NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior John Hayden record two goals and two assists to lead the Yale University men’s hockey team to a 7-3 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Friday night at Ingalls Rink. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 4-4-2 overall (2-4-1 ECAC Hockey), while the Engineers drop to 3-15-1 (1-8-0 ECAC Hockey).
Yale jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 1:11 into the first period. Freshman defenseman Matt Foley (Longmeadow, MA/Bloomington) netted his first collegiate tally 52 seconds in, before sophomore Ted Hart (Cumberland, ME/Phillips Exeter Academy) doubled the advantage 19 seconds later.
Hayden (Greenwich, CT/USNTD) gave the hosts a 3-0 lead at 4:03 of the first, with assists going to sophomore Joe Snively (Herdon, VA/Sioux City) and junior Ryan Hitchcock (Manhasset, NY/USNTD).
RPI senior captain Riley Bourbonnais (Rochester, NY/Lincoln Stars) made it a 3-1 game with a power play goal at 5:28. Helpers on his eighth of the season were credited to junior Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs) and freshman Jacob Hayhurst (Missassauga, ON/Cedar Rapids RoughRiders).
Hayden netted an unassisted tally at 10:59 to push the Yale advantage back to three (4-1) before the end of the period.
The Bulldogs power play tallies extended the lead to 6-1, midway through the second. Snively scored a 5-on-3 goal at 8:16, before Ted Hart netted his second of the game, 41 seconds later.
Senior captain Jimmy DeVito (Bloomingdale, IL/Lincoln Stars) potted his first goal of the season at 15:44 of the second to pull Rensselaer within 6-2. Junior Drew Melanson (Paramus, NJ/Waterloo Blackhawks) and sophomore Tommy Grant (Sparta, NJ/Bay State Breakers) had the assists.
Snively answered with his second goal of the game and fifth of the season at 17:55, redirecting a shot by Hitchcock past RPI sophomore goalie Chase Perry (Andover, MN/Wenatchee Wild).
???????Liljegren then scored the only goal of the third period, burying a rebound off of a shot by sophomore Brady Wiffin (St. Mary’s, ON/Trenton Golden Hawks), 35 seconds into the frame.
Perry played 35:31 and stopped 20 of 24 shots, while classmate Cam Hackett (Sault Ste. Marie, ON/Lincoln Stars) turned away 16 of 19. Yale senior Patrick Spano (Montreal, PQ/Cowichian Valley) had 21 saves.
The Bulldogs finished 3 for 5 on the man advantage, while the Engineers went 1 for 6.
RPI is back on the ice tomorrow afternoon, when it visits Brown (4pm). Yale hosts No. 15 Union tomorrow night (7pm).
