Three minutes were all that stood between a lost road weekend for Yale. The Bulldogs trailed 2-0 at Rensselaer Saturday, but scored two twice in the game’s final minutes before John Hayden scored 23 seconds into overtime for the win.
It was Hayden’s second goal of the night; his first tied the game with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. That quick-strike ability is something that Yale hasn’t always had in recent years. The Bulldogs were successful thanks to a defense that was one of the best in the country. The departure of goalie Alex Lyon and several important defenders means that might not be the case this year, so it’s a good sign that Yale’s offense is able to put goals on the board quickly.
It was another tough defeat for RPI. The Engineers won their second game of the season Friday against Brown, but fell to 2-6-2 with the loss to the Bulldogs.
Hayton sets shutout record
It was a good weekend for St. Lawrence. Not only did the Saints end a four-game winless streak, but junior Kyle Hayton shutout Quinnipiac Saturday to break a 60-year program record with his tenth career shutout.
Hayton started the weekend with a shutout of Princeton Friday night. He is the first St. Lawrence goalie to have two shutouts in the same weekend since current volunteer goalie coach Alex Petizian did it in 2009. D
efenseman Gavin Bayreuther scored his 31st career goal in Friday’s win over the Tigers, tying Brian McColgan’s 28-year-old record for career goals by a Saints defenseman.
Dutchmen keep on rolling
Union rebounded from Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to Holy Cross by scoring a combined eleven goals in four-point home weekend against Yale and Brown.
Center Mike Vecchione had three goals and an assist Friday against Yale and followed that with a goal and two assists against Brown Saturday. The goal was the No. 7 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the night. Vecchione’s 14 goals and 2.18 points per-game lead the country.
It’s early, but the Union senior will likely be in the discussion for this year’s Hobey Baker Award. His fast start brings to mind another quick start by a Capital Region player. Rensselaer’s Ryan Haggerty came out of the gate strong during the 2013-14 season en route to finishing with 28 goals.
