Men's hockey faces Clarkson in best-of-three playoff series

By Soraya Victory

On Tues., Mar. 4, the men's ice hockey team, with Alex Westlund, SM '99, in goal, shut out the seventh-seeded Colgate Red Raiders 1-0 in its ECAC preliminary playoff game, the first playoff victory for the Bulldogs in six seasons. The team will now advance to face the top-ranked Clarkson Knights in a three game series beginning on Fri., Mar. 7.

All of this weekend's games will be played on Clarkson's home ice in Potsdam, N. Y. The first team to attain three points will advance to the semifinals. "I've waited a long time to make the playoffs, and I'm really happy to be here, but my teammates and I are definitely not satisfied with making it as far as we have," captain Josh Rabjohns, MC '97, said.

Though Colgate controlled the puck for an overwhelming portion of the game, outshooting the Elis 46-22, Yale's strong defensive performance, coupled with Westlund's best game ever, allowed the Bulldogs to hold on. Westlund earned his first career shutout, and his 46 saves were also a personal best.

The goalie is confident that the same level of team play will carry over to the upcoming games. "Clarkson is a really good team, but we are playing as well as we have all year now, and I believe we can beat them," he said. The Knights, like the Red Raiders, play a strong offensive game, which will require great attention to defense on Yale's part.

Cory Shea, CC '00, scored the lone goal of the Colgate game in the first period off of a pass from Brad Dunlap, SM '98. Like his teammate, Shea praised Tuesday's defensive effort. "The defense and forwards clogged the middle so that [Colgate] wasn't getting great shots, and Alex was unbelievable," he said. Regarding this weekend, Shea commented, "We should play a lot more in their end, and score a lot more. I don't think they're looking forward to playing us."

Yale and Clarkson split their two regular season games. The Elis won the early season matchup, pulling out a 2-1 decision on Sat., Nov. 9, while the Knights squeezed out a 2-0 win with two late goals on Sat., Feb. 15 at Ingalls Rink.

The Blue and White are heading into the quarterfinals optimistic, energized, and eager to be in a position new to them all. Rabjohns and the other seniors want to ensure that their careers will not come to a close this weekend. "Spring break is very low on my priority list right now. I'm looking to ride this out as long as possible. We know that when we play our best hockey, we can beat anybody on any given night, and I'm very confident about this weekend," he said.

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