Black Bears pound erratic Elis into the ice

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Goalkeeper Alex Westlund, SM '99, blocks a shot during Yale's tie against Dartmouth on Saturday.

Just 30 seconds into Yale's Wed., Jan. 13, game against Maine, forward Paul Lawson, BK '00, netted his fourth goal of the season to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead over the nationally-ranked Black Bears. Though Maine scored a few minutes later to square the contest, the heavily favored team from Orono could do little more than play even with their New Haven visitors in the first period. Through 20 minutes, Yale had eight shots on goal. So did Maine. Through 20 minutes, Yale had scored once. So had Maine.

"We played a great first period, on the road, against a very good team," Yale forward Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, said. "But we let it get away from us in the second." If the first stanza proved that the Bulldogs belonged on the same ice as one of the best teams in the country, the second verse demonstrated exactly the opposite. The Bears completely dominated the second period, outshooting Yale 19-6 and outscoring the Elis 4-0. What had been a competitive contest at the first intermission quickly turned into a rout. While the Bulldogs played well in the final period, surrendering just one goal for a 6-1 final, the damage had been done. "We played two good periods and one bad period," Hamilton said. "You can't do that and expect to win."

Indeed, inconsistency has been one of the major reasons that Yale (5-9-1, 4-5-1 ECAC) has struggled this season. Winners of the ECAC crown and participants in the NCAA championships just a year ago, this year's Bulldogs have been highly unpredictable. At times, the Blue seems to have lost little of last year's magic, while at other moments, they seem more like the bottom-dwelling teams of old.

Such inconsistency has left fans wondering which Yale team will show up on a given night, or in a given period, or on a given shift. Will it be the team that surrendered two shorthanded goals to ECAC doormat Dartmouth or the team that rolled to an easy victory over Harvard? Will it be the squad that exited the ice after 20 minutes against Maine or the one that returned to the ice for that miserable second period?

"I don't have the answer as to why we have these lapses," head coach Tim Taylor said. "It's very frustrating. We don't play a solid game for 60 minutes like we did last year." But this year is not last year, and this year's team is still reeling from the loss of the three top defensemen from last season's squad. The most damaging loss was that of 1997-98 ECAC Player of the Year Ray Giroux, BK '98, the AHL's rookie of the month in December. Not only did Giroux provide a solid line of defense in front of goaltender Alex Westlund, SM '99, but he also contributed greatly to the Bulldog offense, especially as the point on the power play. This season, no defender has adequately filled his skates. The first goal by an Eli blueliner for the season was netted by Joe Dart, BR '01, on Fri., Jan. 8, against Vermont, some 13 games into the year. Through 15 contests, Yale defensemen have accounted for just two goals and 13 assists.

In addition to their struggles to replace Giroux and his classmates, the Bulldogs have also been hampered by injuries. "Last year, we were pretty much injury-free," Hamilton, the conference's points leader, said. "This year we haven't been as fortunate. We've had a lot of injuries. We've had to face a lot of adversity." Hamilton himself has battled a bum ankle for much of the season, while forwards Cory Shea, BR'00, Jeff Brow, SM'00, and others have missed games due to illness and/or injury.

But for all its tribulations, Yale remains a respectable sixth in the ECAC, with hopes--consistency willing--of a repeat NCAA appearance. "We're not doing very well statistically or in the win-loss column," Hamilton said. "We're not where we'd like to be. But we're going to draw as many positives as we can from the adversity we've been faced with and try to make a good, late-season run." Such a turnaround has a strong historical precedent. Last year, Princeton finished sixth in the league, but the Tigers qualified for the NCAAs by winning the ECAC tournament crown in Lake Placid.

Yale's road to season salvation begins on Fri., Jan. 15, at 7:30 p.m, when UMass-Lowell (11-9-0, 4-7-0 Hockey East) invades Ingalls Rink for a non-league game. The Riverhawks are 4-1 against ECAC foes, with recent victories over St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Union. The Bulldogs are 0-3 this season against Hockey East opponents.

"They're going to be a big, physical team, just like every team from Hockey East," Hamilton said. "In order to win, we're going to have to come out tough and really fight hard." For 60 minutes, not 40.

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