Jan. 11, 2006
Jeff Pietrasiak stopped 45 of 46 shots and Brian Yandle scored two goals as the No. 11 ranked New Hampshire men's hockey team beat Yale 4-1 before 2,908 at Ingalls Rink.
Yale (5-10-1) had a season-high 46 shots on goal, the most for a New Hampshire opponent this year, but Pietrasiak's career-high outing was too much. He added to the great goaltending performance by keeping the Bulldog power play scoreless on eight tries.
"We played hard and did everything to put ourselves in position to beat UNH, but they got the timely goals," said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. "Even with our grade A scoring chances, we did not get enough traffic in front of the net. He [Pietrasiak] saw too many of the shots."
Yale goalie Alec Richards, coming off two straight conference rookie of the week honors, finished with 29 saves, including 11 in the final frame, while he did not allow a power-play score in four attempts.
UNH (11-7-4) lit the lamp first and it came shorthanded. Thomas Fortney (4th goal) took a lead pass from Craig Switzer, skated toward the right circle while looking toward his teammate racing in to his left and then slipped a shot on the ice under Richards' pad at 10:03. The Yale goalie must have anticipated a pass and got caught off guard with the odd angle shot from the lowest part of the circle.
The visitors made it 2-0 less than two minutes later with a Bulldog defensive lapse. Josh Ciocco skated into the left circle at full speed before sending a perfect lead pass that was easily one-timed with Matt Fornataro's (5th) outstretched stick into an open side of the net at 11:42.
Yale's first line of Jean-Francois Boucher, Brad Mills and Jeff Hristovski hooked up for the home team's first goal 14:51 into the first. Mills sent a perfect lead pass just outside the blueline to Hristovski, who skated in and saw Boucher breaking toward the goal. Boucher (10th) controlled the lead pass just enough to flick it past Pietrasiak's glove.
The Elis, who entered the game being outshot by 172 on the season, put nine more pucks on goal than UNH in the first and had an 11-9 edge in the second.
The Wildcats increased the lead to two again with great forechecking in the second. Yandle, a defenseman, raced in when he saw Brian Pouliot with the puck behind the net. Yandle (5th), from the middle of the slot, one-timed the feed low on the glove side of Richards at 10:57 to make it 3-1.
The Blue continued the barrage of rubber in the final frame, outshooting the Cats 14-12, but the senior netminder was too hot.
Any wind the Elis had in their sails was knocked out when Yandle (6th) fired a low slapshot from the point that went through traffic and into the back of the net at 15:46.
Yale is back in action at home this Saturday when ECACHL and Ivy rival Brown (the Bulldogs' travel partner) is at Ingalls for a 2 p.m. faceoff.
report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Assistant AD & Sports Publicity Director
