Elis look to skate into NCAA tournament

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Francois Magnant, CC '99 (top), Jim Morrissey, BK '99 (middle), and captain Keith McCullough, BR '99 (bottom).

On the heels of such remarkable success, expectations for this year's squad were lofty—too lofty at times, it seemed. The Bulldogs (12-12-3, 10-7-3 ECAC) showed no signs of last year's glory as they struggled out of the gate, losing six of their first eight games. "There was a lot of pressure after last season," captain Keith McCullough, BR'99, said. "I think we let that pressure get to us early >on. Once we just started to enjoy playing more, we turned things around."

And what a turnaround it's been. Since compiling a miserable 2-5 ECAC record through early January, the Elis have become one of the conference's hottest teams, going 8-2-3 in their last 13 league contests. "We're starting to play well at the right time," Morrissey said. "We're playing better team defense and Westy [goalie Alex Westlund, SM '99] is hot. He's come up big for us so many times."

Westlund has been one of the key figures in the late-season run, capturing ECAC/Heaton Goalie of the Week honors twice over the last month. On Fri., Feb. 26, he stopped 37 of the 38 shots to lead Yale to a 2-1 win at Dartmouth, a victory that earned the Bulldogs a share of their second straight Ivy League title. The next night's 3-1 triumph over Vermont witnessed similar heroics as Westlund saved 31 of 32 attempts on goal. The weekend road sweep—the Elis' first-ever over the Big Green and the Catamounts—lifted Yale into a fourth-place tie in the league.

Yale now controls its own destiny in the race for home ice in the ECAC quarterfinals (Fri., Mar. 12 to Sun., Mar. 14), awarded to the league's top five teams. Hosting a playoff series would give the Elis an inside lane to the ECAC Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Thurs., Mar. 18 to Sat., Mar. 20).

In order to ensure a home ice advantage in the first round, Yale must continue its recent winning ways when they host Union on Fri., Mar. 5 and Rensselaer on Sat., Mar. 6 in the final weekend of the regular season. The Friday night game against the lowly Dutchmen (3-24-3, 1-17-2 ECAC), whom the Bulldogs defeated 5-1 on Sun., Jan. 3, should be a mere tune-up for Saturday night's showdown with the third-place Engineers (20-9-1, 13-6-1 ECAC), a team that appeared championship-bound for much of the season.

The Rensselaer game will likely be a high-scoring affair, as both teams boast some of the league's top scorers. Yale's Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, (18 goals and 25 assits) leads the ECAC points race by one over the Engineers' Danny Riva (15 goals and 27 assists), whose teammate Brad Tapper has scored 18 goals this season, including a hat trick in the 3-0 triumph over Yale on Sat., Jan. 2.

Riva, Tapper, and their teammates would like nothing better than to exact some revenge for last year's defeat by ruining Senior Night at Ingalls. Saturday marks the last regular-season home game for Yale's six seniors: forwards McCullough, Mark Turco, DC '99, and Christian Peterson, DC '99; defensemen Francois Magnant, CC '99, and Morrissey; and netminder Westlund. A pregame ceremony will honor the players for their commitment and service to Eli hockey. Normally, such a farewell event is wrought with emotion, but the Bulldogs aren't ready to say goodbye. "A couple of months ago, I would have thought I would be emotional coming into this weekend," Magnant said. "But this doesn't feel like the last weekend. I know we'll be playing next week and I'm confident we'll get to Lake Placid. We think we can win there and go back to the NCAAs."

That making the national tournament is a realistic goal speaks volumes about the positive change these six seniors have helped bring to Bulldog hockey. When the seniors were being recruited by Yale four years ago, the program was coming off a dreadful 5-21-1 season in which the Elis finished 11th in the league. Though the team continued to struggle over the next two years, they were consistently improving. And then came last season's magical run, followed by this year's solid performance. "A turnaround like we've had is probably the most rewarding thing as a Division I athlete," McCullough said. "To reach the climax like we did last year and then follow that up with another Ivy title is really special. The whole attitude about the program has changed. It's no longer about competing. It's about winning championships."

If the Bulldogs are to win an ECAC championship this year, it will have to be at the tournament in Lake Placid. Clarkson looks to wrap up the regular-season title with a win or a tie in either of its games against Colgate or Cornell this weekend. St. Lawrence, who will also face the Red Raiders and the Big Red this weekend, is the only other team within striking distance, but the Saints will likely have to settle for second place. With a four-point cushion, Rensselaer needs only a tie in one of its two games against Yale and Princeton to hold on to third. The real race is for the fourth and fifth positions, which Princeton and Yale, who are tied with 23 points, hope to retain over Colgate (22) and Cornell (21). Luckily for the Tigers and Bulldogs, their final two games should be easier than those of their upstate New York rivals.

Of course, two wins this weekend will keep Yale from having to worry about Colgate's and Cornell's fate. The Bulldogs would clinch home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs, proving they are still a championship-caliber team, not just a shell of last year's squad. Not to mention that a victory on Saturday would give this year's team their own glorious night against Rensselaer.

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