Men's Hockey: Bulldogs too much to handle in playoffs

The No. 6-seeded Bulldogs (15-14-3, 10-10-2), who beat Princeton 4-2 in the first game of the series, took the lead early in Sunday’s finale when forward Anthony Day found the back of the net at four minutes, 52 seconds in the first period. Antoine Laganiere increased the home team’s lead to 2-0 when he skated from the blue line and short-handed the puck at 7:55 with no assist. Day struck again from the right side at 10:23 with another assist from Agostino as they teamed up on Bonar two-on-one.

Calof, Saturday’s hero, put the Tigers on the scoreboard with his 16th goal of the season six minutes later, after sophomore defenseman Alec Rush collected a wayward Yale pass and sent it to his teammate at center ice. Late in the second period, after Laganiere had struck again, Calof increased his series total to four goals with a top-shelf shot on a power play.

But Laganiere answered, completing a hat trick with three minutes left in the second frame, with a five-hole shot on a power play.

Junior defenseman Michael Sdao came out strong in the final period and ripped a shot past Yale goalie Jeff Malcolm 56 seconds into the third frame. The junior’s 10th goal of the season rolled the tide in the Tigers’ favor as they closed the lead to 5-3. After 16 minutes of scoreless play, Princeton pulled Bonar for an extra attacker at 17:36, when both teams had a man in the penalty box. But Brian O’Neill won the puck on a face-off and raced ahead of the Tigers for a quick empty-net goal to all but end the Tigers’ season.

Princeton brought an extra attacker on the ice again, but it was only seconds before players from both sides began a brawl on the ice. With the Bulldogs playing five-on-three for the final minutes, Clinton Bourbaonais capped the scoring and sent Yale through to the ECAC quarterfinals.

Sunday’s game would not have been necessary if not for Calof’s thrilling overtime score the night before. Following a third period that featured a combined six goals, Princeton won a face-off in its defending zone in the opening seconds of added play. Sophomore forward Andrew Ammon blasted the puck to Calof at the top of the right circle. The team’s leading scorer rushed to the cage two-on-one with Ammon and one-timed the puck past Yale’s Nick Maricic.

The Tigers’ colossal win terminated Yale’s nine-game unbeaten streak against the Orange and Black and gave Princeton its first win at Ingalls Rink since January 2008.

Princeton snatched a 1-0 lead five minutes into Saturday’s game after winning a face-off in the left circle of its attacking zone. Sophomore forward Jack Berger struggled to keep possession for the Tigers when senior forward Marc Hagel freed the puck and passed it to junior forward Rob Kleebaum. Maricic was helpless against Kleebaum’s top-shelf finish.

Yale’s best chance at leveling the score in the first period came when Gus Young took a shot on sophomore netminder Sean Bonar, but the puck hit the pipes with six minutes until intermission. Junior forward Eric Meland blocked the Bulldogs’ shot off of the rebound seconds later. Overall, Bonar blocked 10 shots in the first period to keep the Tigers in the lead.

Princeton remained strong on both ends of the power play through the first two periods, with the biggest shot on goal coming from senior defenseman Derrick Pallis near the blue line. Meland and Berger also reaped several chances with the Tigers’ man advantage, but neither found the net.

Late into the second frame, O’Neill and Kevin Limbert suffered overlapping penalties for hooking and slashing. Calof seized a rebound in the slot and fired over Maricic at 18:35, opening the lead to 2-0.

Yale’s chance at coming back appeared unlikely as the Tigers maintained a clear and consistent possession of the puck. But after Yale went on its fourth power play of the game, Kevin Peel struggled for a goal 6:33 into the third, burying a rebound into the net. Shortly after the scoreboard changed, however, Peel endured a hooking penalty, and Kleebaum netted his second goal of the night right after the advantage expired.

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Princeton’s 3-1 lead did not last long, as Yale scored a pair of goals in a 90-second span. Forward Jesse Root slipped the puck between Bonar’s legs on a short-handed shot at 12:31. And after Yale picked up a power play of its own, Laganiere scored to even the game at 3-3.

Sdao broke the draw 27 seconds later, ripping a shot from the left point that beat Maricic on the glove side. But the current shifted again when Calof and freshman forward Tucker Brockett took penalties with 3:46 remaining in the third. O’Neill skated around Princeton’s defense inside the point and passed to teammate Andrew Miller, who went past Bonar from the high slot, knotting the score and setting the stage for Calof’s winning goal.

The two teams proved a nearly even match throughout the entirety of Friday’s game. Princeton closed its deficit to 3-2 in the third period, but Yale’s last-minute, empty-net goal extended the final score to 4-2.

Yale scored twice in the first frame, with O’Neill finding the net at 6:12 and Colin Dueck getting past Bonar 10 minutes later. Bonar blocked a total of 11 shots in between the two goals and made 29 stops for the game.

Kleebaum carried the Tigers’ offense and cut Yale’s lead in half when the visitors finally took advantage of their fifth power play. Hagel won the puck in the left corner and sent it to Kleebaum, who shot over and past Maricic at 14:28 in the second period. However, Yale took its two-goal lead back about two minutes later, when Nick Jaskowiak sent an airborne slapshot past Bonar.

Coming out strong into the last frame, Berger redirected the puck into the low slot at 4:20, but the Tigers could not get the equalizer. After Princeton pulled Bonar for an extra skater with 77 seconds remaining, Laganiere took an unmanned puck from center ice and raced past the Tigers, putting it in the empty net with 60 seconds left.

In his second playoff series, Bonar made 102 saves while allowing 13 goals. Yale outshot the Tigers in all three games.