Achilles Rink, Schenectady, NY Sat 2/29/92 Yale 2 1 1 1 - 5 Union 1 2 1 0 - 4 Scoring: 1st Period- 1) Yale, Matusovich 3 (from Ferguson and Weidenbach) 0:27 (pp) 2) Yale, Lavish 15 (from Sather and Ferguson) 3:33 3) Union, Menhall 14 (from Railton and McKenna) 10:40 (pp) 2nd Period- 4) Union, Ferrero 15 (from Whitney and Flowers) 10:08 (pp) 5) Yale, Lavish 16 (from Sather and Kaufmann) 15:03 6) Union, Flowers 8 (from Albert) 17:46 3rd Period- 7) Union, Flowers 9 (from Kelley and Clifford) 9:52 8) Yale, Kaufmann 24 (from Sather and Duffy) 19:51 Overtime- 9) Yale, Ferguson 9 (from Sather and Lavish) 1:01 Shots on goal: Yale 15-19-16-3--53, Union 5-10-10-1--26. Power Play Opportunities: Yale 1 of 8, Union 2 of 5. Goalies: Yale, Sullivan (5-1-1)(26 shots, 22 saves) Union, White (0-1-0)(53 shots, 48 saves) Attendance: 2035 (2504 capacity) Summary: It just wasn't supposed to end this way. Achilles Rink was ready to count off the final seconds of a 4-3 upset of Yale. The Yale net was empty. Everyone was standing, waiting for the celebration to begin. But with nine seconds left, the red light went on behind senior goalie Shayne White... 61 seconds into the overtime, Yale scored again to take the game, 5-4. Union and White started out shaky. Yale went on the power play just 22 seconds into the game, and scored 5 seconds later on Scott Matusovich's shot from the left point. Just a few minutes later, Union made a bad pass at center ice, leading to a Yale 3-on-2. John Sather faked a shot but passed to James Lavish, who put the puck behind White at 3:33. Yale kept the pressure on, but White was outstanding. Union got on the board on Dalton Menhall's power play goal midway through the period. Bill Railton got an assist, giving him his 100th career point. The play started to get rough. Yale had 3 power plays in the second half of the period, but was unable to score. The Bulldogs were all over Union early in the 2nd period. About 5 minutes into the period, Union came in on a 3-on-1 break, but Craig Ferrero couldn't get a good shot off. The Dutchmen dodged a bullet when White came out of the net to play a puck coming around the boards. The puck took a bad bounce to Yale's Yannick Chiasson, who sent it just wide of the open net. Midway through the period on a power play, Union tied it on Ferrero's 15th goal. Yale got the lead back on a breakaway goal from Lavish at 15:03. Jayson Flowers tied the game for Union again when he came in behind the Yale defense at 17:46. White stopped 18 of 19 shots in the period. Flowers scored again at 9:52 of the third to give Union the 4-3 lead. That lead woould stand up for almost 10 minutes. Yale's pressure late in the game was incredible. With all the big saves by White, the biggest save of the night came from Yale goalie Todd Sullivan with about 5 minutes left in the game. Ferrero came in on a partial breakaway for Union, but Sullivan stopped him, keeping Yale within striking distance. With 93 seconds left in the game, Ferrero and Lavish were sent off for hitting after the whistle. Yale pulled Sullivan to get a 5-on-4 skating advantage. The rest of the game was constant Yale pressure. Union was killing off the game, a few seconds at a time. White was amazing, kicking aside shots and pouncing on rebounds. Union cleared the puck with about 15 seconds left, but couldn't get enough on it to send it all the way down the ice. That gave Yale enough time for one more rush. Some quick passing gave the puck to Mark Kaufmann right in front, and he sent the puck into the net at 19:51. Yale got a goal from Craig Ferguson at 1:01 of the overtime period to take the 5-4 win. Union finishes the season 2-19-1 in the ECAC, 3-21-1 overall. Yale heads into the ECAC playoffs with a league record of 11-4-7, 13-6-7 overall. Shayne White finished with 48 saves for Union. He was making his first start of the season. He was 8-3-1 last season, Union's last in Division III. When Union moved to Division I this year, they brought in Luigi Villa and Mike Gallant to do the goaltending. That left White and Junior Jim Helkie on the bench after splitting time last year. Shayne didn't complain, and Coach Delventhal rewarded his loyalty with the start in the last game of the season. Watching him in last night's game, you would have thought he had been in there all season. The crowd, the loudest Union crowd of the season, gave White and all of the Dutchmen a standing ovation after the game. Union notes: - The coach and team all had good things to say after the game. "He just played spectacularly," Delventhal said. "He played with a lot of heart and emotion. You couldn't ask for a goaltender to play any better than he played right there." He added, "It defintely wasn't his fault. I feel great for him. The cliche is that only the strong survive. This year that cliche is really, really true. Shayne White is mentally and physically tough. The kids have a great deal of respect for him." Railton summed it up in 3 words: "He was awesome." Gallant added, "Shayne is the most unselfish hockey player I've ever seen in my life. I've never had any more respect for anyone. He was always there for me and Luigi (Villa) to help us when we were down." Flowers said, "It felt like a big stake went right through my heart. It was incredible to see Shayne stand on his head like he did." (Quotes from Schenectady Gazette and Albany Times Union.) - A ceremony was held before the game to honor Union's seniors. Unfortunately, the ceremony was 10 minutes before game time, and half of the crowd wasn't there yet. Eight seniors were acknowledged, and had pictures taken with their families. Dalton Menhall, Rick Clifford, Bill Railton, Scott Whitney, Tim Cregan, Rick Burchill and Shayne White will all be remembered as one of Union's best hockey classes, and the group that led them into their first Division I season. These players gave up a chance at another 18 or 20 win season at the Division III level for a Division I season that would have that many losses. Other seniors, who were left behind in junior varsity by the move to Division I, include Brian Geraghty, Dalton Gustafson, Dave Moody, Matt Steckler, and Will Winship. Season wrapup coming in a few weeks... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jim Teresco Union College | | [log in to unmask] Schenectady, NY 12308 | | [log in to unmask] Owner/GM - Amsterdam Ice-9 of the BBL | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------