Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The back-and-forth nature of the Yale-Quinnipiac rivalry was on full display Saturday night at Ingalls Rink, as the two local rivals met in the Nutmeg Classic Championship game. This was already the third game this season between the two teams, who had split the first two -- and who had also split their last two meetings of last year. Saturday night wound up being No. 5 Quinnipiac's turn to win, as the Bobcats took a 3-0 decision to claim their sixth Nutmeg title in the tournament's 12 year history.
Yale (2-7-1, 1-2-1 ECAC Hockey) was coming off a 3-1 win vs. Merrimack in the first round, but the Bulldogs were facing a stiff challenge against a Bobcats defense that had shut out UConn Friday night, 1-0. When Yale had knocked off QU 4-3 at Ingalls in October, the Bulldogs had done so despite getting just nine shots on goal. Quinnipiac was similarly stingy this time around, starting with a first period in which the Bobcats allowed just two shots. But at the other end of the ice Yale junior goalie Hanna Mandl stopped all nine Bobcat shots -- and Quinnipiac hit the post twice -- so the game was scoreless heading into the second.
After a penalty-free first, Yale got the game's first power play. But Quinnipiac goalie Sydney Rossman gloved a shot by junior defenseman Taylor Marchin, and the Bulldogs were unable to mount any further threats. Later in the period Marchin blocked a hard shot with her body and was temporarily forced to the bench; the Bulldogs soon called a timeout to regroup. But with 3:12 left in the period, Quinnipiac forward Taylar Cianfarano -- the Bobcats' leading scorer -- put her team ahead with a nifty snipe that eluded Mandl. That was Cianfarano's 15th goal of the season. QU went into the second intermission up 1-0.
Some key saves by Mandl kept Yale in the game early in the third, but the first penalty of the game on Yale came at 11:45 of the third and dimmed the Bulldogs' comeback chances. Still, they managed to get a short-handed shot by senior forward Jamie Haddad, but Rossman stopped that one with 10 minutes to play. Two minutes later, though, amidst a crowd in front of the Yale net, forward Nicole Connery backhanded the puck through her own legs and past Mandl to get the lead to 2-0.
Quinnipiac (11-1-3, 5-1-2 ECAC Hockey) scored again with Mandl pulled for an extra skater, as forward Melissa Samoskevich slid one into the empty net for the 3-0 final. This was QU's fifth Nutmeg Classic title in the last six years. Rossman finished with 15 saves, while Mandl made 25.
In the consolation game earlier Saturday, UConn beat Merrimack 4-1. The all-tournament team included sophomore forward Eden Murray of Yale along with forward Theresa Knutson of UConn and Cianfarano; the all-tournament defensemen were Yale freshman Julia Yetman and QU blue liner Lindsey West. Rossman was named the top goaltender, and Cianfarano took home MVP.
Yale returns to ECAC Hockey play next Friday at Rensselaer.
Report by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity
