recap follows box:
-1-
P 2:59 Yale Sproule (elbowing)
P 10:56 RPI Gardiner (tripping)
G 11:44 Yale (0-1) Stafford (?? assists) ppg
P 13:11 RPI Gardiner (hooking)
P 16:08 Yale Magnant (slashing)
-2-
P 3:56 RPI Gardiner (holding)
P 7:50 Yale Dart (interference)
G 9:10 RPI (1-1) Aldous (Brad Tapper) ppg
P 11:23 RPI Brownlee (tripping)
P 12:34 Yale Hamilton (hooking)
P 14:40 RPI Brad Tapper (roughing)
G 15:45 Yale (1-2) Hamilton(Cumming,Brow) ppg
-3-
P 7:14 Yale McCullough (holding)
P 11:14 RPI Reigstad (holding)
P 16:20 Yale McCullough (high sticking)
G 19:36 Yale (1-3) Cumming eng
saves 1 2 3 total
Prekaski(RPI) 9 9 4 22
Westlund(Yale) 9 8 10 27
referee Noeth
assistants: Cadman, Kelly
This news item just in: Yale has won the ECAC regular season title
in a game that was not ruined by poor, one sided referee-ing.
Pardon my sarcasm but it seems that this year, in all 4 leagues,
there has been constant reporting of poor, inconsistent and incompetent
referees. As in the case of "man bites dog", when the referees perform
competently, it's news. That is not to say that Noeth didn't miss some
calls and make a few calls I thought marginal. It's just that RPI and
Yale played very similar styles tonight and the referees called the
game in a consistent way. In this day and age, I guess that's the
most you can hope for.
In a game that had as much offensive excitement as a NJ Devils-
Washington Capitals playoff game, the Yale Bulldogs convinced
me that they are for real by beating RPI 3-1 in Troy tonight.
Their victory clinches first place in the ECAC heading into
the tournament and guarantees them an NCAA bid.
The story of the game tonight was tight defense with all goals
coming on power plays (except for the empty netter).
The story of the game came in the second period with the game tied 1-1.
After goalie Alex Westlund made a nice save for the Bulldogs,
some pushing and shoving started behind the net. Brad Tapper was hit
in the helmet by a high stick and took exception. He threw a punch at the
nearest Yale player. As is so often the case, Noeth saw the retaliation
and sent Tapper off for roughing. A minute later, in a scrum in front of
the RPI net, Prekaski had his stick torn from his hand. Matt Cumming picked
up the puck along the back boards and flipped the puck over Prekaski's stick
to Jeff Hamilton who was waiting at the top of the face off circle to
Prekaski's
right and blasted it cleanly past him low and to his stick side.
The third period period was the typical neutral ice trap that has
become more and more common place in the past few years. Yale
executed the trap flawlessly giving the Engineers few offensive
opportunities.
Now for my obligatory editorial. The only other time I had seen
Yale this year was against LSSU and Army in the RPI Invitational.
They were manhandled by the Lakers and barely got by Army the next
night. Yale beat RPI in New Haven the following weekend. I did not
hear the whole game on the radio and the few parts I did hear led me
to believe that RPI played poorly that night. So my opinion of
Yale this year has been based on their past history and what I had seen
first hand, that they are in 1st place on a fluke. Well, they're not.
RPI played a very good game tonight. So did Yale. Yale played
excellent defensive hockey, backchecking well, showing excellent speed
and disciplined defense. They shine in the offensive zone, forechecking
along the boards and behind the net to dig the puck out to create chances.
They don't give their opponents any room to operate in and don't
fall apart when their opponents use that same kind of in-your-face defense
against them. They bide their time and wait for their chances. When
they get a man advantage, they use the extra man to patiently work the
puck around the outside to set up scoring opportunities.
My only question is whether Yale can handle tournament pressure.
They haven't been to the ECAC final four since 1987 or to the NCAA's
since 1952. They have never won the national title. Yale has an uphill
fight to gain national prominence and national respect. They've taken
the first big step.
Next up for the Engineers is the "other Red" from Ithaca. Although
RPI took both games from Cornell during the regular season, Cornell
has a history of playing real tough during playoff time. And they
are the defending ECAC champions from the past two seasons.
And, if the top 5 teams can all win their quarterfinal series,
RPI will face their old nemesis in the semi-finals, Clarkson.
But, let's take one game at a time........
Mark Lewin
RPI - class of '69
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