Bulldogs not playing up to par in early season

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Forward Cory Shea, BR '00, and the rest of the Eli seniors will have to step up their offensive production in upcoming weeks.

For those looking to escape the cold, there is no better sanctuary these days than Ingalls Rink, where it seems the thermometer needle has been pushed to new heights each week. Though it may be winter, the atmosphere is already heating up for the Yale men's hockey team—especially now that captain Jeff Hamilton, SM '00, has decided to redshirt [see p. 22].

After a Thanksgiving break that saw the squad stumble through four games with a 1-2-1 mark, the optimism with which the team approached its contests has been replaced by a new feeling: disappointment. The relative weakness of its competition makes the team's stretch particularly painful, but it has also lit a fire under the players and given them something to prove. "Those games scared us," forward Peter Toomey, PC '01, said. "No one on the team thinks those games are indicative of how good we are." Now they have only their fans and the rest of college hockey to convince.

On Fri., Nov. 19, the club fell to a struggling Princeton squad 2-1 and could only manage a 5-5 tie in the second leg of the home and home four days later. Just when it seemed things could not get worse, they did. In Lowell this past weekend, the team fell 2-0 to Air Force and barely squeezed out a 3-2 win over UConn, finishing only third in a City of Lights Tournament it should have won.

Fans and experts alike are asking whether the team can overcome its recent adversity and reclaim its place among the ECAC elite. "We're not scoring enough," forward Cory Shea, BR '00, said. "We definitely need more effort, more focused effort." The team is committed to meeting its struggles with hard work, as this week's intense practices have shown.

We have a lot of talent," forward Jeff Brow, SM '00, said, "and we haven't put it to use yet." With its redoubled commitment, the team hopes to realize this potential and, at the same time, notch some more wins. It is a process in which the team's veteran leadership will have a big hand. Indeed, Yale's ten seniors have met similar hurdles in the past.

But all the hard work, talent, and leadership will prove useless if the team is unable to solve the problems that have plagued it all year long. First among them is the squad's inability to capitalize on its chances to finish in the offensive zone. In its 2-0 loss to Air Force, Yale outshot the Falcons 23-9. One night later, the Bulldogs put 35 pucks on net to the Huskies nine but still only managed a one-goal victory. It is a problem the Elis know they must solve by "working to get into a position to finish," Shea said. For Brow, the answer is simple. "We just have to keep shooting and shooting," he said.

This is not an easy task when the team fails to play consistent hockey over 60 minutes, the second problem that has hampered the team this year. Brow said, "If you're going to outwork a team, you have to play three periods." In the first Princeton game, Yale controlled the action in the first period and took the early 1-0 lead, only to watch Princeton command 30 of the final 40 minutes and then go on to victory. This inability to play at a consistent level is what left Yale in a 2-0 hole to UConn after two periods, and it is what will leave them easy prey to stronger teams later in the ECAC schedule.

Compounding these problems is the team's tendency to play up to its stronger opponents level and down to the level of its weaker opponents—a pattern that has repeated itself throughout the year. The club that defeated New Hampshire and almost beat Michigan is the same team that lost to Air Force and almost fell to UConn. For this squad, the answer lies in forcing opponents to play the Bulldogs' game at their pace—something that is only accomplished through hard work. "We're trying to refocus ourselves so we don't do it anymore," Brow said.

Perhaps the team might be better served waiting by until next week to complete its transformation. Certainly, it will need to play well this weekend against first place Colgate and second place Cornell, in order to win. Though it's a long season, the team recognizes the importance of these last games before Christmas. "They're huge," Brow said. "They're going to sit with us a long time." Two wins would vault fifth-place Yale out of its slump and up the ECAC ladder. "These two games," Toomey said, "will show our character coming off the poor week."

Perhaps, they will convince fans and experts of just how good the team is. And who knows, they might even make the players' winter jackets necessary after all. But after losing their captain, this will be much more difficult.

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