Saturday, April 13, 2013

Yale Claims 2013 National Title

Bulldogs beat rival Quinnipiac, 4-0, to capture the school’s first national championship.

Yale Claims 2013 National Title
Yale claimed the school’s first national championship (Photo by Larry Radloff).

The oldest college hockey program in the nation now has its first national championship as Yale beat Quinnipiac, 4-0, Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s CONSOL Energy Center.

Four players scored goals and senior Jeff Malcolm made 36 saves to lead the Bulldogs, who finished the NCAA Tournament with three wins against No. 1 seeds.

Senior Andrew Miller, who scored goals in both Frozen Four games, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. His goal at 9:06 of the third period gave Yale a 3-0 lead in the title game and effectively put the game out of reach.

Fast start

The first 40 minutes featured outstanding hockey with chances at both ends, but nearly finished without a goal. Yale’s Clinton Bourbonais deflected Gus Young’s wrist shot through the legs of Quinnipiac goaltender Eric Hartzell with just 3.5 seconds remaining in the second period.

The Bulldogs added to the lead 3:35 into the third period when Charles Orzetti put home his own rebound for just his second goal of the season. Miller’s goal followed, then Pittsburgh native Jesse Root added an empty-net goal to close out the scoring.

The win was Yale’s first in four meetings with Quinnipiac this season.

The championship matchup between in-state rivals assured Connecticut of its first NCAA hockey championship, and the first title for ECAC Hockey since Harvard won it in 1989. That was also the last time an Ivy League team had won the title.