Jan. 14, 2006
Alec Richards stopped 33 shots to help his Yale men's hockey team hold on for a 3-3 overtime tie against Brown before 3,189 at Ingalls Rink this afternoon in an ECAC Hockey League contest.
Senior forward Joe Zappala and junior defenseman Bill LeClerc each had a goal and an assist as three different Bulldogs scored in a contest Yale never trailed but never had more than a one-goal lead. Brown (3-10-4, 2-6-2) outshot the Elis 36-26 but managed just one power-play score on eight chances thanks to solid play from Richards.
"Alec made some key saves to hold the fort for us," said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. "Games like that we've got to be stronger defensively."
The Bulldogs (5-10-2, 4-6-1 ECACHL), scoreless on five power plays, did not waste any time putting a goal on the board and testing the sophomore Bear netminder Adam D'Alba (23 saves), who had a very strong showing.
David Meckler (3rd goal) took a feed from Blair Yaworski and skated in from the blueline with a winger waiting across the way as he approached the goal. The freshman right wing held the puck for a while before wristing a riser past D'Alba's stick at 1:32.
The Bears took advantage of their initial man-advantage to tie the score at 1-1 nearly four minutes later. Sean Dersch (3rd) was in the right spot when a rebound came off Richards in the middle of a mix outside the crease. Dersch, who led the Bears with two points, banged in a shot at 5:23 that the Bulldog goalie never saw. It was the final goal in a tight (9-8 Brown in shots) opening frame.
Yale took the lead back on a beautiful pass from Zach Mayer, who sent the puck toward Zappala outside the crease. The lead pass was in the perfect spot as Zappala (4th) needed only to get his stick in the right spot to one-time the puck past D'Alba in a 4-on-4 just three minutes into the second.
The visitors, who had five more shots on net than the home squad in the second, evened things again on a great move by Eric Slais, who netted his first career goal at 6:28 of the second. Slais, skating in from the left, took a crisp feed from Ryan Garbutt and headed for the goal with no defenders in his path. Slais deked left and then slipped the puck under Richards going to the right.
The Elis grabbed the lead back late in the second with more great passing. Zappala skated in with a two-on one holding the puck in the right circle before sending a lead pass to LeClerc (6th). The Brown goalie committed to Zappala and LeClerc had a large opening to hit at 16:28.
Brown made an early third-period statement by making it 3-3 as the Yale defense continued to struggle putting bodies on brown jerseys. Brian McNary (3rd) took a back feed from Dersch at the dot in the right slot and fired a roofer that nearly took Richards' water bottle off the top of the net at 1:13. That was the only goal in a final period that had Brown outshooting the Blue 12-8 and having many more quality scoring chances.
Jean-Francois Boucher came in alone midway through the period but fired a shot over the net, while the Bears had a late power play that nearly cashed in.
Both teams had two shots in the extra frame, but it was clear that the home team survived to earn a point.
"We got what we deserved. We didn't deserve to lose and we did not deserve to lose," said Taylor. "They rolled in our corners too easily. They had too much puck possession."
Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Assistant AD & Sports Publicity Director
