W. Ice Hockey Archives - Yale Daily News

W. HOCKEY | Elis wrap up season

February 21, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

In its last weekend of play, the women’s hockey team ended its worst season in history with its highest-scoring game of the year, albeit a loss.

The Bulldogs (1-27-1, 1-20-1 ECAC) fell 10-5 to Dartmouth (18-8-2, 14-6-2 ECAC) on Friday night in Hanover, N.H. Saturday night saw the team shutout 4-0 by Harvard (20-8-1, 17-4-1 ECAC) in Cambridge, Mass.

The team, which is ranked 12th in the 12-team conference, will not see post-season play, as only the top eight teams make the playoffs. Dartmouth and Harvard are ranked fourth and second in the conference, respectively.

The ECAC quarterfinals will take place this upcoming weekend. Cornell, Harvard, Clarkson, Dartmouth, St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Brown will each play three games amongst themselves in hopes of making it to the semi-finals in two weeks.

Despite the defeats, the Bulldogs did manage an offensive breakthrough this weekend — they scored a season-high of five goals against Dartmouth. Forwards Alyssa Zupon ’13, Danielle Moncion ’13, Stephanie Mock ’15, and captain Aleca Hughes ’12 all made their marks on the scoreboard Friday night. Moncion scored twice, and the team managed to take advantage of two power plays during the game.

“It was great that we had scoring chances against Dartmouth and capitalized on our power play,” head coach Joakim Flygh said. “But we struggled to contain both Dartmouth’s and Harvard’s top lines. Dartmouth’s first line was on the ice for six or seven goals, and Harvard’s first line scored all their goals.”

Yale was outshot 45-33 against the Big Green. Goaltenders Jaimie Leonoff ’15 and Genny Ladiges ’12 both played in net for Yale.

Ladiges said that although the team played well offensively, it lacked strong goaltending and defensive play. She added that it was the overall highest scoring hockey game in which she has ever played.

The results of Saturday’s game, although more consistent with the rest of the season, were nonetheless remarkable in that Harvard forward Lyndsey Fry scored all four of the Crimson goals — two in the first period, one in the second, and one in the third.

The Bulldogs were outshot 47-17, and Ladiges made 43 saves.

Harvard scored on one of its six power plays, but Yale failed to capitalize on any of its seven.

“I thought that we played a more complete game against Harvard, despite being shut out,” Ladiges said. “We failed to take advantage of all of the power plays we had, but managed to shut down some of their top offensive weapons.”

The Bulldogs are no doubt disappointed with their season, as the one and only time they won a game was on Nov. 11 in overtime against Union. But Ladiges said that the team has progressed from October to February and that this season will serve as a “building block for the future.”

Flygh added that the roster is still far from fully healthy, as some players need surgery and some are still recovering from concussions sustained earlier in the season.

“We have had a few players that have played through injuries all year, and we all appreciate their commitment to the team,” Flygh said. He added that it is imperative for the team to recover so it can train during the off season, have a full roster during practices, and become more competitive for next season.

The players, however, remain hopeful for the future of the team.

“I’m extremely proud of how this team pulled together at the end,” forward Lauren Davis ’12 said. “We really played some of our best hockey towards the end of the season, and I hope that is an indicator for how next season will begin.”

Last season Yale finished in a three-way tie for eighth place in the league.

W. HOCKEY | Elis break losing streak

February 14, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

On its last weekend of home games this season, the women’s hockey team managed to break its 18-game losing streak with a tie against ECAC rival Colgate.

The Bulldogs (1–25–1, 1–18–1 ECAC) finished Friday’s game versus the Raiders (10–19–2, 5–13–2 ECAC) with an even score of one-all after three regular periods and a five-minute overtime. On Saturday, however, ECAC top-ranked and No. 3 Cornell (24–3–0, 18–2–0 ECAC) bested the Bulldogs 6–1.

“We got a lot of scoring chances against Colgate and put together one of our best 60 minutes of hockey,” defender Heather Grant ’12 said. “It was nice to finally get rewarded with a point (in the conference standings).”

Teammates Genny Ladiges ’12 and Stephanie Mock ’15 echoed Grant’s sentiments and said that although they would have liked to win the game, they were happy not to have suffered yet another defeat.

The last time the Bulldogs did not lose was on Nov. 11 when they defeated Union 3–2 in overtime, but this weekend they managed to break out of their dismal rut. Perhaps because it was the emotional and penultimate game at Ingalls Rink for the four seniors on the team. Or because of the tacit, and probably unintended, sartorial support from the Colgate coach, who was wearing blue and white checked pants. Or maybe former Olympic hockey player, Jim Craig, who was in attendance, brought a little “Miracle magic” to the rink.

Former Team US goaltender Craig — who helped the United States defeat Russia for the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics — was at the game to support his daughter, Taylor Craig, who is a forward for Colgate.

Craig said he attends as many of his daughter’s games as he can and has been at probably 90 percent of them this season.

He spent some of the game catching up with college pal Alison Hughes, team captain Aleca Hughes’ ’12 mother. Craig and Hughes both attended Boston University.

Although he was concentrated on he game — “My daughter’s out there, so I have to focus” — Craig did observe that Yale is heavy on the cross-check.

“They are tougher than the men,” he chuckled.

And the Bulldogs certainly gave a strong offensive effort on Friday, outshooting Colgate 18–10 in the first period. Colgate, however, scored with just three minutes left in the period.

“Our first period against Colgate was maybe our best period of the year,” Ladiges said. “We put a ton of pucks on net and had pressure in the zone for the duration of the period.”

Although it was eventually outshot 44–33, Yale maintained its energy throughout the entire game — something it has struggled to do all season — and managed to come back from one point behind after the first period.

Just one minute into the second period, forward Jackie Raines ’14, who leads the roster for goals scored with nine, scored off an assist from Mock, and the game remained tied until the end.

Even though no additional goals were scored, the game was still eventful. Approximately two minutes into the third period, play was stopped as Raiders forward Miriam Drubel hit the ice hard. Tendering her right leg, she was helped off the ice by Craig, and was later taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Reflecting on the final result of Friday’s game, head coach Joakim Flygh said, “We were all happy with our effort and how hard we played. It was a fun game to coach and play in.”

Ladiges finished with 43 saves; Colgate goaltender Kimberly Sass, with 32.

Mock added that the game was close and “could have gone either way.”

However, Saturday’s game against Cornell was a clear-cut loss for the Bulldogs, who were already down 3–0 within six minutes of play.

“We stood around and watched Cornell for the first six minutes,” Flygh said. “But after we started playing and got our competitive level up, we played them as tough as we have in my two years here. They had to earn their scoring opportunities after that.”

The Big Red, whom Ladiges said is “perhaps the most skilled team in the country,” was up to that challenge. It scored again twice in the second period, and by the end of the first 40 minutes of play had outshot the Bulldogs 41–5.

Raines, who scored both of the Elis’ two goals this weekend, put Yale on the scoreboard one minute into the third period, but Cornell jumped ahead to 6–1 halfway through the third. Even LMFAO couldn’t get the Blue and White to generate more scoring opportunities when its quintessential college party song “Shots” came on the loudspeaker between plays during the final period. The team was ultimately outshot 53–9.

Assistant coach Eddie Ardito noted that the Bulldogs improved during the Cornell game, as they managed to tie the third period. He added that this boosts the team’s confidence going into its final weekend of play.

On Friday and Saturday, the Bulldogs will finish their 2011-’12 season away as they take on Dartmouth and Harvard.

Although the Bulldogs are ranked last in the conference and are well out of the postseason cutoff, Grant said that she is proud of how the team played in its last home games and that she hopes the team can end its season “on a high note” with a win.

W. HOCKEY | Elis lose 18th straight

February 7, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

The women’s hockey team played strongly in the first two periods of its away games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend, and if hockey games consisted of only two periods, the team might have managed to tie a game.

Women’s hockey was just trailing by one point at the end of the second period in both Friday’s game against the Saints (17–8–4, 11–5–2 ECAC) and Saturday’s game against the Golden Knights (18–7–5, 12–4–2 ECAC). But the Bulldogs (1–24–0, 1–17–0 ECAC) met their Waterloo in the third period of play and ultimately lost 6–2 to St. Lawrence and 7–0 to Clarkson.

Assistant coach Jessica Koizumi said saw improvement in the team, which has struggled to compete for a full 60-minute game all season.

“Instead of being out of games early on, we were competing and finally believing that we could win,” she said. “From the energy on the bench to the amount of scoring opportunities we created, we saw glimpses of what our team could really do.”

Goaltender Genny Ladiges ’12 said she agreed the team was improving and added that the small goal discrepancy going into the third period indicates “we were in both games.”

In Friday’s game, St. Lawrence managed to score in the first period. But the bulk of the Bulldogs’ action occurred in the second period. Three minutes and 39 seconds into the second, forward Lynn Kennedy ’15 scored one for Yale, off an assist from team captain Aleca Hughes ’12.

The Saints scored again quickly after, but capitalizing on a power play, forward Danielle Moncion ’13 tied the game 2–2 at 14:52.

In the second period, the Bulldogs were “keeping up with St. Lawrence” and “even outskating them at times,” Ladiges said.

Twice during the period, the Elis were able to even the score.

But with less than a minute left in the second period, St. Lawrence managed to slip one in past Ladiges and reclaimed the lead, which the Saints would not relinquish for the rest of the evening.

“That goal was the game changer,” Koizumi said. “St. Lawrence took the momentum we had gained in the second period by scoring that goal, and we just couldn’t get it back in the third period.”

St. Lawrence scored three times in the third period for the win. Overall, Yale was outshot 16–41, and Ladiges made 35 saves.

On Saturday, the goals-against floodgates opened similarly for the Bulldogs in the third period, solidifying Clarkson’s overwhelming victory — and Yale’s third shutout in its past four games.

The Golden Knights scored at 15:22 of the first period, and the scoreboard held steady at 1–0 for the next 30 minutes of the game.

But the game soon turned treacherous for the Bulldogs. Clarkson scored six times during the third period. Six minutes from the end of the game, Erin Callahan ’13 took to the net to relive Ladiges partway through the period, and she also let in one goal before the buzzer. The Golden Knights scored in nearly regular intervals throughout the period at 5:23, 7:17, 9:31, 10:33, 13:16, and 17:38.

“We didn’t generate a great deal of offense, but we were still very much in the game up until the third period,” Ladiges said. “It’s tough to explain what happened in the final period — it was both a physical and mental meltdown. Once Clarkson scored on early in the third, we crumbled.”

She added that the period was likely her most frustrating this year.

Koizumi reiterated that the team struggled to stay in the game for its entirety.

“Clarkson showed up for sixty minutes and we didn’t — that’s the difference,” she said.

Forward Stephanie Mock ’15 said some positives came out of the weekend’s defeats. The team dynamics, she said, stayed strong as the team members kept a positive attitude on the bench and supported one another despite the lopsided scoreboards.

“This season the importance is not our record, but it’s about making sure we don’t ever give up,” Koizumi said. “I am proud of our team and how they are responding to the adversity. They may not see it now, but it is a life lesson that will create better character in the long run.”

Clarkson is ranked third in the ECAC, and St. Lawrence is tied with Dartmouth for fourth place.

W. HOCKEY | Elis blanked on home turf

January 31, 2012 12:00 am 1 Comment

It was an exhausting weekend for women’s hockey head coach Joakim Flygh. On Thursday, his first child, Josefin Francisco Flygh was born. The next night, he was at Ingalls Rink as the Bulldogs took on Harvard, the team he used to coach until coming to Yale two years ago.

But Flygh’s excitement did not carry over to his team on the ice. The women’s hockey team (1-22-0, 1-15-0 ECAC) followed its usual pattern of losses this weekend — now at a count of 16 in a row — with devastating home defeats of 8-0 to Harvard (14-6-1, 11-4-1 ECAC) on Friday and 6-0 to Dartmouth (14-6-2, 10-4-2 ECAC) on Saturday.

Forward Paige Decker ’14 said that the two losses were disappointing, but both Harvard and Dartmouth are very strong teams and are ranked nationally at No. 9 and No. 12, respectively.

Harvard is ranked second in the ECAC, and Dartmouth is tied for third. Yale is in 12th place in the 12-team conference.

“We just did not show up at the Harvard game,” forward Stephanie Mock ’15 said of Friday’s match. “They are a quick team, and we got caught standing still too often. They capitalized on their speed and took lots of shots.”

That speed and those shots combined early in the game for the Crimson and made for a mixture lethal to the Bulldogs. They were eventually outshot 46-9. Harvard scored at just 3:40 and 4:26 in the first period, and then again at 14:12.

Two more Harvard goals in the second period and three in the third led to the Crimson’s shutout victory over its Ivy rival.

Freshman goalie Jaimie Leonoff ’15 played for the first part of the game, making 20 saves and allowing five goals. Halfway through the second period, senior goalie Genny Ladiges ’12 took to the net and played the rest of the game, stopping 18 shots and letting in three.

Ladiges agreed with Mock, adding that the Bulldogs “came out flat,” “couldn’t find a rhythm” and were “outworked all over the ice.”

However, the team seemed to turn that paucity of power around in Saturday’s game against Dartmouth. All three players interviewed agreed that Yale played much better in the second game of the weekend, even though the score was not indicative of the team’s effort.

Mock said she thought that game, despite the score 6-0, was one of the team’s best of the year.

“We had so many scoring opportunities, I don’t know how we didn’t get a few in,” she said. “We were aggressive on our forecheck and caused them the cough up a few pucks. We could have played tighter in our defensive zone, but other than that I think the play of the game was much closer then the score reflects.”

Decker said that the given the matched efforts of the teams, the lopsided score rested on the Big Green’s solid goaltending by Lindsay Holdcroft, who was named one of the three stars of the game.

Yale was outshot by a smaller margin than on Friday — 52-28 — and managed to take the first shot of the game, only 20 seconds in. But Dartmouth made good on its first shot, scoring at 1:43 in the first period.

The Bulldogs kept the score at 1-0 for the rest of the first period. But the team, despite its efwforts, could not do the same for the latter two. The Big Green scored twice in the second and three times in the third for its 6-0 shutout victory.

Ladiges, who saved 46 of Dartmouth’s 52 shots, said that she felt she let in too many goals that tempered the team’s momentum going into the third period.

“It definitely was not the outcome we wanted, but we were happy with our efforts and hope to build off that,” Decker said, adding that if the team continues to compete at the same level as it did against Dartmouth, the team will win a game before the end of the season.

However, that season is effectively over for the team. There are only six games left, and Yale is 10 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot — so the Bulldogs would have to win every remaining game, and Brown and RPI, tied for eighth, would both have to lose the rest of their games this season.

Yale will play at St. Lawrence and Clarkson next weekend.

W. HOCKEY | Elis follow pattern of losses

January 25, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

On Tuesday evening, the women’s hockey team, currently ranked last in the ECAC, was on its way to a match against Brown in Providence, R.I., and to what would be its twentieth loss of the season. Then head coach Joakim Flygh received an urgent phone call and the bus postponed its journey to drop him off at a train station.

Flygh’s wife had just gone into labor.

Flygh would miss the game in order to support his wife, Angela Flygh, a former ice hockey player for Harvard, and soon-to-be first child.

But the excitement of the bus ride over did not continue onto the ice. With or without its coach, the team’s results followed a familiar pattern as it suffered its 14th consecutive loss.

For the second time in three weeks, Brown (7–7–7, 4–6–4 ECAC) bested the Bulldogs (1–20–0, 1–13–0 ECAC) by a score of 4–1. The Bulldogs last played Brown at Ingalls Rink on Jan. 4 – with the exact same result.

Yale finished a series of three away, conference games last night and will return to Ingalls this weekend to take on Harvard and Dartmouth. The Elis go into these matches with only one win under their belts.

“It was another disappointing loss,” defender Heather Grant ’12 said. “However, I think we are starting to play better collectively. We really gave it to Brown in the first period and for parts of the third.”

Outshooting Brown 13–11, Yale played a strong first period. The Bears did not get a shot on goalie Genny Ladiges ’12 until nearly four minutes into the game, by which time Yale had four shots on Brown. But despite the early discrepancy in shots on goal, the Bears managed to score first, at 8:24.

Forward Lauren Davis ’12 said each game produces more scoring opportunities for the Bulldogs, but she added that the team needs to start capitalizing on those occasions if it is going to start winning games.

The Bulldogs could not even the score in the remainder of the first period and went into the second down 1–0. And unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the first period was high point.

Forward Paige Decker ’14 said the team “really struggled” in the second period, during which the Bears outshot the Blue and White 25–9. Ladiges stopped 24 of those shots, but Brown slipped one past her on a power play at 12:48. Yale managed to pick up its game at the end of the second period, scoring with less than one minute remaining to finish the period down 2–1.

But the Bulldogs fell further behind in the third period. The Bears kicked off scoring for the period at 7:35 and added to this run on a power play at 14:58. Yale could not close the three-goal gap in the remainder of the game.

Overall, Ladiges made 41 saves, but Yale was outshot 45–25. In their last game against Brown, the Bulldogs were outshot by a smaller margin, 30–26, but the game still ended with the same score.

“We’re devoting the rest of the season to our senior players,” forward Danielle Moncion ’13 said. “They have done so much for the program, and they deserve our best effort every shift.”

There are eight more conference games left before the conference playoffs.

Despite the team’s losing streak, Decker said, the Bulldogs are excited for their upcoming rivalry matches. This weekend’s matches against Harvard and Dartmouth will take place at Ingalls Rink at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

On the return trip from the game, there were no phone calls that derailled the trip, but the team watched Ridley Scott’s film “Gladiator.” for motivation.

W. HOCKEY | Second win eludes Elis

January 24, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

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.

W. HOCKEY | Elis seek second win

January 20, 2012 12:00 am Leave a Comment

Yale women’s hockey is challenging the two teams directly above it in the ECAC standings this weekend.

The Elis (1–10–0 ECAC, 1–17–0) are back on the road this weekend after a series of six home games. Yale will face off against RPI (2–8–2 ECAC, 5–15–4) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Union (1–10–1 ECAC, 3–18–3) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“All the games we have left are really important,” head coach Joakim Flygh said. “Both games this weekend are four-point games in the sense that we can gain ground in the standings.”

RPI, Union and Yale are ranked Nos. 10, 11 and 12 respectively in the 12-team conference, so each team is fighting to make its way up the standings and secure a playoff spot. Flygh said both of the Bulldogs’ weekend opponents — the Engineers and the Dutchwomen — are hardworking and disciplined teams despite their low rankings. He added that Yale will have to give two “60-minute efforts” to make a strong showing.

But team members are determined to stay in the running for an ECAC playoff spot. Goaltender Genny Ladiges said this weekend’s games could help determine whether Yale has a shot at qualifying.

“In terms of the playoffs, we can’t count ourselves out,” Ladiges said. “We’re currently five points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. It’s critical that we pick up wins in our next few games, against opponents near the bottom of the standings, if we want to stay in the race.”

The Bulldogs last played these two New York teams back-to-back on the second weekend of November and secured their first and only win of the season against Union 3–2 in overtime. Yale had four players out with injuries at the time. Two of these players — defender Emily DesMeules ’13 and forward Jen Matichuk ’13 — have since returned to the ice.

But the Bulldogs will still play this weekend’s games with a depleted roster. Forward Jackie Raines ’14 suffered a concussion two weeks ago, and Madi Murray ’15 also got a concussion last weekend. Murray and Raines told the News they do not know when they will return to the ice, but both added they hope it is soon.

The opposing teams’ prospects, however, are not much more auspicious. Union won its only game of the season Nov. 4 against Clarkson. RPI, which last won against Colgate on Jan. 6, is on a three-game losing streak.

The Bulldogs will play at Brown on Tuesday evening, and will return to Ingalls next weekend to take on their Ivy rivals Harvard and Dartmouth.

Cornell and Quinnipiac are currently tied for first place in the ECAC.

W. HOCKEY | Elis fall to Providence

November 2, 2011 5:22 am Leave a Comment

The women’s hockey team was able to bounce back early in the second period from a rough start to Tuesday night’s game against Providence College but could not maintain its momentum through the rest of the game.

The Bulldogs (0-5-0), lost 3-9 to the Friars (2-6-2) of the Hockey East conference. The results of the non-conference game will not affect Yale’s standing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

“These weren’t the results we wanted,” head coach Joakim Flygh said. “We weren’t ready at the start and we gave [Providence] some easy goals.”

The action of the game started early in the first period. The Friars scored their first goal at only 3:24 into the game, and the Bulldogs responded quickly when forward Danielle Moncion ’13 scored at 5:13. But back-to-back Providence goals against net minder Jaimie Leonoff ’15 at 5:50 and 7:00 pushed Yale down to 1-3 and saw senior goalie Genny Ladiges ’12 take to the net.

The Bulldogs pulled themselves back at 14:53 with a power play goal by Jackie Raines ’14, bringing them into the second period down 2-3.

An early goal in the second period by forward Ashley Dunbar ’14 tied the scoreboard, giving hope to the Blue and White, but that was the team’s last goal of the game.

“We did well in the first period getting shots on net and testing the goalie, but we did not maintain our momentum in the second and third,” forward Stephanie Mock ’15 said.

Providence scored at 6:50, 13:31 and 17:21 in the second period, and Yale could not take advantage of two overlapped mid-period power plays.

“I thought we’d gain momentum, especially with that five-on-three power play,” Flygh said. “But we didn’t gain energy and it was hard to come back.”

The Friars scored even–strength goals at 5:44 and 15:39 in the third period, as well as a short handed-goal 9:52, leaving the Bulldogs six points behind.

Both Flygh and Mock stressed that the team needs to improve defensively.

“We were frazzled in the defensive zone, and we must focus on that for the rest of the season,” Mock said. Flygh added that the team needs to help out the goaltenders more.

After losing five games in a row, forward Paige Decker ’14 said that the team is “at a loss” as to the cause of the sequential defeats. But she added the team will try to work on what iswithin its control to ready itself for upcoming games.

The Bulldogs will continue their series of away games this weekend, taking on Quinnipiac on Friday and Princeton on Saturday in conference games.

W. HOCKEY | Non-conference play brings early losses

October 24, 2011 3:37 am Leave a Comment

The women’s ice hockey team saw a disappointing start to the season this weekend with back-to-back losses at Ingalls Rink.

The Bulldogs, who finished last season with a conference record of 8–12–2, challenged the Niagara University Purple Eagles on Friday night and the Northeastern Huskies on Saturday afternoon, resulting in losses of 1–5 and 0–7. Because neither game was a league game, the results will not count toward the team’s official standing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and team captain and forward Aleca Hughes ’12 described them as a “learning experience.”

“We can’t let these games define our season — even though we have a long way to go as a team,” head coach Joakim Flygh said.

Friday’s game started with a fast-paced first period: no penalties were incurred, and Niagara forward Kelsey Welsh managed to score off a rebound at 14:48. The second period opened with back-to-back penalties for the Bulldogs, giving the Purple Eagles over a minute of five-on-three play and the opportunity to score a second goal at 3:09. At the 6:50 mark, forward Kalli Funk managed to shoot the puck off the post and get it past Yale goalie Genny Ladiges ’12, sending the Bulldogs into the third period down by three points.

Yale’s game was marked by penalties. The Elis were whistled for their sixth under two minutes into the final period.

“We need to stay out of the box next time,” Hughes ’12 said.

However, the Elis soon got their own power play, allowing their first goal at 4:24, when forward Jackie Raines ’14, assisted by Alyssa Zupon ’13 and Stephanie Mock ’15, got the puck past Niagara goalie Abby Ryplanski. But any hopes of a Yale comeback were shot down as Niagara scored its fourth and fifth goals at 5:37 and 12:49.

On Saturday, Yale played well in the first two periods against Northeastern, the No. 8 ranked team in the country. Yale trailed 1–0 after the first period despite being outshot 9–16. Huskies forward Dani Rylan scored her team’s second goal at 7:11 of the second period, but at 17:43 and 17:55, a pair of goals for Northeastern brought the Bulldogs into the third period down 4–0.

Four Yale penalties in the final period gave Northeastern three power play goals against the Bulldogs resulting in the Huskies’ win, 7–0.

In both games, Yale had more penalty minutes (14–6 and 12–8) and fewer shots (30–42 and 21–30) on goal than either Niagara or Northeastern. The Bulldogs had a total of four power play goals scored against them this weekend.

“It was frustrating that we wound up in the penalty box more,” Ladiges said in an email. “At times it was due to circumstances out of our hands, but we need to keep on moving our feet and be smarter with our sticks and bodies. It’s tough to win games when you’re consistently a man down.”

Forward Paige Decker ’14 agreed that the team was disappointed with their losses, but added that the Bulldogs increased their shots on goal and had more scoring opportunities in Saturday’s game.

“We were pretty happy with that improvement,” she said.

The Bulldogs have to contend with several out-of-commission players in their early season, forcing Flygh to shift around players’ positions. He said he was “scrambling” with the injuries and illnesses facing the team.

Kelsey Summers ’15 is out with an illness, defenseman Emily DesMeules ’13 fractured her ankle halfway through Friday’s game, and Tara Tomimoto ’13 and Aurora Kennedy ’14 are both out with concussions.

Still, Hughes said Leonoff and the rest of the freshmen on the team are extremely talented and have potential. Goalie Jaimie Leonoff ’15 started against Northeastern and finished her first game for the Blue and White with 35 saves.

“This week we’ll focus on putting forth a consistent effort each and every day for the duration of our practices and hopefully build off of this next weekend,” Ladiges said.

The Bulldogs will play their first two conference games of the season next weekend at Cornell and Colgate.

W. HOCKEY | On the outside looking in

February 22, 2010 3:09 am Leave a Comment

A single late-game Quinnipiac goal ended the women’s hockey team’s playoff hopes.

The Elis (10–16–3, 8–13–1 ECAC) suffered a 1–0 loss to the Bobcats in Friday night’s away contest and then dropped another contest against Princeton 4–0, the following afternoon to finish the season three points out of playoff contention.

Heading into the weekend, the Bulldogs and the Big Green were tied for eighth in the league — the last spot that earns a ticket to the conference playoffs later this month. But the Elis’ chances were quelled by their loss on Friday and Dartmouth’s simultaneous 4–1 win against No. 7 Clarkson in New York. It looked like the Big Green had their bid made until a 4–3 loss to St. Lawrence combined with Colgate’s 3–2 win over RPI on Saturday allowed the Red Raiders to claim the eighth and final playoff seed.

“As a whole, our goal going into the weekend was just to leave everything out on the ice and not have any regrets and just play for the seniors as well,” forward Danielle Moncion’13 said. “They’re an amazing senior class and really led us through this year.”

The weekend’s results brought an abrupt stop to a late-season push by the Bulldogs that strove to compensate for the team’s 0–5 start to the season. Yale began to turn things around with a 2–2 tie against Cornell and a 3–0 victory over Colgate right before winter break, and then pulled out a series of wins in mid-January to keep the momentum going.

“The team could have easily just sat back in the second half,” head coach Hilary Witt said. “Instead, they came together and just worked a lot, and I’m really proud of them.”

But those efforts just weren’t good enough, as the Eli run finished with the loss to Quinnipiac.

Yale held off the Bobcats (18–8–8, 11–4–7) for most of the 60-minute contest, but a Bobcat goal in the ninth minute of the third frame was enough to give Quinnipiac the win.

“We tried hard, but unfortunately it just didn’t go our way,” Witt said.

While Quinnipiac outshot Yale 15–5 in the opening period, Eli goaltender Jackee Snikeris ’11 was perfect with 15 saves. The Bulldogs didn’t even get their first shot on goal until halfway through the first frame, when forward Bray Ketchum ’11 managed to send a blue-line pass from defenseman Samantha MacLean ’11 toward the net. Yale also incurred three consecutive penalties near the close of the period but kept the Bobcats from capitalizing — even when Quinnipiac had a 40-second five-on-three advantage.

“We’ve been really working on the penalty kill all season and we’ve improved significantly,” Moncion said. “It was just a matter of putting what we’d learned in practice into play.”

Both teams remained scoreless during the second stanza. Snikeris added another 11 saves to her tally, and the Bulldogs had a few good attempts on Quinnipiac’s net from forwards Ketchum, Becky Mantell ’12 and Aleca Hughes ’12, but were unable to finish any of their chances.

Then Quinnipiac broke the tie midway through the final frame. Forward Kallie Flor bypassed Snikeris at the 8:46 mark to put the home squad on the board, and up by one. The Bulldogs pulled Snikeris with 49 seconds remaining in the game but couldn’t rally before time expired and they recorded the 1–0 loss.

“I think we came out a little nervous in the beginning,” Ketchum said. “We were kind of set back because they were putting a lot of shots on us.”

Yale’s luck wasn’t much better the next day against Princeton (13-12-4, 11-7-4). The Elis had fallen into a 2–0 deficit by the 15th minute of the first period, with Tiger forwards knocking in goals at 7:10 and 14:45. Still, Princeton only outshot Yale 9–6 in the first frame.

Both squads tallied eight shots in the second stanza, which also featured the game’s only penalty — giving Yale a power play at 13:41. The Bulldogs had a number of good opportunities that period, but goaltender Rachel Weber repeatedly denied Yale’s attackers. Snikeris also kept the home team from capitalizing that frame.

But Princeton broke through twice more in the final 20 minutes. Forward Heather Landry scored at 6:58, and forward Julie Johnson added another at 13:13 to bring the Tigers to the 4–0 final.

Yale finished up the season with 17 ECAC points, good for 10th place and trailing ninth-place Dartmouth by two.

“I think there’s a lot to be said about the second half of the season with the success we had, but obviously none of us are happy that we are not playing this [upcoming] weekend,” Ketchum said. “We improved a lot as a team and we definitely proved toward the end of our season that we could potentially beat anyone and I think that, having been given the chance, we would have surprised a lot of people.”

W. HOCKEY | Playoff hopes still alive after Bulldogs split games

February 15, 2010 2:25 am Leave a Comment

The women’s hockey team’s playoff hopes are dangling by a thread.

After splitting a weekend of home games with a 3–1 win against Colgate but a 1–0 loss to Cornell, the Elis (10–14–3, 8–11–1 ECAC) are tied with Dartmouth for eighth place in the conference — the final spot that earns a berth to the ECAC playoffs in late February. With two games left in the regular season, Yale must pull ahead of Dartmouth to claim a postseason ticket. If the squads remain even after next weekend’s contests, the Big Green will receive the automatic bid because they beat the Bulldogs twice in head-to-head competition. Cornell jumped to first place in the ECAC after winning both its games.

But at least Yale still has a shot.

“We’ve had a playoff atmosphere for the past month,” head coach Hilary Witt said. “It’s exciting to go into next weekend knowing that we have a great chance to continue our season.”

The Elis also knew this weekend’s games had the potential to make-or-break their ECAC standings and made that clear by quickly taking control against Colgate (10–18–4, 6–10–4) on Friday.

Forward Caroline Murphy ’10 scored at 9:24 in the first frame when she slipped the puck into a gap just inside the left post of Colgate’s net.

The Red Raiders responded with an immediate counterattack, forcing the Bulldogs into defensive mode seconds later. Colgate nearly scored on goaltender Jackee Snikeris ’11, but the Elis got a lucky bounce on the rebound and were able to clear the loose puck.

A body-checking penalty called on the Bulldogs at the 13-minute mark gave the Red Raiders another chance to up their offensive momentum — and they took it. Colgate’s forward Evan Minnick scored the equalizer less than 20 seconds into the power play to make it a 1–1 game.

Colgate continued to test Snikeris extensively throughout the period, tallying 15 shots to Yale’s five, but was unable to bypass the Eli goalie again.

The Red Raiders started the second frame off in similar fashion, raining shots upon the Bulldog net and forcing Snikeris to respond with a slew of kicking, sliding and diving saves within the first three minutes of the period.

Right winger Aleca Hughes ’12 finally generated some attacking momentum for the Elis in the ninth minute, and forward Bray Ketchum ’11 continued the offensive push with a breakaway seconds later only to see her wrist shot stopped by Colgate goaltender Lisa Plenderleith.

The next one was not, though. Defenseman Samantha MacLean’s ’11 blue-line slap shot sailed right past Plenderleith at 6:51 to give Yale the 2–1 lead.

The third stanza drew gutsy performances from both sides. Yale continued to hang onto its 2–1 advantage for most of the period. Colgate crashed the Eli net with about 10 minutes remaining, but the puck did not quite cross the line so the Bulldogs remained on top. The Red Raiders pulled their goalie with 1:20 left and Yale fought to clear the puck.

And then with two minutes left, the Bulldogs managed to dump the puck down into Colgate’s defensive zone, Ketchum crossed it in front, and Hughes tapped it into the open net to seal Yale’s 3–1 victory.

The win kept the Bulldogs on track as a playoff contender, but that bid looked less certain after the Elis fell to Cornell (13–8–6, 12–2–6) in the following afternoon’s competition.

Saturday also marked Senior Day at Ingalls Rink — the final home contest of the regular season for class of 2010 players — and families and friends gathered to honor team captain Murphy, defenseman Alyssa Clark ’10, and forward Berit Johnson ’10. Among the spectators was Murphy’s father, Colonel David Murphy, who had returned from service in Afghanistan to watch his daughter’s last few games.

Both sides engaged in fast-paced play from the moment the puck dropped, and neither managed to capitalize in the first period. The Big Red had a good chance in the ninth minute when an attacker wove around Yale’s lone defenseman and flipped the puck toward the net. But Snikeris deflected the shot.

The Elis had their own opportunity in the 16th minute, though. Center Danielle Moncion ’13 intercepted the puck in Cornell’s defensive zone and broke toward the crease, but her hard shot whipped wide of the net.

Cornell continued to crash Yale’s net in the second frame, and the Big Red’s resolute attackers finally saw their attempts pay off when defenseman Lauriane Rougeau recorded the only goal of the day. Rougeau scored on a power play from directly in front of the crease at 19:26 in the period, knocking the puck over a crouching Snikeris to put her team ahead, 1–0.

The Elis had several chances to tie it up in the third period but were repeatedly unable to capitalize.

“We had some chances to score and didn’t finish,” Witt said. “[Cornell] got an opportunity on the power play and was able to score.”

But Snikeris and the Elis did keep the Big Red from widening their lead in the last 20 minutes. Cornell got a series of rapid-fire shots off in the 10th minute which Snikeris repeatedly blocked. When the buzzer sounded to cement Yale’s 1–0 loss, Snikeris had recorded 46 saves for the day.

“I think she definitely stood on her head for us, and especially in the second period she came up with some huge saves that kept us in the game,” Johnson said of Snikeris. “When she steps up like that, I think it really motivates the rest of the team to pick up our play.”

The Elis will take the ice for their penultimate ECAC game at Quinnipiac this Friday, before traveling to Princeton on Saturday for their final regular-season contest. And in both games, each second will matter.

“Every shift counts,” Murphy said. “It means a lot, and it’s anyone’s game.”

Tag Archive: W. Ice Hockey