Yale Wins at Bright For First Time Ever

It was history in the making.

Unfortunately for the Harvard men's hockey team, it was a milestone which it would soon well forget. YALE  3 HARVARD  1

For the first time in the series' history, Yale defeated Harvard at Bright Hockey Center. After 84 years of failure, the Bulldogs' monumental victory came on Saturday night in the form of a 3-1 schooling of the Crimson.

From the very first face off the Harvard team (1-2-1, 1-2-1 ECAC) team--which had excited its fans the night before with a last second goal in regulation to pull a dramatic 3-3 tie with Princeton--was nowhere to be found.

And as the game progressed it became quite clear that the missing persons alert should have been released well before the players even took the ice.

"For whatever reason we were just out of sync both defensively and offensively," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni. "Give Yale an awful lot of credit. They came out with a lot of fire, and they sustained it for three periods."

Sixty minutes of hockey was indeed a concept which punishingly eluded Harvard the entire last night.

After only nine minutes of play, the Bulldogs exploded for two power-play goals in a matter of 20 seconds.

The extra-man advantage was precipitated by two Harvard penalties: one for holding and the other for hooking. Both infractions occurred behind the play and together led to a five-on-three break for Yale.

"Those just aren't smart penalties," Tomassoni said. "We just didn't play well and we got what we deserved."

The first Yale tally came off a loopy shot from the left point. Sophomore forward Jeff Hamilton rifled a shot which bounced off a Harvard defender on its way to the net. In acrobatic fashion, Daryl Jones reached behind him at the right post and tipped home the game's first goal.

Then, with only the five-on-four advantage, Hamilton struck gold himself--this time a blast from inside the left face-off circle. No one was around Hamilton, not even as he celebrated Yale's second goal.

"We feel that we have a lot of confidence as a team and that we can skate with anybody," said Yale Coach Tim Taylor'63. "I also think that our team is really fast and matches up really well with Harvard."

And on Saturday night, Yale was a different, more assertive team. Despite playing in a rink which has been unforgiving and against a team which has been its Achilles heel, the Bulldogs exhibited a confident, domineering style which stymied the Harvard attack. In the third period alone, Harvard goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo had to make 18 saves while Yale's Alex Westlund yawned through only four.

The only spark which Harvard could generate came in the second period. With the man advantage and quickly off a draw, junior Rob Millar corralled the puck and circled, from right to left, in front of Westlund. A quick wrister from 20 feet out was enough to beat the Yale netminder and all of a sudden Harvard was within a goal.

"As badly as we had played, it was still a 2-1 game going into that third period," Tomassoni said. "We thought that we could win and they took it to us in the third period. The only reason we still had a chance at the very end was because of J.R."

Prestifilippo stole the show, however, at the 10:07 mark of the final period. After a scuffle in front of the net, where at least eight bodies were piled on top of each other, referee John Gallagher raised his arms to the air and signalled a Yale penalty shot.

Claiming that a Harvard player had purposely covered the puck while it was in the crease, Gallagher instigated what has become a lost art form in collegiate hockey--the penalty shot. Thus Hamilton took his place alone at center ice and bore down on Prestifilippo while all eyes followed the play.

There would be no glory for Hamilton as Prestifilippo read the play perfectly and blocked the shot with his right pad, effectively keeping the score locked at 2-1.

"[The penalty shot] could have been called, it could not have been called," Prestifilippo said. "I've seen none here and probably only one or two in high school. I just wanted to win the game and that was kind of just a sideshow."

Despite the Prestifilippo heroics, Yale would not be denied an insurance goal, and with only 56 ticks left on the clock Geoff Kufta put in an open netter.

"It's hard to do up here and we have been trying a long time," said Taylor, who is in his 19th season behind the Yale bench. "I told the kids before the third period that 'there are 15 generations of hockey players that would die to be where you are right now with a chance to win.' It had a lot of meaning for me too."

As the Yale players joyously rode home to New Haven knowing that they had accomplished something which their predecessors had not, the Harvard contingent skulked back across the river.

"This was a very disappointing loss for us," Prestifilippo said. "I don't have much to say except that we're disappointed to come away with one point from this weekend."

YALE, 3-1 at Bright Hockey CenterYale  2  0  1  --  3Harvard  0  1  0  --  

For the first time in the series' history, Yale defeated Harvard at Bright Hockey Center. After 84 years of failure, the Bulldogs' monumental victory came on Saturday night in the form of a 3-1 schooling of the Crimson.

From the very first face off the Harvard team (1-2-1, 1-2-1 ECAC) team--which had excited its fans the night before with a last second goal in regulation to pull a dramatic 3-3 tie with Princeton--was nowhere to be found.

And as the game progressed it became quite clear that the missing persons alert should have been released well before the players even took the ice.

"For whatever reason we were just out of sync both defensively and offensively," said Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni. "Give Yale an awful lot of credit. They came out with a lot of fire, and they sustained it for three periods."

Sixty minutes of hockey was indeed a concept which punishingly eluded Harvard the entire last night.

After only nine minutes of play, the Bulldogs exploded for two power-play goals in a matter of 20 seconds.

The extra-man advantage was precipitated by two Harvard penalties: one for holding and the other for hooking. Both infractions occurred behind the play and together led to a five-on-three break for Yale.

"Those just aren't smart penalties," Tomassoni said. "We just didn't play well and we got what we deserved."

The first Yale tally came off a loopy shot from the left point. Sophomore forward Jeff Hamilton rifled a shot which bounced off a Harvard defender on its way to the net. In acrobatic fashion, Daryl Jones reached behind him at the right post and tipped home the game's first goal.

Then, with only the five-on-four advantage, Hamilton struck gold himself--this time a blast from inside the left face-off circle. No one was around Hamilton, not even as he celebrated Yale's second goal.

"We feel that we have a lot of confidence as a team and that we can skate with anybody," said Yale Coach Tim Taylor'63. "I also think that our team is really fast and matches up really well with Harvard."

And on Saturday night, Yale was a different, more assertive team. Despite playing in a rink which has been unforgiving and against a team which has been its Achilles heel, the Bulldogs exhibited a confident, domineering style which stymied the Harvard attack. In the third period alone, Harvard goaltender J.R. Prestifilippo had to make 18 saves while Yale's Alex Westlund yawned through only four.

The only spark which Harvard could generate came in the second period. With the man advantage and quickly off a draw, junior Rob Millar corralled the puck and circled, from right to left, in front of Westlund. A quick wrister from 20 feet out was enough to beat the Yale netminder and all of a sudden Harvard was within a goal.

"As badly as we had played, it was still a 2-1 game going into that third period," Tomassoni said. "We thought that we could win and they took it to us in the third period. The only reason we still had a chance at the very end was because of J.R."

Prestifilippo stole the show, however, at the 10:07 mark of the final period. After a scuffle in front of the net, where at least eight bodies were piled on top of each other, referee John Gallagher raised his arms to the air and signalled a Yale penalty shot.

Claiming that a Harvard player had purposely covered the puck while it was in the crease, Gallagher instigated what has become a lost art form in collegiate hockey--the penalty shot. Thus Hamilton took his place alone at center ice and bore down on Prestifilippo while all eyes followed the play.

There would be no glory for Hamilton as Prestifilippo read the play perfectly and blocked the shot with his right pad, effectively keeping the score locked at 2-1.

"[The penalty shot] could have been called, it could not have been called," Prestifilippo said. "I've seen none here and probably only one or two in high school. I just wanted to win the game and that was kind of just a sideshow."

Despite the Prestifilippo heroics, Yale would not be denied an insurance goal, and with only 56 ticks left on the clock Geoff Kufta put in an open netter.

"It's hard to do up here and we have been trying a long time," said Taylor, who is in his 19th season behind the Yale bench. "I told the kids before the third period that 'there are 15 generations of hockey players that would die to be where you are right now with a chance to win.' It had a lot of meaning for me too."

As the Yale players joyously rode home to New Haven knowing that they had accomplished something which their predecessors had not, the Harvard contingent skulked back across the river.

"This was a very disappointing loss for us," Prestifilippo said. "I don't have much to say except that we're disappointed to come away with one point from this weekend."

YALE, 3-1 at Bright Hockey CenterYale  2  0  1  --  3Harvard  0  1  0  --  

"As badly as we had played, it was still a 2-1 game going into that third period," Tomassoni said. "We thought that we could win and they took it to us in the third period. The only reason we still had a chance at the very end was because of J.R."

Prestifilippo stole the show, however, at the 10:07 mark of the final period. After a scuffle in front of the net, where at least eight bodies were piled on top of each other, referee John Gallagher raised his arms to the air and signalled a Yale penalty shot.

Claiming that a Harvard player had purposely covered the puck while it was in the crease, Gallagher instigated what has become a lost art form in collegiate hockey--the penalty shot. Thus Hamilton took his place alone at center ice and bore down on Prestifilippo while all eyes followed the play.

There would be no glory for Hamilton as Prestifilippo read the play perfectly and blocked the shot with his right pad, effectively keeping the score locked at 2-1.

"[The penalty shot] could have been called, it could not have been called," Prestifilippo said. "I've seen none here and probably only one or two in high school. I just wanted to win the game and that was kind of just a sideshow."

Despite the Prestifilippo heroics, Yale would not be denied an insurance goal, and with only 56 ticks left on the clock Geoff Kufta put in an open netter.

"It's hard to do up here and we have been trying a long time," said Taylor, who is in his 19th season behind the Yale bench. "I told the kids before the third period that 'there are 15 generations of hockey players that would die to be where you are right now with a chance to win.' It had a lot of meaning for me too."

As the Yale players joyously rode home to New Haven knowing that they had accomplished something which their predecessors had not, the Harvard contingent skulked back across the river.

"This was a very disappointing loss for us," Prestifilippo said. "I don't have much to say except that we're disappointed to come away with one point from this weekend."

YALE, 3-1 at Bright Hockey CenterYale  2  0  1  --  3Harvard  0  1  0  --