Men's Ice Hockey: The Two that got away

On Fri., Feb. 27, the Bulldogs faced Dartmouth for the first of the two-game homestand. Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, began his tremendous weekend early, scoring 55 seconds into the game, and continuing his 12-game point-scoring streak. After two Dartmouth goals, Hamilton tied the game at 2-2. This score stood through a sudden death overtime.

"Dartmouth wasn't exactly our best overall performance," Hamilton remarked. "But no matter what team you're playing, when they have 15 minutes of power play time and we have two, the momentum is definitely going to favor them." Despite this disadvantage, goalie Alex Westlund, SM '99, stopped 35 shots, including 16 in the final period.

On Sat., Feb. 28, Yale faced 10th-place Vermont in front of the eighth-straight sellout at The Whale. After another early Hamilton tally, Vermont scored three unanswered goals. Two clutch goals by Jay Quenville, SY '00, and captain Ray Giroux, BK '98, tied the score. On this night, however, Vermont proved too tough, pulling off a 4-3 victory.

This weekend, the Blue control their own destiny as they face off against Union and Rennsselear in the regular season finales. Currently leading Clarkson by one point, the Bulldogs will be assured an ECAC title and a bid to the NCAA tournament if they win both games. "It's our league to win and our league to lose," Hamilton said.

--Dan Brodhead

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