Sophomore Brian Yingling scored four goals and added two assists to break his own school record for most points in a season, leading the fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley Dutchmen to an 8-5 upset win over third seed Johnson & Wales Wednesday.
The win advanced the Dutchmen to the ECAC Northeast championship for the first time in the Valley’s three-year history. The champion receives an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA Division III tournament.
Yingling scored two goals to give LVC a 2-0 lead in the first period, tallying the first strike via the power play from junior Greg Kutchma at 8:50. The assist was Kutchma’s 10th of the year.
Johnson & Wales (18-7-2, 14-3-1 ECAC NE) tied the game with two goals in one minute of action. At 19:15 of the first, sophomore Scott Freeney broke the shutout with a goal assisted by freshman Matt O’Connor. 15 seconds into the second period, O’Connor scored a goal from freshman Justin Blake and sophomore John Gomes.
Yingling went back to work and helped junior Jamie Taylor assist sophomore Tim Rink for a power-play goal notched at 2:20 to give the Valley a 3-2 advantage. Yingling then scored his third goal of the game, shorthanded, less than three minutes later. He was assisted by Taylor, who collected his 19th and 20th assists of the season.
Sophomore Derek Foster of Johnson & Wales tallied his seventh goal of the year at 9:14 on the power play to cut the Lebanon Valley lead to 4-3.
In what seemed to be a recurring theme this afternoon, Yingling scored again to tie his own club record for most points in a season and goals and points scored in a game. He gave the Dutchmen a 5-3 lead at 11:34 after getting an assist by sophomore Ben Kwon.
Kutchma grabbed his 17th goal of the year at 15:03 to round out the scoring of the second period. He had help from freshman Doug MacCormack and senior Dan Yingst. Early in the third, Kutchma scored again, giving the Dutchmen a 7-3 lead.
J&W tried to change momentum following scores by Jacob and junior Dave Accetturo, but Taylor added the final nail at 17:05. Rink and Yingling were charged with the assist, giving Yingling the school record for most points in a season with 44, on 23 goals and 21 assists, and points in a game with six.
Junior Lincoln Matlock improved to 9-5-1 on the year and advanced LVC to the ECAC Northeast championship for the first time in team history. LVC (17-7-1, 14-4-1 ECAC NE) will face Wentworth on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Matthews Arena, on the campus of Northeastern, for the title.
