Yale Tightens Ivy League Race With 2-1 Win Over Men's Hockey

NEW HAVEN—Eleven straight times the Harvard men’s hockey team entered the belly of the Whale, and 11 straight times the Whale spit the Crimson right back out.

From December 2005 to February 2015, not once was Harvard able to beat Yale at the Whale—more commonly known as Ingalls Rink. But with its season on the line in the same building last March, the Crimson finally reversed its fate, taking two out of three playoff games in New Haven en route to a conference championship.

Playing at Ingalls for the first time since, Harvard had a chance to end another decade-long drought, as a win Saturday night would have secured the Crimson’s first Ivy League title in 10 years. But the defending champions are not ready to give up their crown just yet.

The Bulldogs kept their Ivy League title hopes alive Saturday night, also pulling into a tie with Harvard for second in the ECAC standings.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 3,500 on Alumni Weekend in New Haven, junior goaltender Alex Lyon made 19 saves in the game’s final frame, as the No. 11/11 Bulldogs hung on to beat No. 7/7 Harvard, 2-1.

With the win, Yale (14-5-4, 9-4-3 ECAC) pulls into a tie with the Crimson (13-6-3, 9-4-3) for second in the ECAC and ninth in the PairWise, keeping its own Ivy League championship hopes alive in the process. The Bulldogs took three points from the Crimson this year after a last-minute Joe Snively equalizer earned Yale a tie at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Nov. 6.

On Saturday, co-captain Jimmy Vesey nearly evened the score in the same fashion. With 18 seconds remaining in the contest, senior forward Colin Blackwell ripped a shot from atop the left faceoff circle that bounced out to co-captain Kyle Criscuolo just a few feet in front of Lyon.

On his forehand, Criscuolo fired a shot from point-blank range that grazed the chests of defenseman Ryan Obuchowski and Lyon before trickling to the goaltender’s left post, where Vesey stood in front of a half-empty net. But the golden opportunity came and went, as Vesey could hardly get his stick on the bouncing puck.

In what could be the last matchup between Jimmy Vesey and Alex Lyon, Vesey scored once, but Lyon earned the last laugh at Ingalls Rink. By Jake Meagher

“Kyle shot the rebound, and I thought it was going to go over the net,” Vesey said. “I took one step toward the corner, realized the puck was where I just was, and at that point it was bouncing and in my feet a little. I took one swipe at it, missed, and then it was too late.”

The puck escaped to the backboards, and the Bulldogs made one final clear to seal the victory—one Yale had to come from behind to capture.

After Vesey opened the scoring with his 18th goal of the season 9:55 into the first period, junior forward John Hayden answered within two minutes after picking the pocket of senior defenseman Brayden Jaw.

Sneaking up on Jaw from behind, Hayden stole the puck and dumped it down to senior center Stu Wilson behind the goal line. There, Wilson threw the puck in the direction of the net, and it ricocheted off sophomore goaltender Merrick Madsen’s right post in the direction of Hayden, who found the mesh to even the score at one apiece.

In the following period, the Bulldogs jumped in front on a virtual power play after Vesey lost his stick in a collision with senior forward Charles Orzetti. Yale held the attacking zone for nearly 90 seconds of ice time—48 seconds of which came after Vesey lost his stick—eventually leading to a Cody Learned blast at 9:52.

First, Orzetti tried a wrap-around attempt on Madsen’s right post—a shot the sophomore thought he had covered. But the puck rolled behind the net, and 20 seconds later, it found its way to Learned, who circled around rookie defenseman Viktor Dombrovskiy and into the slot, where he converted the game’s final tally.

Madsen made 20 saves on the night but struggled mightily with his rebound control. The shaky performance came one night after the sophomore allowed two goals from improbable angles near the goal line at Brown. After the game, however, Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 deflected the blame.

“I think [goaltending issues] are in line with the rest of our team,” he said. “I think there were a lot of things—including from the net on out—that could have improvement.”

The two sides were locked in a physical battle right from the start, and tensions finally boiled over with a little over 13 minutes remaining. After Yale blue-liner Rob O’Gara pulled down junior forward Tyler Moy deep in the corner, second-line center Sean Malone retaliated.

Co-captain Kyle Criscuolo jawed with Bulldog senior Stu Wilson after the final whistle of Yale's 2-1 win. By Jake Meagher

Malone hammered O’Gara into the boards, but the officials missed the call as play rolled on with the Bulldogs’ star defenseman on the ground. Once he finally returned to his feet, O’Gara gave Malone a shove, then leveled the Buffalo Sabres draft pick with a cross-check to the head.

The hit led to a bit of a frenzy, as Moy shoved O’Gara before going after Wilson a few seconds later. The referees handed O’Gara a five-minute major and a game misconduct, while Moy also received a two-minute minor for roughing.

“I’m not blaming anybody, but the truth of it is, in hockey terms, that was their way of making a three-minute major as opposed to a five-minute major,” Donato said in reference to the officials’ call.

In the final seconds of Harvard’s power play, Kerfoot set up Blackwell for a one-timer from inside the left circle, but the potential equalizer sailed just over the bar as the penalty expired. Learned nearly capitalized on the miss, sprinting ahead on a breakaway after Yale gained possession, but Blackwell retreated and dove in the way, taking a penalty to thwart the chance. The Crimson escaped the next two minutes unscathed but failed to score over the final 6:10 to tie the game.

To earn sole possession of the Ancient Eight crown, Harvard now needs to beat Cornell in its final conference game of the year at the Bright in two weeks’ time, or else get help around the league.

“It’s tough to lose here, but ultimately we still control our own destiny in terms of the Ivy League,” Vesey said. “So we’re going to rebound.”

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.