Crimson Six Battles Yale to 3-3 Tie

NEW HAVEN, Feb. 27--Sensational goal-tending by sophomore Charlie Flynn and two goals by Bill Cleary enabled the varsity hockey team to tie a fighting Yale team, 3 to 3, tonight in overtime, before a screaming, dazed Junior Prom crowd of 3800 at the New Haven Arena.

The deadlock postponed the Crimson's chance to clinch its first Pentagonal League title since 1937 until Wednesday night, when Cooney Welland's sextet meets defending champion Princeton at the Boston Garden.

Main factor in Yale's near upset was Coach Murray Murdoch's ability to solve his squad's greatest problem--weak second and third lines. The Eli first line of Dix Pike, Captain Wally Kilrea, and Leigh Quinn, one of the strongest in the league, was on the ice for more than half the game. Kilrea was the Blue star, scoring all three of his team's goals.

The Crimson lost the lead at 7:25 of the first period on a pass from left wing Pike out to Kilrea and a quick tally past unsuspecting Flynn. Then the varsity began a comeback fight which continued until the third period. Ed Mrkonich slapped in the tieing score at 4:11 of the period on an accidental face-off pass from Captain Norm Wood.

Cleary Scores

Kilrea netted Yale's third goal on a rebound at 8:20 of the second period, but Cleary retaliated for the Crimson four minutes later with assists from Doug Manchester and Dick Clasby.

Quick breakaways by the varsity third line--Ned Bliss, Jeb Bray, and Frank Mahoney--at the beginning of the third period were checked by Eli goalie George Scherer and were frequently returned by the Blue first line.

Rough, alert defense work by Mrkonich and Jeff Coolidge managed to stop most of these attacks until the final two minutes of the period. Then it took seven consecutive, often brilliant, saves by Flynn to prevent the Elis from gaining a first-place tie with the league-leading Crimson sextet. Flynn totalled 42 saves.

In the ten-minute sudden death overtime, both teams showed just how tired they were the puck consistently was kept in the center zone by slow, dull passing. It seemed neither team wanted to risk an all-out attack.

Meanwhile, at Hanover, N. II., the freshman six was upset by a mediocre Dartmouth team, 5 to 4.