JULIA TIERNAN/YH John Gauger, JE '01

After close loss, hockey still hungry for respect

For the men's hockey team, it's all about respect. They think they deserve it, and they had to chance to prove it Sun., Jan., 16, as they faced No. 11 Boston College in an important non-conference game. Earlier in the year, Yale faced similarly tough non-conference competition, dropping a tight 3-2 battle to No. 4 Michigan on Tues., Oct. 30 and winning a 5-1 contest against then-No. 1 New Hampshire on Tues., Nov. 2. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs' efforts went unnoticed, and their national reputation failed to improve significantly. The team let a perfect opportunity slip away, falling 3-1 to Boston College in a close game. It did, however, send a message to the rest of college hockey—the Elis can compete with anybody. After a gutsy performance, though the national rankings may continue to elude Yale, coaches and players of other nationally competitive teams won't make the mistake of taking Yale lightly.

But being considered a worthy adversary isn't enough for the Bulldogs—they definitely wanted the win. "There's a general lack of respect for our conference in general," goalie Trevor Hanger, SY '00, said. "Anytime you are playing a top caliber team, you want them to know your team is for real. But, at this point, we're not satisfied staying close."

No matter how close a team may come, it does not receive points for keeping games competitive. "We definitely showed we can compete with these teams," forward Luke Earl, JE '02, said. "It is just a matter of pulling it out." The bad news: such a task is easier said than done. The good news: the Bulldogs know what it takes.

"When you play a team like that," defenseman Keith Fitzpatrick, TD '00, explained, "you have to have all facets working." For Yale, it is not difficult to find the facets in need of repair. The offense has yet to prove itself a legitimate threat to opposing defenses. BC outplayed Yale for much of the game, controlling more of the action on the ice. Even more significantly, Yale failed to take advantage of the chances it did have, the kinds of opportunities upon which quality teams like Boston College are able to capitalize. As Hanger said, "We're not the kind to score and beat teams with tic-tac-toe goals. We could work harder to get some ugly goals." Almost across the board, players must drive to the net with greater consistency, scrapping for goals by creating traffic in front of opposing goaltenders. Players, particularly on the team's third and fourth lines, must begin to shoulder a greater share of the offensive load.

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the defense—the team's backbone all season long—has continued to play well. Forwards, blue liners, goaltenders have all worked to make the Elis a defensive powerhouse in the ECAC, and they have shown no signs of slowing down. Of whispers that the defense might break down from overwork during the course of the season, Hanger seemed unconcerned. "The team definitely revolves around defense. But, one of the nice things we have is depth," he said. "And in the certain circumstances where we might have played less than spectacular defense, our offense has stepped up."

That was not the case this past Sunday, however, when it readily became obvious that Yale's defense operates with little margin for error. To be sure, its mental mistakes, though hardly numerous, proved fatal to the club's chances against the Eagles. Commenting on the three goals Yale gave up to BC, Hanger remarked, "None of those situations looked particularly dangerous." Indeed, BC's first goal came from a shot from behind the net with less than a minute to go in the first period, while its second came in the third on a rebound that might have been cleared. BC's third score was a shorthanded goal that came not long after Yale went on the man advantage. However those goals came, they proved enough to beat the Elis, whose offense couldn't force similar BC mistakes at the opposite end of the ice.

This weekend, the Bulldogs have yet another chance to redeem themselves, in a home game against Army on Fri., Jan. 21 and in a tough road contest versus No. 6 Boston University on Sun., Jan. 23. "We can't sit and dwell on a missed opportunity," Hanger said. "We have two more games that we have to go out and take care of business in." In particular, the Army game seems a must win, especially for the team to keep pace in the tightly contested ECAC in which they now sit third, behind rivals Harvard and Princeton. The BU game, however, will prove telling—an indicator of how much the team has learned from the loss to BC. "BU is loaded with talent, but we know we can beat those teams," Fitzpatrick said. "In fact, I'm pretty confident we're going to beat BU this weekend."

Photo of John Gauger, JE '01, by Julia Tiernan.

Back to Sports...