For the first time since it joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1962, the men's hockey team won the championship with a 17-4-1 conference record in 1997-98.
The conference title assured the Bulldogs of a berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament to determine the national champion, which begins March 27. The hockey team had not earned a berth in the NCAA tournament since 1952. Yale also won the Ivy League title, compiling a 7-2-1 record against Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth, sweeping both Harvard and Princeton. Yale and its Ivy League hockey rivals are members of the 12-team ECAC Division I conference.
In addition to its regular season schedule, the ECAC holds a post-season tournament. In the first round of the tournament, top-seeded Yale met St. Lawrence University at Ingalls Rink. In the first game against St. Lawrence on March 13, Yale -- down by a score of 3-2 late in the third and final period -- pulled its goaltender off the ice in favor of a sixth skater. With the Bulldogs' net unprotected, senior captain Ray Giroux scored a goal with less than a minute remaining to gain a 3-3 tie.
The following night the Yale team produced an even more spectacular comeback for its fans. Trailing by a 3-1 score with less than seven minutes left in the game, Yale received a major five-minute penalty. Not only did Yale hold the visiting Saints scoreless while down a player during the penalty, the Bulldogs scored a rare short-handed goal to pull within 3-2. Facing elimination from the tournament, Yale coach Tim Taylor again pulled his goaltender, and Yale sophomore Jay Quenville scored a goal with less than a minute remaining to forge another 3-3 tie.
In the third game of the rivalry on March 15, Yale, led by sophomore Jeff Hamilton's two goals, beat St. Lawrence 4-1 to advance to the semifinal round of the ECAC tournament. Yale was scheduled to play either Princeton or Cornell
in the semifinal game in Lake Placid March 20. Yale had not advanced to the semifinal round since the 1986-87 season. The Bulldogs headed to Lake Placid with an overall record of 23-6-3, the team's best mark since 1950-1.
For updated information on hockey and other varsity sports at Yale, visit the Department of Athletics home page on the World Wide Web at www.yale.edu/athletic; or call 432-YALE for scores.
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