By David F. Pendrys

NEW HAVEN, CT – It all started auspiciously for the Yale Bulldogs Tuesday night when John Hayden scored in the first two minutes of the game. A teammate had shot it at Providence College’s Hayden Hawkey and in the aftermath, Yale’s Hayden put it into the net.

The game would go downhill from there. Hawkey would not let another shot past him, but Yale would only generate another 13 the entire game. Meanwhile Providence sent 36 towards Patrick Spano of the Bulldogs, and 3 got past him. Spano however was not the issue as the defense gave up some close quarters opportunities. The offense’s struggles was also a major factor. Yale did generate some serious chances in their rare shots, but Hawkey took care of all of them.

Scott Conway tied the game at 12:07 in the first on one of the Friars many power plays. He teed up a shot from mid range to the corner past Spano.

In the second, Providence had commenced a lengthy attack in the Yale zone generating multiple chances. Finally the defense caved and Josh Wilkins took the close range shot with success. The insurance goal was scored by Robbie Hennessey at 5:09 in the third.

Frankie DiChara and Billy Sweezey had Yale’s assists on the Hayden goal. Brian Pinho and Josh Monk had two assists on the night, and Ryan Tait had one.

It was a game filled with penalties, but one of them proved to be decisive. PC’s Brandon Duhaime was ejected an also assessed a major for checking from behind in the third. The team also earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which basically canceled out a Yale penalty. This gave Yale a man advantage for five minutes and some of that period was a four on three sequence, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get anything going.

Yale ended the night 0 for 5 on the power play. Providence had just the 1 goal on their 6 power plays on the night as well, but it was a critical one.

Hayden had 6 of Yale’s 14 shots on goal with only Ted Hart joining him in having more than one shot though Hart had 2.

For Providence, Conway took six shots, Tait took 5, and Pinho and Wilkins took 4 apiece. Garrett Gamez took 3, and Duhaime, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Shane Kavanagh, and Jake Walman all took 2. PC had an entire corps of skaters making things difficult for the defense. Conway, Tait, Duhaime, and Walman all seemed to be starting things often throughout.

Monk had 4 blocks, Spenser Young had 3, and Tait, Erik Foley, Anthony Florentino, Bjorkqvist, Bryan Lamos, and Hennessey all had 1 each.

For Yale, Matt Foley had 5 blocks on defense, Chris Izmirlian and Luke Stevens had 2, and Adam Larkin, Ted Hart, Hayden, Charlie Curti, and Ryan Hitchcock all had 1.

Providence rises to 9-7-4 and Yale drops to 6-7-2 in the out of the conference match up. The Bulldogs face Clarkson and St. Lawrence this weekend at home. Providence hosts Vermont.

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