Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Emma Seitz scored two goals, Elle Hartje had the other and Gianna Meloni came through with 21 saves to give the No. 7 Yale Women's Hockey Team a 3-2 win over St. Lawrence that closed out the best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal Series at Ingalls Rink.
The victory advanced the Bulldogs to their second-ever conference semifinal next Friday at 3 p.m. against Princeton, which knocked off Harvard in its series at Boston. As the highest remaining seed, Yale will host its first ever ECAC Championship weekend. The other Friday semifinal pits Quinnipiac against Colgate at 6:30 p.m. with a Saturday, 3 p.m. title game slated for Ingalls.
"It was intense," said Mark Bolding, Yale's Susan Cavanagh Head Coach, describing this contest. "We knew it would be a battle, and it felt too good to be true early in the game with three goals to start. We knew they wouldn't go away. This was a great team effort up and down the lineup, and we are just so happy."
Seitz, a junior blueliner who had two goals in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Saints, got the Bulldogs going early in the first on a power play. She skated into the high slot and beat SLU goalie Lucy Morgan high on the glove side just 5:34 after puck drop. Almost three minutes later, the New York City native was in the same spot sending a laser high on the stick side for a 2-0 lead and her 13th tally of the season.
"That (high slot) is the spot I like to shoot from," said Seitz. "Getting the lead was huge for us. We certainly play better with the lead because we really feed off each other's energy and confidence."
The home team which had assists from five different players, continued to apply a ferocious fore-check later in the first, which produced a third goal. Hartje skated across the edge of the crease, got tripped up by Morgan's poke check and, while falling to the ice, slid the puck around the netminder for her team-high 15th goal and 48th point.
The Saints got one back late in the first and then made it two straight late in the second. Yale's defense, led by the senior goalie Meloni, kicked into emergency mode the rest of the way and was masterful in blocking shots, clearing pucks and keeping the primary object in the SLU end.
The visitors pulled their goalie with 2:22 left in the third and put some pressure on the Elis, who took a few shots at the empty net before running out the clock and celebrating the series victory.
This was just the second time the program has hosted playoff games and now the Elis, which notched their 24th victory today, has its first home ECAC semifinal game. Bolding reflected on being at the Whale this weekend and coming back next week.
"The Yale crowd was so great today, it's really a treat when you can have that happen. The players deserve to have it as the highest seed, they really worked hard for it."
