The Yale Bulldogs suffered a loss of historic proportions Saturday night, getting trounced 10-0 by St. Cloud State at Ingalls Rink in New Haven. The game represented the largest margin of victory that the Huskies have ever recorded against a Division-I opponent, and was Yale’s worst home loss since a 12-1 defeat by Harvard in 1993.
It was an utterly forgettable game for the Elis, who fell behind early after taking five penalties in the first period, two of which resulted in SCSU goals. The Huskies, on the other hand, continued to exhibit the offensive firepower they demonstrated in a 7-2 defeat of Princeton the night before.
The Huskies’ Billy Hengen played a large part in SCSU’s dominance over the weekend. Against the Tigers, Hengen picked up a goal and four assists. He was similarly effective against the Bulldogs, scoring two goals and adding an assist to give him 8 points against the Ivy League opponents.
“We expected Yale to come out hard tonight because we knew they lost to Alabama-Huntsville last night,” Hengen said. “But tonight our shots were going in, and we played our systems well and were finishing our plays and getting chances.”
Hengen was one of eight goal scorers for the Huskies on the night, with Dave Iannazzo also adding two scores. In all, of the eighteen skaters in the SCSU lineup, all but five earned a point in the game.
“We had four lines trucking pretty good,” said Husky head coach Craig Dahl. “We had a couple of power play goals to give us the lead that really got us going.”
As they did last night, the Bulldogs took too many penalties early and found themselves having to play shorthanded. After giving up two power play goals to the Huskies in the first period, the Bulldogs could not even come up with one of their own with a power play opportunity late in the first period.
Instead, the puck squirted past a pinching Yale defenseman, giving Iannazzo a breakaway that resulted in a shorthanded goal for the Huskies when the shot was bobbled by Yale goaltender Josh Gartner. The two teams went into the first intermission with the Huskies holding a 3-0 lead.
Gartner was one of three Yale goalies that saw action, with Pete Cohen and Matt Modelski appearing in the second and third periods, respectively. Gartner earned 10 saves on the night, while Cohen and Modelski finished with 5 and 7.
SCSU goalie Tim Boron earned the shutout with a 26-save performance.
In the second period, a two-on-one opportunity for the Huskies resulted in Iannazzo’s second score of the night just 3:47 into the frame. Hengen earned his first of two on a short shot from the right post midway through the period, and added another with 4:29 to play before the second intermission.
The third period was no better for the Elis. In a sequence that was entirely indicative of Yale’s fortunes over the course of the game, the Elis failed to score on an extended 5-on-3 opportunity and then squandered their seventh goal of the game as soon as the two teams were back to even strength. Joe Jensen picked up that goal to make the game 7-0.
“We were working on not giving odd man rushes up,” Hengen said. “We wanted to play hard, and I think that’s why we scored 10 goals-we never let up.”
The Huskies maintained their pressure throughout the entire third period after the outcome of the game was no longer in question, adding three more goals from Andrew Gordon, Matt Hartman, and Brock Hooten.
“Our whole thing is to play 60 minutes of hockey, because there are a lot of things that can be worked on regardless of score,” Dahl said.
Despite the lopsided score, the shot totals were significantly more even, with St. Cloud unleashing 32 and the Bulldogs managing to muster 26. However, Taylor warned of using the shots totals as a comparison.
“I think if you broke down the shots and categorized them as grade-A chances, you’d find the quality of their shots were superior,” Taylor said. “We have to find ways to generate more offense.”
And so it was another dismal opening weekend for the Elis, who suffered 8-4 and 10-0 losses against North Dakota last season in their first two games.
“It doesn’t do anyone well to get waxed 10-0,” Taylor said. “You can’t find too many silver linings in that.”
