Leonoff Makes 28 Saves

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Two of the top 10 offenses in the country met Friday afternoon at Ingalls Rink as Yale hosted Cornell, but the game wound up being defined by two great goaltending performances. A second-period goal by Cornell forward Caroline DeBruin proved critical as Big Red goalie Paula Voorheis made 41 saves to shut out Yale -- an empty-net goal made the final score 2-0. Yale senior goalie Jaimie Leonoff stopped 28 of the 29 shots she faced.

Both teams came in averaging more than three goals per game for the season, but both goalies were on top of their games from the get-go Friday. The first period included four power plays, three for Yale, and several Grade-A scoring chances -- but no goals. Leonoff made a tough save on forward Jillian Saulnier, the Canadian Under-22 team star, eight minutes in. Right after that the Bulldogs survived a ragged stretch where Leonoff came out to make a save on forward Emily Fulton, leaving a wide-open net as the rebound caromed into the slot. Freshman defenseman Mallory Souliotis dove to the ice and blocked a pair of shots to keep the Big Red off the scoreboard.

A penalty on the Big Red led to a short-handed chance for Cornell forward Kaitlin Doering, but Leonoff made the save. Voorheis answered with a nice stop on a one-timer from junior forward Hanna Åström. Voorheis also made a great save to deny forward Jamie Haddad off a feed from senior forward Jackie Raines on a 2-on-1. She later stopped Raines off a feed from sophomore forward Phoebe Staenz right before intermission. The teams had totaled 31 shots for the period, including 16 for Yale, but the game was scoreless

After four more penalties got killed in the second, it looked like the teams would skate into the second intermission scoreless as well. Voorheis closed up the five-hole to turn aside a shot by Staenz with four minutes to play. But DeBruin put Cornell ahead with only 25 seconds remaining, stickhandling her way around a defender on a 2-on-1 and backhanding the puck high over the left shoulder of Leonoff. It was DeBruin's first goal of the season.

With 10:26 to play in the game, a penalty shot for Big Red forward captain Brianne Jenner -- a gold medalist with Canada's Olympic team -- could have given the Big Red a two-goal advantage. But Leonoff came out and forced Jenner to try a backhand shot that went wide.

The Bulldogs pulled Leonoff in the final minute, and with 15 seconds left an icing call gave Yale a faceoff in the Cornell zone. But Cornell (8-6-3, 6-2-2 ECAC Hockey) won the faceoff and Fulton fired one from her own end into the empty net to seal the game.

Yale had a 41-31 shot advantage, making this just the fourth game all season Cornell has allowed that many shots.

Yale (7-10-1, 4-7-0 ECAC Hockey) hosts Colgate Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity