down by more because we were outplayed terribly,” Harvard coach Murphy said.

    From the start of the second half, the Crimson, which had had 188 total yards in the first half, continued to move the ball, and the Elis continued to stop them on fourth-down attempts.

    After running 10 times and passing once, the Crimson had advanced 75 yards and had first-and-goal on the five-yard line. The Eli defense regained its momentum, though, and stopped the Cantabs’ fourth-down conversion on the one-yard line.

    The defensive stop brought the Yale crowd to an uproar as the players jumped off the field and, according to Rice, helped the Elis regain the momentum.

    “In my four years here, goal-line defense is something we’ve really prided ourselves on,” he said. “That play was a great momentum shift for us. It was a great team defensive play.”

    Two drives later, the Bulldogs were in the red zone to start the fourth quarter and were looking to put the game away with a touchdown. But on third-and-12 on Harvard’s 15-yard line, quarterback Patrick Witt’s ’12 five-yard pass to wide receiver Jordan Forney ’11 was well short of the first down and — just like the Elis’ first drive of the game — the Bulldogs were forced to go for a short field goal.

    This time, though, Barnes’ 27-yard kick was wide left.

    “In the second half we failed to score, and that’s discouraging,” Thomas said. “You can’t expect to win with 10 points on the board against a great team like Harvard.”

    The turning point in the game came with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Once again the Crimson elected to go for it on fourth down, but this time Harvard’s risk paid off. On fourth-and-four with the ball on their own 30-yard line, junior tailback Gino Gordon appeared to be wrapped up short of the first down, but he broke off the tackle and ran 19 yards. A defensive stop would have given the Eli offense a very short field to work with, but instead Harvard was still pressuring.

    “I thought we had it,” Rice said. “I thought we had tied him up. I was sure we were off the field.”

    Williams added: “If we make that play, we felt like we win the football game.”

    Two plays later, Winters found a sophomore receiver Adam Chrissis over the middle for a 41-yard touchdown that brought the score to 10-7 with 6:46 left to play.

    Getting the ball back, the Eli offense took four minutes off of the clock but were soon met with fouth-and-22 after a holding penalty was called and Witt was sacked for a five-yard loss.

    It seemed the Bulldogs — with All-Ivy punter Mante — were going to punt the ball and force the Crimson to put together a long drive with no timeouts remaining and with only 2:25 left on the clock.

    Instead, though, the Williams made a decision that he may regret for years to come.

    The Bulldogs had already found success on a trick punt play that they had used twice this season, one of which had resulted in the Elis’ only touchdown last month in their 7-0 victory at Lehigh. Suspecting that Harvard was ready for this play, Williams said the Bulldogs added a slight alteration to it. Instead of Rice taking the snap and running right, this time Rice caught it and flipped it to safety Powers, who ran 15 yards down the left sideline.

    It was not enough, though, as Harvard took over on Yale’s 40-yard line and as Yale players on the sideline threw their helmets to the ground in frustration.

    “We had set that play up all year,” Williams said. “We thought it was worth 22 yards and we came [seven] yards short. The whole idea was to keep our foot to the pedal, to not play scared. If everybody is looking for somebody to blame, blame this guy right here.”

    But Murphy said he does not think Williams should be blamed for the loss.

    “I was surprised [they didn’t punt], but it’s like everything else: You’re a genius if that play goes; if it doesn’t, then, well, you know the deal,” he said.

    Three plays later, on third-and-two, Winters found Lorditch for a 32-yard pass across the middle to give the Crimson their first lead of the game, making it 14-10 with 1:32 remaining.

    It turned out to be all the Cantabs needed.

    Though the Bulldogs still had all three of their timeouts left and were quickly able to drive 29 yards to midfield, Witt’s first down pass was intercepted by Crimson senior linebacker Jon Takamura with 51 seconds remaining.

    It was Witt’s first interception of the game, but it was arguably the most damaging of his career.

    The Bulldogs did get one more shot at a miracle comeback with 25 seconds left, but Witt was sacked at Yale’s four-yard line, and the Elis’ last-second hook-and-ladder play only went 18 yards as time expired and as Harvard fans rushed the field.

    Yale had been so close to mounting the stunning upset, but as game ended the Yale crowd could only sit in stunned silence.

    After the loss, Williams expressed a sense of empathy for the Yale senior class and the recent struggles the seniors have had against their rivals.

    “You want so badly for [the seniors] to win their last game against their rival,” Williams said. “It hurts.”

  5. M. HOCKEY | UMass beats Yale

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    Marc Beck live-blogs the Yale men’s hockey game against Massachusetts, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday.

  6. VOLLEYBALL | A win on Senior Night

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    The Yale volleyball team won handily in its Saturday afternoon game against Cornell, the last home game in the careers of five Yale seniors: outside hitter Cat Dailey ’09, outside hitter Alexis Crusey ’09,

    outside hitter Lydia Mailander ’09, outside hitter Julia Mailander ’09 and middle blocker Laurel Johnson ’09.

    The Bulldogs swept the Big Red in three sets by set scores of 25–14, 25–15 and 25–11.

    It was an emotional victory for the Elis, as it marks the end of what many have called one of the greatest classes in Yale volleyball history.

    “There were tears in the locker room,” head coach Erin Appleman said.

    The Bulldogs travel to Brown on Tuesday for their final match of the season.

  7. M. HOCKEY | Bulldogs beat Cornell 4-2

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    The No.12 ranked Bulldogs were victorious against the No.3 ranked Big Red, winning 4-2 Friday night at Ingalls Rink.

    Yale went down 1-0 with 2:15 in the first period after Cornell captain Colin Greening scored on a power play. But Yale hit back with Mark Arcobello ’10 scoring at 8:42.

    Cornell took the lead again at 12:06 with a goal from Nick D’Agostino before Broc Little ’11 equalized at 19:19 to end the first period in a tie.

    The second period was scoreless, but at 15:35 in the third, after surviving a 5-3 man disadvantage, Yale took the lead with a goal from Brendan Mason ’11. The Elis’ victory was sealed when Brian O’Neill’s ’12 clearance ended up in Cornell’s empty net to secure the 4-2 result.

    Yale swept Cornell in all three meetings last season — twice in the regular season and once in the ECAC Tournament Championship final, in which the Elis captured their first-ever conference tournament title by defeating the Big Red 5–0.

    Friday’s game was the Bulldogs’ first conference contest in the newly renovated Ingalls Rink, which opened last month.

    Yale takes on Colgate back at Ingalls at 7 p.m. Saturday.