Box Score Leonoff Stops 46
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – No. 1 Boston College overcame a 52-save effort by a pair of Yale goaltenders -- 46 from senior Jaimie Leonoff and six from sophomore Hanna Mandl -- to beat the Yale women's ice hockey team 4-0 Tuesday night at Ingalls Rink. BC's Katie Burt made 18 saves for the shutout.
BC (14-0-1, 9-0-0 Hockey East) came in leading the nation in scoring offense at 5.64 goals per game, more than a goal better than the next best team -- Yale, at 4.25 goals per game. The Bulldogs held the Eagles to just one goal in the first period thanks to 19 saves from Leonoff. The lone BC tally came with 3:04 left in the frame, as defenseman Emily Pfalzer backhanded in a rebound for her third goal of the year. Yale had its best chances on a pair of power plays, but BC goalie Katie Burt denied all six shots with the man advantage.
BC had a shot hit the crossbar four minutes into the second, but the Eagles were able to get the two-goal lead when forward Emily Field scored a short-handed goal -- while being hooked -- at 8:23. Five minutes later, forward Meghan Grieves tipped in a feed from Pfalzer, who had intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, and BC had a 3-0 edge.
Yale's best chance to get closer in the second came with 4:30 left, but Burt got just enough of a shot by senior forward Stephanie Mock to send it over the crossbar. The Bulldogs almost had another Grade-A chance with 30 seconds left in the period when Burt stopped a shot by junior forward Jamie Haddad and the puck popped high in the air. Burt lost sight of it and it fell near her, but the Eagles were able to clear it away before a Yale player could put it back on net.
In the third Burt made one of her best saves of the night to deny sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz on a breakaway four minutes in. Leonoff then left with an apparent injury with 12:29 to play, and Mandl came on to make six saves the rest of the way. Forward Haley Skarupa scored on a wrister at 17:47 for the 4-0 final.
Yale (4-4-1, 1-3-0 ECAC Hockey) plays No. 4 Quinnipiac at UConn Friday afternoon as part of the 11th annual Nutmeg Classic.
Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
