NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale continued its domination over archrival Harvard, defeating the Crimson 3-0 in a tough, physical battle.
The first period was evenly played between the two clubs – the physical play was there from the second the puck dropped.
“Tuesday night doesn’t make a difference for us really, it’s a big game in the standings for us,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “They had success against us in our other two match-ups [and] we were excited to play better and we wanted to come up with a big win.”
Yale (13-6-3) shrugged off its sluggish started and took over the game in the second period. After being doubled in the shot department by Harvard in the first period, the Bulldogs turned the tables on the Crimson, outshooting Harvard 14-5. Most importantly, Yale did their damage on the scoreboard.
Stu Wilson kicked off the scoring, ripping a perfect shot just under the blocker of Steve Michalek. The goal came just 2:50 into the second period.
The Bulldogs kept the tempo going and kept the play in the Harvard end of the ice. Chris Izmirlian delivered a perfect pass along the goalmouth to John Hayden, who put it in the open net.
Harvard (12-7-2) had very few chances in the first two periods and when the Bulldogs did get a good shot on net, there was no rebound opportunity given up by Alex Lyon (24 saves).
“There isn’t a guy in the dressing room that didn’t contribute,” Yale coach Keith Allain said. “We’re very conscientious defensively. We work hard, we have a great goaltender, and we have a willingness to block shots.”
Yale continued peppering Michalek (32 saves) in the third period. Several times Michalek was forced to come up with a big save to keep his team in it.
“Every game he’s in net we’re all comfortable,” said Harvard captain Max Everson of Michalek. “Steve’s been real solid every night. There’s never a question whether we have a goaltender who can give us a chance to win.”
Michalek kept it close, Harvard stepped up their play, but still couldn’t put one past Lyon.
Frank DiChiara added an empty-net goal with 1:36 to play.
“The story of the game was they outbattled us, outcompeted us, and beat us in races to the puck as well,” said Donato.
