New Haven, Conn. - Ryan Rondeau collected his second straight shut out, while classmate Chris Cahill tallied a pair of Goals to lead No.1 Yale over Vermont 3-0 in front of sold out crowd at Ingalls Rink Wednesday.
Yale broke the scoreless tie at 10:24 of the second period, while a penalty to Kyle Medvec was pending. The Bulldogs were able to take advantage of the extra skater when captain Jimmy Martin found Andrew Miller un-marked at the left point. Miller unleashed a one-time slap shot through a screen that beat Rob Madore to give Yale a one-goal advantage. Jesse Root also picked up an assist on what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Entering the third frame trailing by a goal in a contest seemingly up for grabs, Vermont took a tough blow when captain Kevan Miller took a 5-minute major penalty for boarding at 3:02, while Andrew Miller took a 2-minute minor for roughing after the play.
Playing four-on-four Vermont won the faceoff; Jack Downing and Sebastian Stalberg charged down ice and fired a pair of shots on Rondeau who was equal to the challenge.
"I thought we did a great job of out chancing them," head coach Kevin Sneddon said. "We had a number of great opportunities to score and whether it was luck combined with some good goaltending by Rondeau that puck just wouldn't cross that line."
With Kevan Miller still in the penalty box, Andrew Miller returned to the ice to give Yale a three minute power pay. After a series of shots that Madore turned aside, Chris Cahill gave Yale a two-goal cushion at the 6:00 mark. The UVM defense was unable to clear the puck and Cahill tucked away his fourth goal of the year at the right doorstep.
Cahill took a 2-minute penalty for tripping at 9:55 to give Vermont a chance on the power play (0-2). Nick Bruneteau provided the Catamounts with yet another great scoring bid as he blasted a low, one-time shot from the point through traffic that silenced the crowd for a moment after it rang off the post.
"It's a game of inches. We could have been on the other end. I am not disappointed in the way we played, just disappointed in the outcome."
Vermont took a timeout at 2:29 and opted to pull Madore for an extra skater. The Catamounts had several chances but couldn't solve Rondeau who remains unbeaten on the year (10-0-0).
After several Vermont attempts on net, Cahill intercepted a pass, skated across center ice and tallied his second goal of the game on an empty-netter for a 3-0 Bulldog lead.
The Catamounts out shot the Bulldogs 32-30 on the night, including 16-8 in the third period.
The Bulldogs (11-1-0) came into the contest on a five-game win streak and are off to their best start since 1929-30.
"I told our team we've got no excuses now, we have got to play that hard against every team. Yale is an excellent team and we skated right there with them."
Vermont falls to 1-8-4 (1-6-3 HEA) and returns to action on Sunday when it travels to Dartmouth for a 4 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPNU.
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NOTES: Tonight was the third straight contest in which Vermont played a top 10 team...Yale has a plus-34 scoring margin over its opponents...The Bulldogs broke a five-game skid agasint the Catamounts, with the last Yale victory coming Nov. 23, 2003...Vermont is 5-2-0 against Yale under coach Kevin Sneddon...Connor Brickley was named to the preliminary roster for the U.S. Junior National Team that will hold tryouts Dec. 16th in Albany and will be coached by Yale head coach Keith Allain.